Stakeholders have until February 14 to make their opinion known about the new Heavy Vehicle National Law Penalties Framework Review. The review is a draft paper looking at a national penalties framework with the explicit aim of removing the kind of inconsistencies which have dogged the trucking industry when working interstate.
On February 10 2014, the Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL), administered by the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR), is scheduled to come into effect. This new law includes a national penalties framework this is being designed to remove current variations between states and territories.
When the initial framework for the NHVR was developed back in 2012 the framers of the new organisation left little time to actually work out a consistent penalties regime. The task was handed to the National Transport Commission (NTC), to undertake a formal review of the framework following the establishment of the NHVR.
The consultation draft on which to comment is available here.
“Input and feedback from stakeholders is vital to inform the NTC’s final recommendations to the Council on Transport and Infrastructure (COTI – formerly the Standing Council on Transport and Infrastructure) in May 2014,” said the call for comment published by the NTC this week.
This just leaves about three weeks to get any comments in to the NTC. Most of the changes discussed are relatively minor, with much of the feedback the NTC has received from industry representation stating satisfaction with the overall penalties framework. However, if someone does have an issue they need to get their skates on and comment before the February 14 deadline.