With the rollout of the new Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL) on August 1 will come new and updated penalties – with some penalties set to double.
Among those set to greatly increase are a number of fatigue related offences that will jump from $13,310 to $26,610 (indexed again on July 1, 2026).
A total of 349 offences were reviewed using assessment criteria that takes into account:
- Public safety
- Environment and public amenity
- Road infrastructure
- Unfair commercial advantage
- Frustration of enforcement
- False and misleading conduct
- Undermining confidence in the regulatory framework; and
- Systemic conduct
“Most of the penalties going down are for administrative breaches,” said Paul Daly, NHVR’s Director of Strategic Policy. “For example, spelling Cairns with an ‘F’. The penalties that are increasing are those relating to safety breaches, with some of the more serious fines, where an incident results in serious injury or a fatality, more than doubling from the current amount.”
In August 2022, the Infrastructure Transport Ministers Meeting (ITMM) agreed to progress a package of reforms recommended by Ken Kanofski, including (among many) that fines for fatigue-related administrative offences be proportionate to risk.
In response to further work carried out by the NTC as part of a Consultation Regulation Impact Statement (RIS), jurisdiction submissions highlighted that a review of fatigue management offences, and penalty reductions, could deliver improved outcomes for the fatigue regulatory regime.
Throughout the HVNL Review, industry stakeholders continually raised the need to ensure proportionality of HVNL penalties.
Under the HVNL, penalty amounts are subject to annual CPI, increasing on July 1, 2026.
Current available penalty information sets out details of increased and decreased penalties.
The figures set out below, obtained through NTC documents, will again be indexed on July 1, 2026 – meaning they will go up again.
“From 1 August 2026, the amended HVNL will commence, with the new offence provisions and associated penalties incorporating the CPI increases that take effect on 1 July 2026,” an NHVR spokesperson told Big Rigs.
“With the amended HVNL now commencing on 1 August 2026, there will be a one-month transition period during which indexed penalties will apply to offences under the current law.
“From 1 August 2026, the amended HVNL will commence, with the new offence provisions and associated penalties incorporating the CPI increases that take effect on 1 July 2026.”
Some of the penalties set to greatly increase include:
- Duty of driver to avoid driving while fatigued: increasing from $8000 to $26,610
- Duty of Driver to avoid driving while unfit (this is a new penalty): $26,610
- Duty of employer, prime contractor, operator and scheduler to ensure driver compliance: $8000 to $13,310
- Driver of fatigue regulated heavy vehicle must carry work diary: increasing from $8000 to $13,310
- False or misleading entries (fatigue): increasing from $13,310 to $26,610
- False representation about work records prohibited: increasing from $13,310 to $26,610
- Offence to remove pages from written work diary: increasing from $13,310 to $26,610
- Person using approved electronic recording system must not permit tampering with it: increasing from $13,310 to $26,610
- Prohibited Requests: increasing from $13,310 to $26,610
- Prohibited Contracts: increasing from $13,310 to $26,610
- Compliance with vehicle standards: increasing from $3,980 to $8000
- False or misleading transport documentation of goods: increasing from $13,310 to $26,610
- False or misleading container weight declaration: increasing from $13,310 to $26,610
- Contravening conditions applying to HML heavy vehicles being used in an area or on a route declared by an HML declaration: increasing from $3980 to $8000
- Contravening conditions of HML permit: increasing from $3980 to $8000
- Failing to produce a heavy vehicle for inspection (when ordered to): increasing from $8000 to $13,310
- Knowingly making false or misleading statement: increasing from $13,310 to $26,610
Some of the penalties that will decrease include:
- Return of HML permit: decreasing from $5300 to $2000
- Replacement of defaced HML permit: decreasing from $5300 to $2000
- Operating under standard hours – solo drivers – minor: decreasing from $5300 to $3980
- Minor risk breach of alternative compliance hours: decreasing from $5300 to $3980
- Keeping relevant document while operating under work and rest hours exemption (notice): decreasing from $3980 to $2000
- Keeping a copy of permit while driving under work and rest hours exemption: decreasing from $5300 Infringement $2000
- Information required to be recorded immediately after starting work: decreasing from $8000 to $5300
- Driver who is record keeper must notify Regulator if electronic work diary filled up: decreasing from $3980 to $2000
- Period for which, and way in which, records must be kept (fatigue): decreasing from $8000 to $5300
“The NHVR will publish updated penalty information ahead of commencement to ensure industry understand these changes,” a spokesperson said.
no wonder no one wants to drive trucks anymore these fines are so stupid.trying to regulate transport off the roads.
Spot on
anyone want to buy a couple of trucks l think I’ll go on the dole
better start building more train lines, your gonna need them when the mass exodus happens from an already stretched industry with FA drivers…. all the more reason to stay west, east doesn’t exist anymore, NT and WA ONLY…. the rest can go play fetch themselves… your still hunting drivers instead of beating down the doors under CoR…. 100k fine for a supervisor and manager in the food chain stops the BS happening, 1 million for corporate clients pushing BS deadlines and outrageous waiting times for loads, instead they are getting chook feed fines still, no balls at all in the NHVR…. good luck eastern Australia, your gonna need it
Spot on, the guy with one or a couple of trucks is being hunted into extinction
I guess these fines are court imposed, as nothing like this is ever handed to me buy taskforce officers when they stop me.
It won’t stop accidents because the current work diary causes fatigue which is why I rarely bother using it, and tell officers exactly that and most of them agree, with one high ranking lady officer actually quoting its all about the money, as for most NHVR officers they don’t know there arse from there elbow when it comes to fatigue.
In livestock transport we are looseing so much time due absolute disgrace of QLD road system, there no choice but to keep on trucking because the welfare of the livestock comes before NHVRs power play, for me anyway.
And does COR still exist, I don’t think so as it is never mentioned.
Better start rolling strike. Melbourne 1 week Sydney next week Brisbane next week and so on. Just stop feeding people. They’ll get the idea eventually that we are sort of important and not getting paid enough.
all good to say have a rolling strike, but honestly can you see the likes of linfox,finemores or toll just to name a few going to join a rolling strike, they will rub their hands together like greedy little grubs because we all know that they trying to push the little fellow out
what doesn’t make sense to me is they concentrate so much on us drivers making sure we are all following “safe driving practices” annd fining us many$ for breaches…….all the while the actually roads we are trying to drive safely on are a joke with massive bumps that only have place on dirt bike tracks ..holes that dirt bikes wouldn’t look at….grooves ,tyre tracks sun k en into highway……..Before they even think about pulling us up they should be making sure surfaces we operate on are perfect