EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
STATUTORY RULES NO 144 OF 1990
Issued By The Authority Of The Minister Of State For Land Transport
Subject - Interstate Road Transport Act 1985
Interstate Road Transport Regulations (Amendment)
Subsection 56(1) of the Interstate Road Transport Act 1985 (the Act) provides that the Governor-General may make regulations not inconsistent with the Act, prescribing 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 Interstate Road Transport Regulations are made under that subsection.
The Act was amended in 1989 on the recommendation of the Attorney-General’s Department to put beyond doubt the authority under the Act for Regulations relating to detection and treatment of overloaded vehicles. Some minor amendments to the Regulations are proposed to reflect the 1989 amendment to the Act.
Other amendments to Regulations provide for payment of registration charges by instalments, and ensure consistency between the Motor Vehicle Standards Act 1989 and the Interstate Road Transport Act 1985 by requiring vehicles to meet the motor vehicle standards in effect at the time the vehicle was introduced to the market for first registration under the Federal Interstate Registration Scheme, or where the vehicle was first registered under a State or Territory registration scheme and transferred to Federal registration, the vehicle is required to meet the standards in force at the time it was first registered under the State or Territory scheme.
Instalment Payments for Registration Charges
The Act, as amended by the Transport and Communications Legislation Amendment Act 1989, provides for instalment payments for Federal registration charges which were introduced by administrative arrangements with State and Territory Governments in August 1988. Instalment payments were introduced as part of the undertaking given in negotiating an end to the July 1988 truck blockades. Instalment payments aim to assist operators financially by allowing registration payments to be spread throughout the year.
Amendments to the Regulations are necessary to reflect recent amendments to the Act and to specify matters of detail relating to the operation of instalment payments for registration charges including the prescription of the maximum number of instalments and the day and amount of payment for each instalment.
Motor Vehicle Standards
The introduction of the Motor Vehicle Standards Act 1989 prescribes design and safety standards to apply to all vehicles new to the Australian market, including new vehicles registered under the Interstate Road Transport Act 1985.
As a requirement for the purposes of registration, the proposed Regulations require new vehicles registering under the Federal Interstate Registration Scheme to comply with the standards declared under the Motor Vehicle Standards Act 1989 for the first and subsequent registrations.
For vehicles currently registered under the Federal scheme or other State or Territory schemes that may transfer registration to the Federal scheme at a later stage, the Regulations require these vehicles to meet the motor vehicle standards in effect at the time the motor vehicle was originally introduced to the market.
Details of the amending Regulations are in the Attachment.
ATTACHMENT
EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
INTERSTATE ROAD TRANSPORT REGULATIONS
DETAILS OF AMENDING REGULATIONS
REGULATION 1 Cites the Principal Regulations.
REGULATION 2 Amends existing Regulation 2 by adding definition of a national standard.
REGULATION 3 Amends existing Regulation 5 by omitting reference to a registered motor vehicle or trailer and replacing it with the requirement that vehicles registered before 1 August 1989 by a State or Territory Registration Authority or under the Federal scheme comply with existing requirements for registration.
An addition to the Regulation requires new vehicles or trailers registering under the scheme, or where a vehicle or trailer has been modified or altered after 1 August 1989, to comply with the national motor vehicle standards declared under the Motor Vehicle Standards Act 1989 that are applicable to the vehicle at the time of its introduction to the market for its first and subsequent registrations under the scheme.
REGULATION 4 Repeals existing Regulation 121 and replaces it with a provision accommodating an amendment to section 13 of the Act putting beyond doubt the validity of police or inspectors’ powers to weigh a vehicle to determine whether it is overloaded.
REGULATION 5 Repeals existing Regulation 12K and replaces it with a provision reflecting amendments to section 13 of the Act which clarifies police and inspectors’ powers to require an overloaded vehicle to unload enough of its load to comply with the applicable mass limit.
REGULATION 6 Adds a provision enabling vehicles prescribed in Item 4 in the Schedule to the Interstate Road Transport Charge Regulations, to pay registration charges by instalment. A provision allows the Minister and Regulatory Authority to make an arrangement providing for instalments in other vehicle categories listed in the Schedule to the Interstate Road Transport Charge Regulations. It also specifies the maximum number of instalments that may be made, the day of payment and the amount of each instalment.