Reduce fines for trucks or admit failure of HVNL reform, says NatRoad

Transport ministers must reduce penalties for heavy vehicles that do not improve safety records or admit that six years of overhauling the Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL) have been a failure, the National Road Transport Association (NatRoad) has said.

NatRoad was responding to its submission on the draft new NVNL and review of HVNL fines, one of 10 submitted before the November 21 deadline.

“After six years of negotiations, the proposed changes to HVNL are incremental at best,” said Warren Clarke, CEO of NatRoad.

“Ministers have yet to decide whether they will cut unfair fines, and the test of six years of negotiations will be whether improvements for industry are visible on the ground.”

NatRoad said further fines should be cut and the proposed increase should be rejected.

“The proposed changes to fines include a reduction of 21, but a further 50 increases in fines. In some cases, penalties are proposed to increase by 100 percent, bringing the maximum fine to nearly $30,000,” Clark said.

“The review is a missed opportunity to eliminate minor fines that do not improve safety, or to provide significant reductions in those fines to make the roads fairer for our drivers.

“We know that there are more than 26,000 driver vacancies in Australia and that fines only complicate matters without producing any measurable safety impact.

“NatRoad has proposed a number of larger reductions in fines for minor offences, governments must show leadership and reduce unfair fines as a priority.”

The NatRoad paper also calls on governments not to go backwards and reduce flexibility in fatigue management.

“Lurked in the details of the draft new legislation and regulations are changes that will reduce fatigue flexibility for some operators who currently use Advanced Fatigue Management,” Clark said.

“It is completely unacceptable that reform designed to bring us into the 21st century now threatens to set us back and undermine improved safety performance.”

Future legislative and non-legislative reform to improve heavy vehicle access also remains critical.

“NatRoad has a clear target of removing 90 per cent of access permits by 2028,” Mr Clarke said.

“Governments should prioritize proposed changes to improve public access and ensure automated access is provided in a timely and complete manner.

“If Australia doesn’t fix access by 2028, the HVNL review will be a decade-long road to nowhere.”

Following public consultation on the draft legislation and regulations, the National Transport Commission will present a package of legislative reforms to ministers in early 2025.

If approved by ministers, the amended legislation will be referred to the Queensland Parliament for consideration and adoption as host jurisdiction for the legislation.