When COAG announced the introduction of a single national regulator for the road transport industry there was a great deal of cynicism on all sides as to whether it was possible to develop a truly national system. Some of that cynicism has died away as the industry has seen improvements within the culture of state regulators helping to pave the way for stronger cross-border co-operation between the states.
From the point of view of the trucking industry, it is still not quite clear exactly what will be different at the beginning of 2013 and how long after that there will really be a national regulator. Some of the interstate issues can be rationally and easily fixed but there are others, especially in the west, which will take much longer to iron out.
Despite doubts about the feasibility of such a major change in transport regulation there have been no doubts about the willingness on the part of the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator Project Director, Richard Hancock, to get out there and discuss the issues with anyone who chooses to raise a question. Over the period in which he has been working in this job he has been constantly criss-crossing the country, talking at public forums, negotiating with state regulators and openly discussing the issues with the media. This openness to discussion has been a refreshing change for the industry.
“I want to spend the rest of this year, in addition to building everything we have to build and testing it, telling everybody what the regulator will look like, how you will do business with it and we want to test that with industry,” says Richard. “We’ve done detailed design of the systems and now we are going into the testing phase. We want to talk to people who will have to use these systems about things like what it’s like to apply for a national permit, for example. What the screen looks like? What the form looks like? How long is it going to take? What is the NHVR going to do which isn’t done today? All of that kind of information is being developed right now.”
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The first bill which sets up the NHVR and appoints a board is being resubmitted to the Queensland Parliament. This should pass through by September. At that point the new CEO will be appointed, along with the board and the legal entity with which the NHVR will be established. After that, staff will start to be appointed into various roles within the organisation. This does not leave a lot of time before the NHVR starts operation three months later but the Project Office is doing a lot of the ground work in preparation now, to speed up the process when it starts.
“What will happen is this,” says Richard. “When all the bills are passed through all of the state parliaments and the regulator is set up, everything will have to be done according to the National Heavy Vehicle Law and regulations. That is different to what is happening today. However, because the new law is based on the old model law it won’t be that different from what is currently happening.
“Staff in the states and territories will have to provide services as set out in the national law. We are talking to the regulators in each state now, and their staff, to show them what the law looks like. We are also explaining how we think the regulator will administer the law. We are explaining what it means to them.”
Richard is confident that the NHVR will be in place as of 1 January and that it will be able to perform its national functions from that date. Whether the individual states will have also passed the new law and set up their legal framework for the NHVR by that date is less certain. From 1 January, operations like administering the NHVAS, PBS and fatigue management schemes will all be controlled directly by the NHVR. Next year will be a period of transition as states and territories come to terms with dealing with the new national regulator and the NHVR finds its feet.
In surveys they have conducted, the NHVR Project Office has found a good deal of awareness of the NHVR in the transport industry. The next phase of the communication strategy will occur when the look and feel of how the NHVR interfaces with the industry has been finalised. Concurrently, a national training plan will be rolled out around the states to bring their staff up to speed.
The participation of Western Australia in the project has been placed in doubt with the state wishing to keep its own special status and procedures separate from any new national law. Negotiations continue with the NHVR attempting to come to an agreement that suits all states.
“Irrespective of WA’s eventual approach, whether they sign the Intergovernmental Agreement or not, we still have to find a way the NHVR will work with them,” says Richard. “Some of that will be operational agreements because the whole point of having a national approach is so that we can harmonise and have a more national approach than we do now. We need more mutual recognition of things like fatigue management and accreditation than we do now. We need to remove the administrative burden of crossing the state border.
“I understand completely, in Western Australia they have got productivity and other processes running there which they do not want to jeopardise. I have publicly said the national heavy vehicle law and the NHVR will not jeopardise that. And I have constantly said that existing permits and existing exemptions and authorisations are not removed when the NHVR is in place. They will transition over.
“I think, for WA, there are some national systems, national compliance and enforcement data networks which don’t exist in WA currently. As part of the process they would get access to that. There are some benefits there for them and I will keep on explaining that to them.”
PBS will be entirely run by the NHVR who will take over all of the functions currently being carried out by the NTC. It will be up to the NHVR to negotiate with the state and local governments on access for different vehicles. Richard contends the process should be easier to manage and more efficient in their hands. Under the new structure it will be the NHVR which will make a final decision on who has access to which roads. The organisation will have to negotiate with the road managers in various states but the final decision is not down to the road managers.
One of the very difficult tasks taken on by the NHVR is to develop a consistent tool and methodology for bridge assessment across the whole of Australia. If this is achieved then consistency in vehicle access approvals can be achieved under PBS.
When it comes to the current fatigue management schemes, the NHVR hopes to develop new Advanced Fatigue Management templates to be used by operators in certain areas and in different sectors of the industry. Under the new national law there is no outer limit to the number of hours worked in a day. If a new AFM scheme can be developed which meets the criteria of the fatigue experts’ panel, it is possible to come up with solutions to some of the existing issues on certain difficult routes.
“We have had pre-eminent fatigue experts work up the templates and reflect the various tasks that are needed to be done within the template,” says Richard. “I have talked to all the states and territories about that approach. We don’t want to be in a position where there is any expert in any state who has misgivings about the revised approach to fatigue management we are developing. We have to convince them the approach is sound and does not present a higher safety risk than is presently accepted. The risk trading methodology which is at the heart of the new approach will be independently, internationally peer reviewed. Recognition at that kind of level is quite significant. I’m confident this new approach can work.”
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NHVR is currently developing a number of templates aligned with different transport tasks, like livestock or long-distance bus operators. Within the template there will be a number of work tasks that need to be done in order for a driver to take on some of the longer drives, from outback sale yards to coastal abattoirs, for example. There will be a number of work and rest variables that can be adjusted, providing a safe approach is taken to fatigue.
The system will be available online so that operators can get hold of templates, as and when they are developed. There will be no costs associated with acquiring the template and the NHVR is looking at speeding up the application process.
There is a danger to the introduction of the new national law which is still uncertain. When individual states pass the new National Heavy Vehicle Law they still have the right to include derogations within the legislation. It is possible for caveats to be included in the new legislation which specifically vary the rules in one particular state from those included in the national law.
“They are sovereign parliaments and they have full control over the legislation in their states,” says Richard. “I would hope and be quite confident that by the time we get through to where the bill is going through the Queensland Parliament and is adopted and in place, when the states are going through the process of applying those rules in their territory, that any issues which have previously been of concern have been dealt with.
“We will expect them to be comfortable we have a solution that we can work and that an individual state or territory would be less concerned and want to derogate. We are all working towards that objective and in every discussion I have with the states and territories we are definitely working towards the objective where we have a National Heavy Vehicle Law which is preserved.
“At this point, I don’t know of any single issue that exists with a state or territory that would prevent them from adopting the National Heavy Vehicle Law without derogation. I know where the issues were on the first bill and I know how much work has gone into developing the second bill to address those issues. I’m feeling confident about that.”
While Richard Hancock remains confident the whole process will move forward without any slip-up, the transport industry remains concerned about issues that may occur in the transition and after all the dust dies down. It would appear vital that the communication continues to flow in both directions.