National Transport Commission

The National Transport Commission (NTC) is an Australian independent statutory body created to develop regulatory and operational reform for road, rail and intermodal transport.

Under Australia’s federal system, transport policy and regulatory responsibilities span across Commonwealth, state and territory, and local governments. Differences between these regulatory systems mean that national transport operators can face inconsistent regulations, creating unnecessary inefficiency and cost.

The NTC is focused on reforms which improve the productivity, safety and environmental outcomes of the Australian transport system . This has subsequently led to the development of transport regulatory policies such as Performance-Based Standards, Heavy Vehicle Driver Fatigue Reform and the Chain of Responsibility.

The NTC also plays a role in implementation planning to ensure reform outcomes are relevant and effective, as well as coordinating, monitoring, evaluating and maintaining the implementation of approved reforms. Recommendations and advice are presented to the Standing Council on Transport and Infrastructure (SCOTI) - comprising transport, infrastructure and planning ministers - for approval by majority vote.

Based in Melbourne, Victoria, the NTC has six commissioners including a Chief Executive Officer and consists of over 40 operational staff. State and territory governments contribute 65 per cent of the NTC’s funding, and the Commonwealth Government provides 35 per cent.[1]

History

Hughes & Vale case

Australia is a federation that relies on the Constitution to divide power between the Federal government, States and Territories. As the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act[2] did not specify Federal control over road transport it effectively relinquished full jurisdiction of that area to the States and Territories.

In 1952, truck drivers were frustrated by the levies on interstate road transport, which were designed to protect the state-owned railways. They placed a copy of the constitution in a barrow and pushed it by hand between Melbourne and Sydney. This journey took 11 days, 2 days quicker than a parcel mailed at the same time and carried by rail.

Their purpose was to challenge the validity of the New South Wales State Transport Act against “Section 92 of the Constitution which provides that trade, commerce and intercourse between the States shall be absolutely free.”[3]

Known as the Hughes & Vales case, they eventually led a successful constitutional challenge in the High Court which opened-up the development of interstate road transport and Australia in general.[4]

Hughes & Vale was a significant turning point for the transport industry in Australia. It was the catalyst for the growth of interstate road transport, which in turn highlighted the limitations of having different road transport regulations between states.

Razorback Blockade

In 1979, 3000 truck drivers staged blockages of major highways at nearly 40 locations in Queensland, Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia to protest against ton-mile taxes and low freight rates.[5] Known as the Razorback Blockade, truck drivers involved claimed higher charges made them financially worse off.[6] Their efforts were not in vain and ton-mile tax was abolished shortly after the protests.[7]

Apart from charging woes, there was also a demand for a list of reforms such as the establishment of advisory bodies to solve problems in the industry, equal pay for all drivers, licensing to control the number of trucks in the industry and uniform weight and speed limits to be implemented.[8]

Establishment of the National Road Transport Commission

Both the Hughes & Vale case and the Razorback blockade were contributing factors to the recommendation in the last report of the Inter-State Commission (ISC) proposing significant changes be made for all vehicle charges, and that a National Commission be created.[9]

At the time, microeconomic reform was a central policy of the Labor Commonwealth government. The cooperation of all six States and two Territories was needed as many of its high priority agendas such as transport, and electricity generation and distribution were State governed.[10]

The assembly of leaders at the Special Premiers Conference in 1991, including the notable support of Premier Nick Greiner of New South Wales, a non-Labor Government, gave bipartisan support to the reform process.[11]

In 1991, the National Road Transport Commission was formally established by an inter-governmental agreement.

2002 review

Under its enabling legislation, the NTC’s role and performance must be reviewed every six years by independent steering committee.

The 2002 review of the National Road Transport Commission Act recommended that the NRTC’s role be expanded to include rail and intermodal transport to encourage a more holistic approach to land transport reforms.

Rail transport regulations in Australia are also governed by States and Territories and, like road transport, culminated in a number of inconsistencies across the nation.[12]It was noted rail transport system in Australia was ready for a more formal process of reform parallel to that of road transport and that operators and track owners on the national road network needed consistent processes for safety regulation.[13] High priority issues targeted for rail regulatory reform included the establishment of a framework to improve and strengthen the co-regulatory system including application of mutual recognition, and the development of a national policy on key safety issues such as fatigue, testing for drugs and alcohol and medical fitness of safety-critical rail workers.

In 2004, the National Road Transport Commission was formally renamed the National Transport Commission to accommodate the inclusion of rail and intermodal transport into its existing mandate.Consequently, the existing National Road Transport Commission Act 1991 was replaced by the National Transport Commission Act 2003.

The National Transport Advisory Council (NTAC)

Also included in the 2002 review of the NRTC was a recommendation for the creation of a non-statutory body called the National Transport Advisory Council (NTAC).[14] The proposed function of NTAC was to conduct strategic analyses and give advice to the ATC on strategic priorities for national infrastructure investment, options for pricing of access to road, rail and other transport infrastructure and directions and priorities for modal integration relevant to national freight issues.

The long term intention was for functions of the NTAC to be transferred through to the National Transport Commission after three years if agreed upon unanimously by the ATC.[15] Despite the recommendation, NTAC was never implemented.

2009 review

A steering committee was appointed in January 2009 to conduct the NTC’s most recent review and delivered its final report to the Chair of the Australian Transport Council (ATC, the predecessor to SCOTI) in August 2009. The Coalition of Australian Governments (COAG) and the ATC endorsed the recommendations in December 2009.

Key recommendations which were endorsed included:

Effectiveness

The work of the NTC has attracted support and criticism since its establishment. The Commission's early projects led to major gains in many areas of road transport, particularly in the heavy vehicle sector. Widely praised early reforms delivered included charges, registration, dangerous goods, licensing, vehicle standards and mass and access. The delivery of the Australian Road Rules in 1999 represented a major reform initiative touching both the light and heavy vehicle sectors. The Commission's recent work in the rail safety area, however, has been the subject of concern among some Governments and other stakeholders. While support was obtained for NTCs efforts in securing State and Territory approval for a model Rail Safety statute for Australia based on existing regulation, later work in developing operative legislation in the same field has been criticised based on concern about insufficient analysis.

Concerns have also been expressed about inconsistent drug and blood alcohol standards across the country.

Current reform projects

Some of the reform projects currently being undertaken by the NTC include:

Organisational timeline

See also

References

  1. ↑ National Transport Commission, "A New Beginning," Annual Report 08 (2008): 2.
  2. ↑ http://www.comlaw.gov.au/comlaw/comlaw.nsf/440c19285821b109ca256f3a001d59b7/57dea3835d797364ca256f9d0078c087/$FILE/ConstitutionAct.pdf[]
  3. ↑ The Sydney morning herald, Transport Act Test of Privy Council The Sydney Morning Herald (accessed 28 May 2009).
  4. ↑ The Sydney morning herald, Privy Council find Interstate Road tax invalid The Sydney Morning Herald (accessed 29 May 2009).
  5. ↑ The Sydney morning herald,Trucks tie up nation's roads The Sydney Morning Herald (accessed 2 June 2009).
  6. ↑ The Sydney Morning Herald, Grievances on tax, freight The Sydney Morning Herald (accessed 29 May 2009).
  7. ↑ The Age, Blockade law urged The Age (accessed 1 June 2009).
  8. ↑ The Sydney Morning Herald, We stay put - blockade men The Sydney Morning Herald (accessed 1 June 2009).
  9. ↑ Barry Moore and Margaret Starrs, "Road Transport Reform in a Federal System" in 18th Australasian Transport Research Forum (Gold Coast, National Road Transport Commission, 1993), 2.
  10. ↑ Barry Moore and Margaret Starrs, "Road Transport Reform in a Federal System" in 18th Australasian Transport Research Forum (Gold Coast, National Road Transport Commission, 1993), 4.
  11. ↑ Barry Moore and Margaret Starrs, "Road Transport Reform in a Federal System" in 18th Australasian Transport Research Forum (Gold Coast, National Road Transport Commission, 1993), 5.
  12. ↑ National Transport Commission, "Rail Safety," National Transport Commission, http://www.ntc.gov.au/viewpage.aspx?AreaId=35&DocumentId=1666 (accessed 1 June 2009).
  13. ↑ Fred Affleck and Neil Aplin, "Review Report," Review of National Road Transport Commission Act 1991 (2002)
  14. ↑ Fred Affleck and Neil Aplin, "Review Report," Review of National Road Transport Commission Act 1991 (2002): 10
  15. ↑ Fred Affleck and Neil Aplin, "Review Report," Review of National Road Transport Commission Act 1991 (2002): 11
  16. ↑ National Transport Commission, Annual Report 2010 (2010):7.
  17. ↑ "NTC releases proposed options for 2014 heavy vehicle charges for consultation". TruckWorld.com.au. 25 November 2013. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
  18. ↑ "COAG Road Reform Plan". Council of Australian Governments. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
  19. ↑ National Transport Commission, Annual Report 2011 (2011).

External links