Towards an updated Heavy Vehicle National Law

In August 2025, Australian transport ministers approved the draft Heavy Vehicle National Law Amendment Bill (HVNL) and Heavy Vehicle National Amendment Regulations. The legislative package is now before the Queensland Parliament as the host jurisdiction. Subject to passage, the updated law is expected to commence in mid-2026.

Together with the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator, we have now launched a consultation on four key statutory instruments that will support the implementation of the HVNL. We are inviting feedback via submissions.

The NTC extends its thanks to the heavy vehicle industry, Australian governments and the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator for their collaborative efforts so far in improving the Heavy Vehicle National Law. 

The consultation will close on Monday, 1 December 2025. See below for more details and to have your say. 
 

We are currently asking for feedback on four key statutory instruments that will support the implementation of the HVNL. These cover:

• heavy vehicle accreditation guidelines
• a safety management system standard
• a national audit standard; and
• fatigue alternative compliance hours. 

This will underpin the updated law and ensure consistent, practical outcomes across HVNL-participating states and territories.  

To assist you with providing feedback, we have developed a consultation overview.

We ask you to consider the clarity of the requirements, suitability for operators of different size and complexity, and any technical or administrative issues that may affect implementation.

Consultation will close on Monday, 1 December 2025.
 

You can take part in the consultation by:

• Attending an online information session or reading the consultation overview.
• Preparing and uploading a submission in response to one or more of the draft statutory instruments listed above, depending on which topics are most relevant to you.
   

To register for a session, click on the relevant link below. All times are listed in AEDT.

• Monday 10 November, 2:00pm – 3:00pm
  • Covering the Safety Management System (SMS) Standard and the National Audit Standard (NAS).
• Thursday 20 November, 10:30am – 11:30am
  • Covering the Heavy Vehicle Accreditation Guidelines and Fatigue Alternative Compliance Hours.

Both sessions will be recorded and made available here shortly after for anyone unable to attend live. 
 

As part our work, we undertook public consultation on exposure drafts of the  Heavy Vehicle National Law Amendment Bill and Heavy Vehicle National Amendment Regulations between 10 October and 21 November 2024.

Throughout this consultation, we engaged with stakeholders through many industry and government-organised meetings, webinars, and in-person presentations.

We held a webinar unpacking the approved policy changes, and how the draft legislation was aligned to them.

Feedback received during consultation informed the finalisation of the draft law and regulations before they were presented to ministers for their consideration and approval.  Ministers approved the legislative package in August 2025.

Enhanced flexibility and safety

• The updated HVNL will have a tiered safety assurance system with a baseline tier of simplified requirements and an alternative compliance tier for accredited operators. This will offer more flexibility for the industry and improve safety for road users.
• The Regulator will now be able to develop a range of Alternative Compliance Options instead of these being fixed in the law. This supports risk-based regulation and enables the Regulator to be more responsive to industry needs.
• The opt-in National Heavy Vehicle Accreditation Scheme (NHVAS) will be enhanced to allow accredited operators more flexibility and choice in managing their compliance obligations, within set limits.
• As an enhancement to the current scheme, the updated law will establish a scalable Safety Management System, as a core accreditation requirement.
• The updated law will expand the driver duty to include not driving if unfit for any reason, not just fatigue, enhancing public safety.

Boosting productivity for industry

The NTC is progressing further amendments to the Mass, Dimension and Loading (MDL) regulations that will deliver productivity benefits to the road transport industry. These will be delivered in the current legislative package and include:

• increasing General Mass Limits (GML) to align with current Concessional Mass Limits (CML); and
• increasing vehicle length limit from 19 metres to 20 metres.

In addition, the NTC is working with jurisdictions on further reforms to enhance productivity, including:

• increasing the general vehicle height limit from 4.3 metres to 4.6 metres; and
• increasing the length limit for ‘short’ B-doubles from 19 metres to 20 metres.

More effective regulation and streamlining governance

• A new National Audit Standard will be created by the Regulator and approved by ministers. This should reduce the need for multiple audits, benefiting productivity and saving costs.
• Codes of Practice will now be developed and approved by the Regulator. This will support guidance to drivers and other chain of responsibility parties, leading to better compliance and safer operations.
• Ministerial powers will be adjusted so that they can direct the Regulator to take action where there is a serious public risk.

Simpler record keeping

• Changes in the law will help to simplify certain work diary requirements, keeping only essential record keeping requirements.

Fairer enforcement

• Enforcement changes will align the HVNL with other laws, allowing improvement notices and prosecution processes to occur concurrently.
• Authorised Officers will be able to issue formal warnings for a broader range of breaches, including fatigue record-keeping. This change aims to make the law fairer on drivers for minor work diary errors.

Following further work to confirm a cost-effective implementation pathway, the HVNL will also include formal education as an enforcement option for work diary administrative offenses. This work will be continued separately from this law reform package.

Supporting the adoption of technologies to improve safety and productivity

Some other policy items will be advanced separately from this law reform package, including the development of a technology and data framework.

• The intent is to establish a comprehensive framework for recognising technologies, including data protection and access, with a Framework Administrator appointed by ministers. This will provide more flexibility for the industry and regulator, improving safety and productivity.
   

If you’d like to express interest in the program, or ask us a question about our work, we’d like to hear from you. You can contact us at hvnlteam@ntc.gov.au.