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ARTICLE · 05 OCTOBER 2016

Heavy Vehicle National Law changes: what you need to know

Cooper Grace Ward
Cooper Grace Ward
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The reach of this legislation is significant and goes beyond parties directly involved in providing transport services.

AustraliaTransport
Tony Park
Tony Park
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Why is the law being amended and how are these changes being made?

The Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL) regulates the use of heavy vehicles (vehicles with a GVM or ATM of more than 4.5 tonnes) on roads in all states of Australia except Western Australia.

As a result of concerns expressed by industry participants and regulators, and after extensive consultation, Australia's transport ministers recently resolved that the HVNL should be reformed to better align with other national safety legislation such as the Model Work Health and Safety Act and the Rail Safety National Law. The ministers considered that safety outcomes will be improved and enforcement simplified if all parties in the 'chain of responsibility' are subject to a primary duty to ensure, 'so far as is reasonably practicable', the safety of transport services.

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