HEAVY VEHICLE NATIONAL LAW

QUEENSLAND HEAVY VEHICLE STANDARDS (WARNING LIGHTS AND SIGNS ON SCHOOL BUSES) EXEMPTION NOTICE 2026 (No.1)

Part 1 - Preliminary

1.       Purpose

(1)    The purpose of this Notice is to exempt a heavy vehicle to which it applies from the requirements of Schedule 2, Part 6, Division 16 of the Heavy Vehicle (Vehicle Standards) National Regulation (the National Regulation).

(2)    This Notice revokes and replaces the Queensland Heavy Vehicle Standards (Warning Lights and Signs on School Buses) Exemption Notice 2022 (No. 1).

2.       Authorising Provision

This Notice is made under the following provisions of the Heavy Vehicle National Law as in force in Queensland:

(1)    section 61 – Regulator’s power to exempt category of heavy vehicles from compliance with heavy vehicle standard

(2)    section 23 of Schedule 1 – Power to make instrument or decision includes power to amend or repeal.

3.       Title

This Notice may be cited as the Queensland Heavy Vehicle Standards (Warning Lights and Signs on School Buses) Exemption Notice 2026 (No.1).

4.       Commencement

This Notice commences on 20 February 2026.

5.       Expiry

This Notice expires on 19 February 2031.

6.       Definitions

(1)    Unless otherwise stated, words and expressions used in this Notice have the same meanings as those defined in the Heavy Vehicle National Law.

(2)    In this Notice—

conditionally agreed relief bus means a bus that temporarily provides school services and is not fitted with school warning signs and lights.

defined urban area means—

1.     the area of the City of Brisbane under the City of Brisbane Act 2010 (Qld); or
2.     an area for which a service contract is required under section 42 of the Transport Operations (Passenger Transport) Act 1994 (Qld) for the provision of road-based general route services that are not—

i.            school services only; or

ii.            services only for the carriage of eligible school students.

non-school bus means a bus—

(a)    operated in Queensland; and

(b)    not a school bus.

Queensland bus light and signage requirements means the requirements set out in Part 2 of this Notice.

required image means an image of 2 children in the same proportions as the children in AS 1743, image W6-3, with the image of the taller child at least 230mm high.

school bus means a bus being used to provide a school service outside, or partly outside, a defined urban area, even though the bus may be used for other purposes at other times.

school service means a scheduled passenger service only or primarily for the transport of school students to and from school (other than for school excursions) on days that schools are open for instruction.

school student means a school student attending, as a student –

1.     a state school under the Education (General Provisions) Act 2006, or
2.     an accredited school under the Education (Accreditation of Non-State Schools) Act 2017.

Traffic Regulation 1962 light and signage requirements means the requirements set out in Part 3 of this Notice.

transitioning bus means a bus that was fitted with, and continues to meet, warning lights and signs complying with—

(a)    the Queensland bus light and signage requirements prior to 20 February 2026; or

(b)    the Traffic Regulation 1962 light and signage requirements prior to October 1999.

7.       Application

(1)    This Notice applies in the State of Queensland.

(2)    This Notice applies to—

(a)    a school bus carrying school students

(b)    a non-school bus

(c)     transitioning bus

(d)    conditionally agreed relief bus.

8.       Exemption from Prescribed Vehicle Standards

(1)    A transitioning bus is exempt from Schedule 2, Part 6, Division 16 of the National Regulation.

(2)    A non-school bus is exempt from Schedule 2, Part 6, Division 16 of the National Regulation.

(3)    A conditionally agreed relief bus is exempt from Schedule 2, Part 6, Division 16 of the National Regulation.

9.       Condition

(1)    A vehicle that is a conditionally agreed relief bus, need not be fitted with warning lights and signs.

(2)    A vehicle that is a transitioning bus and was fitted with warning lights and signs between October 1999 and 19 February 2026, must be fitted with warning lights and signs complying with the Queensland bus light and signage requirements.

(3)    A vehicle that is a transitioning bus and was fitted with warning lights and signs prior to October 1999, must be fitted with warning lights and signs complying with the Traffic Regulation 1962 light and signage requirements.

(4)    A non-school bus need not be fitted with warning lights and signs. However, a non-school bus may be fitted with warning lights and/or signs, and if so, they must comply with the standards for those lights and/or signs that were in force when they were fitted.

Part 2 – Queensland bus light and signage requirements

1.       School bus to be fitted with warning signs and warning lights

(1)    A relevant vehicle that is a school bus must be fitted with—

(a)    warning signs complying with sections 2 and 3; and

(b)    warning lights complying with sections 4 to 6.

Note: For the use of, and prohibition on driving without, the warning lights and warning signs see the Queensland Road Rules, sections 222 and 222A.

(2)    The warning signs may be fitted permanently to the bus or to a backing that allows them to be detached or folded.

2.       Number and location of warning signs

(1)    The bus must have 2 warning signs—

(a)    1 of which is fitted at the front, and the other of which is fitted at the rear of the bus on the inside or outside of the bus; and

(b)    each of which is visible from outside the bus.

(2)    However, a warning sign may be fitted on the inside of the bus only if the sign is as visible as, and is the same colour as, and is not significantly dimmer than it would be if it were fitted on the outside of the bus at the front or rear of the bus.

(3)    Also, the warning sign must not be fitted where it obscures the driver’s vision or hinders the use of an emergency exit.

3.       Content, size, shape and material of warning signs

(1)    A warning sign on the front of the bus must display—

(a)    the words ‘school bus’ in capital letters at least 100mm high in the vertical plane; or

(b)    the required image.

(2)    A warning sign on the rear of the bus must display the required image.

(3)    A warning sign displaying the required image must—

(a)    be rectangular; and

(b)    either—

i.            if any of the warning lights are on the warning sign—be at least 550mm wide and 400mm high in the vertical plane; or

ii.            otherwise—be at least 400mm wide and 250mm high in the vertical plane; and

(c)     have a black border; and

(d)    have black graphics; and

(e)    be coated, other than over the border or graphics, with retroreflective material that—

i.            is yellow; and

ii.            is of class 1 or 2 as described in AS 1906; and

iii.            complies with AS 1906.

(4)    The minimum height under subsection (3)(b) of a warning sign is based on the sign being mounted vertically.

(5)    However, a warning sign may be lower than the minimum height in the vertical plane if—

(a)    either—

i.            if any of the warning lights are on the warning sign—the warning light is at least 400mm high measured from its top to its bottom; or

ii.            otherwise—the warning light is at least 250mm high measured from its top to its bottom; and

(b)    the warning light is mounted on a surface that is not more than 15⁰ from the vertical.

(6)    If the surface of the bus at a place where a warning sign may be fitted is more than 15⁰ from the vertical, a warning sign may be fitted at the place if—

(a)    the warning sign complies with subsection (5)(a); and

(b)    the warning sign is mounted on a separate surface so that the sign can stand vertically or otherwise stand at not more than 15⁰ from the vertical.

(7)    Also, a warning sign may be fitted flush to a surface of the bus, at a place where a warning sign may be fitted, that is more than 15⁰ from the vertical if the sign is made tall enough to achieve the minimum vertical height.

4.       Number and location of warning lights

(1)    The bus must have a pair of warning lights—

(a)    1 of which is fitted at the front, and the other of which is fitted at the rear of the bus on the inside or outside of the bus; and

(b)    each of which is visible from outside the bus.

(2)    However, a warning light may be fitted on the inside of the bus only if the light from the warning light is the same colour as, and not significantly dimmer than, it would be if the warning light were fitted on the outside of the front or the rear of the bus.

(3)    Also, a warning light must not be fitted where it obscures the driver’s vision or hinders the use of an emergency exit.

(4)    A warning light must be fitted—

(a)    on the left and right side of, and the same distance from, the centre of the warning sign that is on the same end of the bus as the warning light; and

(b)    so the warning lights are at least 300mm apart; and

(c)     so no part of the bus, including parked or operating windscreen wipers, obstructs the light displayed by the warning light—

i.            within an arc, in the horizontal plane, from 30⁰ to the left to 30⁰ to the right of the centre of the warning light; or

ii.            within an arc, in the vertical plane, from 10⁰ above to 10⁰ below the centre of the warning light; and

(d)    so the lens of the warning light is not over 100mm from the warning sign that is on the same end of the bus as the warning light.

(5)    However, a warning light on an end of the bus may be on the warning sign that is on the same end of the bus if the words or image on the sign are not obscured.

(6)    Warning lights on the same end of the bus must be fitted—

(a)    at the same height; and

(b)    as high as practicable; and

(c)     so no part of the lens of each light is lower than midway between the highest and lowest points on the body of the bus at that end of the bus.

(7)    If the centres of warning lights on the same end of the bus are less than 1.8m above ground level, no part of the warning lights or warning sign on that end of the bus may be on the left side of the bus.

5.       Lens and light of warning lights

(1)    Each warning light must—

(a)    have a lens with an effective lit lens area of at least 60cm2; and

(b)    emit a yellow light that has been tested under the test procedure stated in ADR 6/00 and found to have a luminous intensity of at least the amounts mentioned in Table 1 when measured at the angles mentioned in the table; and

Note: Indicator lights complying with ADR 6/00 are unsuitable for use as warning lights because the luminous intensity levels in Table 1 are much brighter than the level required for an indicator light to comply with ADR 6/00.

(c)     emit about the same amount of light as the other warning light of the pair; and

(d)    be aimed so the beam from the light is focused—

i.            parallel to the road; and

ii.            parallel to the longitudinal centre line of the bus; and

(e)    be built and adjusted so it cannot dazzle the driver of another vehicle.

Table 1: Luminous intensity of warning lights, in candela

6.       Operation of warning lights

(1)    The bus must—

(a)    have a visible or audible signal that tells the driver of the bus when the warning lights are on; and

(b)    be fitted with a switch that allows the driver, from the driver’s normal driving position, to turn on, or turn off, simultaneously all warning lights fitted to the bus.

(2)    When the warning lights are operating—

(a)    the warning lights on the same end of the bus must flash alternately; and

(b)    the warning lights must emit regular flashes of light at a rate of at least 90, and not over 180, flashes a minute.

(3)    The warning lights must operate automatically when a door on the bus opens and continue to operate—

(a)    while a door is open; and

(b)    for at least 10 seconds, but not more than 20 seconds, after all doors of the bus have closed.

Note: For further requirements about the operation of warning lights, see the Queensland Road Rules, section 222A (Use of warning lights—picking up or setting down school children).

Part 3 - Traffic Regulation 1962 light and signage requirements

A school bus must have—

(1)    2 flashing yellow lamps on the front and rear of the bus—

(a)    mounted as high and as widely spaced laterally as practicable which when lit shall emit a yellow flashing light visible in normal sunlight at all distances up to 200 m to vehicles approaching from the front and rear; and

(b)    capable of being activated simultaneously by the driver from the driver’s normal driving position when the vehicle is stationary; and

(2)    1 sign at the front and rear of the bus—

(a)    inscribed with the words ‘school bus’ in black lettering of a size not less than 100 mm in height and not less than 60 mm in width on a yellow background; and

(b)    mounted as far as practicable in close proximity to the yellow lamps referred to in paragraph (1).

02 February 2026

Peter Austin

Director Policy Implementation

National Heavy Vehicle Regulator