Building a single, consistent national regulator

The NHVR’s priority is to build a single, consistent national regulator for the heavy vehicle industry.

To achieve this, we work closely with each level of government, industry, and agencies to ensure we have a safe, efficient and productive heavy vehicle industry serving the needs of Australia.

We continue to progress the National Services Transition (NST) program, working closely with governments and jurisdictions to transition regulatory services to the NHVR.

National reform isn’t easy, and it doesn’t happen overnight. We’re working towards a blueprint for the NST, approved by ministers and jurisdictional heads, that outlines the journey the NHVR is on to become the single national regulator for all heavy vehicles in Australia.

What the last two years has shown is that national consistency must be our paramount goal.

You can’t have individual rules or requirements for operators that need to travel across the country seamlessly.

We have been able to create seamless operations in South Australia, Tasmania, ACT and Victoria where we are now the regulator.

In these states we have increased the levels of resources, services and functions at no cost to industry.

We’ve provided improved regulatory capability, and we’re now starting to see harmonised policies, procedures, and training of our staff.

We are well on track to transition New South Wales (NSW) later this year. This is a significant milestone in terms of transitioning one of the largest jurisdictions to the NHVR.

They are also a jurisdiction that has been leading the way in terms of safety and enforcement.

As part of the transition in NSW, we will be undertaking the Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL) functions as well as delivering the heavy vehicle inspection services function for the NSW government.

What does the NST mean for industry? A more consistent approach to compliance and enforcement is the most significant improvement for industry, particularly those drivers intercepted on the roadside.

The capability to deliver timely national responses to critical compliance issues will also be a significant advantage of the NST. Industry can rely on a single contact point for consistent, reliable information about the HVNL and issues facing drivers or businesses.

The other key piece of work is the relationships we build with our existing and new partners.

As you’re aware, there are two regulatory agencies that implement the HVNL – us as the regulator and the police agencies.

We have been working closely with all police agencies to address any inconsistencies, and our relationship with NSW police continues to grow as we undertake this transition.

In the states where we have transitioned, we are delivering an ‘inform, educate, enforce’ approach. While we acknowledge this takes time, we also reserve our regulatory powers for those that consistently do the wrong thing, to ensure we maintain the highest safety outcomes.

We’re using multiple data sources to ensure we identify high risk operators.

Examples include crash data, data captured from our national camera network, information provided from industry, police and other state agencies. We are becoming data rich to ensure we can tailor our activities to the areas where we need to provide the most focus.

So, compliant operators and drivers shouldn’t see us, as we are focused on allowing industry to operate seamlessly and effectively in doing what they do well.

As we complete the full transition of services, we will continue to grow our data and resource capabilities which will allow us to become a truly risk-based regulator.

Sal Petroccitto
CEO, NHVR

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