Our
article earlier this year highlighted the potential for
businesses to be caught by the widening of responsibility for
"safety and fairness" and remuneration in the Australian
road transport industry as a result of the creation of the Road
Safety Remuneration Tribunal ("RSRT").
The RSRT can make "enforceable instruments", including
road safety remuneration orders ("RSROs") that will
prevail over state or territory laws, modern awards, enterprise
agreements, Fair Work Australia orders and transitional
instruments.
To identify particular road transport industry matters for
inquiry, the RSRT is required to prepare an Annual Work Program
which may result in the creation of RSROs that extend compliance
requirements to all participants in the road transport
supply chain. Those affected include consignees and
consignors (such as supermarkets and head contractors) who
previously had limited, if any, enforceable obligations to
participants "lower" in the supply chain.
