EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

 

Select Legislative Instrument 2009 No. 292

 

Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government

 

National Transport Commission Act 2003

 

National Transport Commission (Model Amendments Regulations: Australian Vehicle Standards Rules – Package No. 6) Regulations 2009

 

Section 52 of the National Transport Commission Act 2003 (the Act) provides that the Governor-General may make regulations, not inconsistent with the Act, prescribing all matters required or permitted by the Act to be prescribed or necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to the Act.

 

The provisions of the Act are supported by the Inter-Governmental Agreement on Regulatory and Operational Reform in Road, Rail and Intermodal Transport (IGA), which serves to formalise the cooperative arrangements between the Commonwealth, States and Territories and define the roles and responsibilities of the National Transport Commission (NTC), the Australian Transport Council and the jurisdictions. Clause 14 of the IGA requires the Commonwealth to submit model legislation for inclusion in schedules to regulations under the Act. The proposed Regulations would implement this commitment.

 

The purpose of the Regulations is to make various amendments to the model Australian Vehicle Standards Rules for nationally consistent implementation in each State and Territory. The Regulations are in model form to allow for implementation in each jurisdiction using the most convenient and effective regulatory manner available – for instance, the provisions may be incorporated into the law of a jurisdiction by way of amendment of existing legislation.

 

The objects of the Regulations are:

 

(a)    to replace the references to standards for windscreens and windows as they are currently incorrect; and

(b)   to correct an erroneous reference to the Australian Standard for Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) labelling requirements; and

(c)    to require vehicles fitted with LPG equipment to comply with the Australian Standard in force at the time that the equipment was fitted to the vehicle; and

(d)   to amend the rules relating to the non-application of Australian Vehicle Standards Rules in order to allow vehicle operators to fit more modern and updated equipment to a vehicle, as long as the equipment complies with an updated version of an Australian Design Rule; and

(e)    to clarify the conditions under which the test of parking brake performance should be conducted; and

(f)     to introduce new rules for the fitting of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) equipment to vehicles to require such equipment to comply with the relevant Australian Standards in effect at the time of fitting; and

(g)    to replace the existing, outdated reference to the procedures for the motor vehicle noise stationary test, with a reference to the current testing procedure.

 

The Australian Vehicle Standards Rules were developed by the National Road Transport Commission as a companion to the Road Transport Reform (Vehicles Standards) Regulations. Both were available for implementation in 1999. They apply to all forms of motor vehicles operating on public roads, except certain small or low speed vehicles such as motorised wheelchairs.

 

The Regulations and supporting Regulatory Impact Statement (RIS) were developed and refined through extensive consultations with representatives from Commonwealth, State and Territory road transport and enforcement authorities, who are members of the Australian Vehicle Standards Rules Maintenance Group. The purpose of this group, and the maintenance process as a whole, is to ensure that the model Australian Vehicle Standards Rules retain their legislative currency and operational relevance.

 

In 2007, the maintenance process identified a number of issues which necessitated changes to the Australian Vehicle Standards Rules.The draft amendments were circulated for comment to the maintenance group in 2007 and 2008. In addition, the draft amendments were also circulated to peak industry bodies, including the Australian Trucking Association (ATA), Police and the Australian Automobile Association. The draft legislative package and RIS was then released for public comment in September 2008.

 

During the public consultation period the NTC received a number of submissions with respect to the draft amendments. The NTC considered all the submissions that were made during the consultation period and made some changes to the draft amendments. The revised draft amendments and Regulatory Impact Statement were then reviewed by Transport Agencies Chief Executives.

 

The Commonwealth Office of Best Practice Regulation assessed and approved the RIS including the benefit/cost analysis. The finalised Regulations and RIS were submitted to the Australian Transport Council for voting. The package was approved on 1 May 2009.

 

Section 7 of the Act provides that regulations may set out model legislation, being legislation developed by the NTC in accordance with the IGA. Paragraph 7(2)(a) provides that model legislation does not have the force of law. The schedules to the regulations serve only as a repository for nationally agreed reforms, which may then be implemented by jurisdictions.

 

Item 44 of the table to subsection 44(2) of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003 together with item 7 of Schedule 2 to the Legislative Instruments Regulations 2004 operate to provide that the proposed Regulations are not subject to disallowance. In addition, item 51 of the table to subsection 54(2) of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003 together with item 4 of Schedule 3 to the Legislative Instruments Regulations 2004 operate to provide that the Regulations are not subject to sunsetting.