A joint submission by three peak trucking bodies to the Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL) reform has issued a blunt warning about the proposed changes.
While acknowledging the good intentions of a risk-based approach to safety, the Queensland Trucking Association (QTA), Victorian Transport Association and NatRoad said the reform’s new two-tiered accreditation framework is fundamentally flawed, threatening industry viability, potentially undermining legal principles and fails to enhance road safety.
“The proposed HVNL reform introduces a systemic conflict that we simply cannot accept,” said QTA CEO Gary Mahon.
“It effectively reverses the burden of proof, denies standard legal defences and will actively deter operators from engaging with a system designed to improve safety.”
The industry coalition said the core concern lies in the new framework’s potential to weaponise accreditation.
They said if a company director hires an independent auditor to obtain accreditation, the resulting audit records could be used as evidence against them in prosecutions.
This approach, the joint submission argues, fundamentally undermines the presumption of innocence and jeopardises “rights of natural justice” by creating a mechanism to apportion blame, rather than genuinely enhance accountability.
“Accreditation should be an incentive for improved and consistent safety practices, not a punitive mechanism that imperils fundamental legal rights,” Mahon emphasised.
“If the scheme is perceived primarily as a means of imposing personal liability for executive due diligence failures, operators will rationally choose to opt out, negating any public safety benefits.”
The associations argued that the proposed reforms will impose significant new burdens, including increased costs to develop and implement Safety Management Systems, operational risk due to the mandatory 28-day audit submission timeline, financial repercussions if they withdraw from accreditation and auditor risk.
“This policy proposal must be revoked and reconstructed with full and meaningful participation from the industry,” Mahon said.
“Anything less risks creating a system that fails in its primary goal of improving road safety, while imposing unsustainable burdens on the heavy vehicle industry.”
A National Transport Commission spokesperson said it will consider all feedback from the public consultation on the statutory instruments covering accreditation guidelines, a safety management system standard, a national audit standard and fatigue alternative compliance hours,
The deadline for submissions closes on Monday, December 1.
I predict that, eventually, everyone’s going to regret having the HVNL, etc. . It’s all becoming yet another massive bureaucracy, existing only as a revenue-raising entity.