ALC calls for real national laws in maritime safety, rail safety and heavy vehicles

29 Mar 2011

Source: Australian Logistics Council

The Australian Logistics Council (ALC) has written to all transport ministers to reaffirm support for real national laws in maritime safety, rail safety and heavy vehicles.

 “ALC is very concerned that these regulators will not be deemed a success if a new layer of regulation is created, rather than real national laws with a national approach to compliance and enforcement”, said ALC CEO Michael Kilgariff.

“ALC is concerned that a national approach to the Australian Heavy Vehicle Industry may not be achieved by the recently released draft National Heavy Vehicle Law (NHVL) and its accompanying draft regulatory impact statement (the draft 2011 RIS).

“ALC is of the view that COAG and transport ministers should ensure that the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) is the government agency with responsibility to administer and enforce the national law and that a model be supported in which:

(a) all critical functions of the national system are to be performed by officers of the national regulator;
(b) other agencies (such as state police forces and work cover authorities) only be eligible to receive a delegation if they have undergone suitable training provided by the national regulator; and
(c) delegated agencies are prohibited from publishing guidelines on how the national law is to be interpreted or implemented.

“While the National Rail Safety Draft Bill, Regulations and Regulatory Impact Statement have not yet been released ALC is also concerned that a truly national approach to rail safety should be a similar objective.

“ALC notes that the draft 2011 RIS estimates total gains of $12.4 billion could be available if a national scheme is implemented[1].

“However ALC is concerned that the total gains identified in the draft 2011 RIS could be lost if the proposed national regulator does not have full responsibility for the operation of the national law.

 “Similarly, ALC is of the view that the National Rail Safety Regulator should be the sole government agency with responsibility to administer and enforce rail safety regulation, as well as publish guidelines on how those regulations are interpreted.

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