Executive officer liability set to increase following amendments to the HVNL

The amendments to the Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL) mean that executive officers must proactively exercise due diligence and ensure compliance with all areas of the HVNL, not just with the 'primary safety' duty. We look at the reforms and their potential impact.

Under the HVNL, strict penalties have always applied to the executive officers of parties in the Chain of Responsibility (CoR) if they fail to take reasonable steps to ensure corporate compliance in relation to mass, dimension, load restraint, fatigue or speed laws. However, recent reforms have increased the scope of executive officers' liability.

Executive officer liability in the past

As a refresher, 'executive officer liability' refers to the personal liability of individuals who are concerned with, or who take part in, managing corporations. It makes executive officers responsible for decisions they make that might result in harm to others.