EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

 

Select Legislative Instrument 2009 No. 309

 

Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government

 

National Transport Commission Act 2003

 

National Transport Commission (Model Amendments Regulations: Australian Road Rules – Package No. 8) Regulations 2009

 

Section 52 of the National Transport Commission Act 2003 (the Act) provides that the Governor-General may make regulations, not inconsistent with the Act, prescribing all matters required or permitted by the Act to be prescribed or necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to the Act.

 

The provisions of the Act are supported by the Inter-Governmental Agreement on Regulatory and Operational Reform in Road, Rail and Intermodal Transport (IGA), which serves to formalise the cooperative arrangements between the Commonwealth, States and Territories and define the roles and responsibilities of the National Transport Commission, the Australian Transport Council and the jurisdictions. Clause 14 of the IGA requires the Commonwealth to submit model legislation for inclusion in schedules to regulations under the Act. The Regulations would implement this commitment.

 

The purpose of the Regulations is to make various amendments to the Australian Road Rules (the Principal Regulations) for nationally consistent implementation in each State and Territory. The Regulations are in model form to allow for implementation in each jurisdiction using the most convenient and effective regulatory manner available – for instance, the provisions may be incorporated into the law of a jurisdiction by way of amendment of existing legislation.

 

The objects of the Regulations are to:

 

(a)    clarify the definition of a shared zone; and

(b)   make changes to the Rules dealing with giving way to pedestrians when turning at an intersection; giving a change of direction signal when turning at a roundabout; overtaking to the left of another vehicle; the use of marked lanes by particular vehicles; keeping to the left of a dividing line; exceptions to keeping to the left of a dividing line; the requirement for a driver to have proper control of a vehicle; and the use of television receivers and visual display units in motor vehicles.

 

The Australian Road Rule maintenance process commenced in 2003 with the aim of identifying issues with the road rules and creating amendment packages to ensure the road rules retain their contemporaneousness. The Australian Road Rules 8^th Amendment Package Regulations were developed and refined through extensive consultations with representatives from Commonwealth, State and Territory road transport and enforcement authorities, through the Australian Road Rules Maintenance Group, in order to identify and assess the need for the required changes.

 

The Commission also consulted with the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association (in relation to mobile phones issues), the Australian Trucking Association (in relation to mobile phones and other matters concerning trucks), the Australian Motorcycle Council Inc. (for matters relating to motor bikes and the Australian Pedetrian Council for matters relating to pedestrians).

 

The draft Regulations were circulated, as part of a discussion paper, for public comment in June 2008. Comments received following the public consultation phase resulted in a number of changes being made to the draft Regulations.

 

Following face to face deliberations and discussions with the Australian Road Rules Maintenance Group, the NTC finalized the Regulations for consideration by Transport Agency Chief Executives (TACE) and the Australian Transport Council (ATC). The Regulations were granted an exemption by the Office of Best Practice and Regulation and did not require a supporting Regulatory Impact Statement (RIS) as the amendments are minor and mechanical in nature, and did not substantially alter existing arrangements or the regulatory burden on any parties.

 

The NTC submitted the draft Regulations to the TACE group in October 2008 under an expedited approvals process. That process, under the Guidelines for Expedited Approval of Minor and Non-Contentious Amendments to Agreed Reforms, provides that NTC amendments that are unanimously and unconditionally endorsed by TACE can be implemented without requiring ATC approval.

 

During the TACE approval phase four States did not approve the draft Regulations. Because of the requirements for unanimity in the expedited approvals process, any dissenting vote with respect to a Regulation constitutes a failure to gain unanimous TACE approval. Therefore, the Regulations required approval by the ATC. The Regulations were submitted to the ATC for voting and were approved on 6 February 2009.

 

Section 7 of the Act provides that regulations may set out model legislation, being legislation developed by the NTC in accordance with the IGA. Paragraph 7(2)(a) provides that model legislation does not have the force of law. The schedules to the regulations serve only as a repository for nationally agreed reforms, which may then be implemented by jurisdictions.

 

Item 44 of the table to subsection 44(2) of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003 together with item 7 of Schedule 2 to the Legislative Instruments Regulations 2004 operate to provide that the Regulations are not subject to disallowance. In addition, item 51 of the table to subsection 54(2) of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003 together with item 4 of Schedule 3 to the Legislative Instruments Regulations 2004 operate to provide that the Regulations are not subject to sunsetting.