Updating the National Voluntary Guidelines for Landside Stevedoring Charges

We recently consulted on proposed updates to the National Voluntary Guidelines for Landside Stevedore Charges, including extending to cover empty container parks.

The consultation paper set out the proposed changes to improve transparency, predictability and consistency of landside pricing across Australia’s five major ports.

Stakeholders across the containerised freight supply chain were invited to provide feedback.

Consultation closed on 13 March 2026.
 

The NTC is working to update the National Voluntary Guidelines for Landside Stevedore Charges, released in 2022, in response to a request from Australian transport ministers.

At ministers’ direction, the updated Guidelines are expected to align with Victoria’s Voluntary Pricing Protocol (VPP) and will consider extending the guidelines to empty container parks (ECPs). 

Proposed changes include moving to a single annual price-change date of 1 January each year. 

As part of this work, the NTC is engaging with government agencies and the port and container land transport industries. 

Public consultation commenced in early 2026, with finalised Guidelines expected to be considered by transport ministers in the second quarter of 2026.

Separate to this work, the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts will establish a National Container Landside Pricing Working Group to consider broader regulatory responses to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission findings on landside pricing.