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User:Declan Palmer/Transport Legislation Review

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The Transport Legislation Review is a project being conducted by the Department of Transport in the state of Victoria, Australia.

The broad aim of the project is the review of Victoria's transport policy and laws and the generation of new policy and legislation as a platform for improved transport settings across the state. The Review is the most extensive project of its kind in Victoria since the period 1982-1988[1].

Proposals are developed through the Review for consideration by the Victorian Government and proceed initially as policy ideas and concepts. The proposals are progressively refined over time as part of modules or sub projects. Outputs from Review often proceed as new state laws, commonly in the form of new Acts of the Victorian Parliament. The new laws which have arisen from the Review to date have had both regulatory and de-regulatory effects in particular areas.[2] .

The Review commenced in 2004 and is still underway. The former and current Victorian Government Ministers who have overseen the work of the project at times since it commenced are the Hon Peter Batchelor MP, the Hon Lynne Kosky MP, the Hon Tim Pallas MP and the Hon Martin Pakula MLC.

The work of the Transport Legislation Review was described in the following terms in a 2009 paper released by the Department of Transport -

A comprehensive review of Victoria’s transport policy and legislation has been underway since 2004. Its aim has been to modernise transport policy, legislation and regulatory practices, drawing on developments in regulatory theory and approaches in other industry sectors and in other jurisdictions.[3]

More recently, the explanatory memorandum to the Transport Legislation Amendment(Compliance, Enforcement and Regulation) Bill 2010 observed that -

"...major renewal is underway across the transport portfolios through the Government's Transport Legislation Review. This project is ...generating an entire new legislative framework for the State along best practice lines."[4]


Context and plans edit

The Transport Legislation Review arose out of concerns about the poor state of Victoria's transport laws. In particular, much of Victoria's transport legislation was thought to be dense, unecessarily prescriptive and largely based on old policy[5]. The Victorian Government was also troubled that areas of the laws failed to reflect regulatory advances in other industries and were also not sufficiently informed by overseas reforms.

The Review has been guided throughout by a target legislative framework diagram which shows the final desired state of transport portfolio legislation in Victoria after the completion of work. The diagram is headed by a overarching portfolio-based statute, the Transport Integration Act, supported by a range of transport modal and subject-specific statutes. Diagrams showing the current and former legislative structures are also used.[6]

New laws generated to date edit

The work of the Review has concentrated on long term and short term measures. Global sector or scheme reviews have typically resulted in the creation of new Acts of Parliament which have repealed existing Acts[7]. These statutes are called principal statutes and typically take two years or more to complete. Smaller or mid range reforms, on the other hand, have been pursued through legislation called "amending Acts", or Acts which amend existing principal statues[8]. Amending Acts commonly take much less time to complete and enact than principal Acts, sometimes only a few months.

Principal statutes edit

The work of the Transport Legislation Review has led to the passage of seven major principal statutes since early 2006. The centrepiece of the Review and the prime transport statute in Victoria is the Transport Integration Act 2010, which came into effect on 1 July 2010.

The majority of the new statutes which have emerged from the work of the Review were preceded by external policy and stakeholder processes. This typically involves the public release of documents outlining issues in the relevant transport sector, circulation of draft proposals for change, the conduct of industry and public consultation forums and the receipt of submissions[9].

Apart from the Transport Integration Act, the six principal statutes generated by the Review to date are:

  • the Rail Safety Act 2006[10]
  • the Accident Towing Services Act 2007[11]
  • the Bus Safety Act 2009[12]
  • the Major Transport Projects Facilitation Act 2009[13]
  • the Marine Safety Act 2010[14]
  • the Tourist and Heritage Railways Act 2010.[15]

Other statutes edit

A wide range of amending statutes have also been generated by the Review. While generally smaller than most new principal statutes, amending Acts nonetheless sometimes deal with significant "big picture" changes. Amending statutes are often used as a legislative mechanism used to pursue discrete, urgent or priority regulatory reforms.

Some of these types of statutes prompted by the Review to date include -

  • the Transport Legislation (Safety Investigations) Act 2006[16]
  • the Transport (Taxi-cab Accreditation and Other Amendments) Act 2006[17]
  • the Transport Legislation Amendment Act 2007[18]
  • the Transport Legislation Amendment (Hoon Boating and Other Amendments) Act 2009[19]
  • the Transport Legislation Amendment (Compliance, Enforcement and Regulation) Act 2010[20]

Regulations edit

A range of new regulations has been generated by the Transport Legislation Review. In the majority of cases, the regulations have been circulated publicy in draft form accompanied by a regulatory impact statement and made available for comment by the community and industry.[21]

Examples of new regulations developed as part of the Review include -

  • the Transport (Conduct) Regulations 2005[22]
  • the Transport (Ticketing) Regulations 2006[23]
  • the Transport (Infringments) Regulations 2010[24]

Future reviews edit

The work of the Transport Legislation Review is continuing. Major areas signalled for major reform in coming years through the project[25] include policy reviews and new statutes in the following areas -

  • Taxis and Hire Car
  • Walking and Cycling
  • Road Safety
  • Port Management
  • the compliance, enforcement and other matters covered by the current Transport (Compliance and Miscellaneous) Act 1983.

Criticism edit

While the Transport Legislation Review project itself has not generally been subject to criticism, some individual policy and legislative proposals arising from the Review have been publicly criticised. For example, the Rail Safety Act 2006 was opposed in the Victorian Parliament by the Liberal and National party members of Parliament but was passed as the Government held a majority of votes in both houses of Parliament[26]. Several policy proposals circulated by the Department of Transport during a review of the Marine Act 1988 were abandoned and not considered for inclusion in the subsequent Marine Safety Act 2010 due to widespread opposition to the measures.

The Bill proposal for the Transport Intergration Act was also the subject of heavy criticism by Liberal and National party members during its passage through Parliament[27] but not opposed. Finally, a proposal to add port authorities to the organisational framework in the Transport Integration Act framework was opposed and defeated in the Legislative Council by the Liberal, National and Green parties[28]. However, the Bill was subsequently passed following the institution of a dispute resolution process[29].

References edit

  1. ^ This period produced the following major statutes - the Transport Act 1983, the Road Safety Act 1986 and the Marine Act 1988. A major proposal for a Victorian Ports Authority Act was defeated in Parliament in 1985. Another significant period of change was 1995-1999 although review was mainly confined to statutes realting to reorganisation of rail services in the state and initial new safety regulation schemes in the rail and bus sectors.
  2. ^ The Accident Towing Services Act 2007 provides an example of a de-regulatory initiative. The Act repealed provisions regulating the towing industry in the former Transport Act 1983. While some provisions were re-enacted in modified form, provisions regulating trade towing were not continued therefore removing economic regulation controls from the sector.
  3. ^ Improving Marine Safety in Victoria - Review of the Marine Act 1988, Discussion Paper, July 2009. Foreword, Page 1. Paper available at the Department of Transport website.
  4. ^ Explanatory memorandum, page 1, Transport Legislation (Compliance, Enforcement and Regulation) Bill 2010, from the official Victorian Government legislation site.
  5. ^ For example, see the Minister's second reading speech in supoport the Rail Safety Act 2006 which contained numerous criticisms of the style and substance of the former legislation. Another example is the explanatory memorandum for the Tourist and Heritage Railways Bill 2010 which observes that, "Tourist and heritage railways were previously governed by the Transport Act 1983, under which the Governor in Council was empowered to make Orders in Council granting persons the right to occupy, operate and maintain tourist railway services. Importantly, this regulatory scheme only covered a narrow range of matters affecting the sector and did not provide sufficient clarity or make appropriate provision for the occupation and use of Victorian railways and railway infrastructure."
  6. ^ Current, future and past legislative structure diagrams are available online at the relevant pages on the Department of Transport web site.
  7. ^ See Principal statutes section below.
  8. ^ See Other statutes section below.
  9. ^ The Rail Safety Act, Accident Towing Services Act, Bus Safety Act, Transport Integration Act, Marine Safety Act and the Tourist and Heritage Railways Act all involved such processes. Copies of papers from these reviews can be located at the Department of Transport web site at www.transport.vic.gov.au.
  10. ^ Copy of the Rail Safety Act from the official Victorian Government Legislation site.
  11. ^ Copy of the Accident Towing Services Act from the official Victorian Government legislation site.
  12. ^ Copy of the Bus Safety Act from the official Victorian Government legislation site.
  13. ^ Copy of the Major Transport Projects Facilitation Act from the official Victorian Government legislation site.
  14. ^ Copy of the Marine Safety Act from the official Victorian Government legislation site.
  15. ^ Copy of the Tourist and Heritage Railways Act from the official Victorian Government legislation site.
  16. ^ Copy of the Transport Legislation (Safety Investigations) Act from the official Victorian Government legislation site.
  17. ^ Copy of the Transport (Taxi-cab Accreditation and Other Amendments) Act from the official Victorian Government legislation site.
  18. ^ Copy of the Transport Legislation Amendment Act 2007 available at the official Victorian Government legislation web site.
  19. ^ Copy of the Transport Legislation Amendment (Hoon Boating and Other Amendments) Act 2009 taken from the official Victorian Government legislation site.
  20. ^ Copy of the Transport Legislation Amendment (Compliance, Enforcement and Regulation) Act 2010 available at the official Victorian Government legislation site.
  21. ^ For example, the Transport (Conduct) Regulations and the Transport (Ticketing) Regulations were both subject to such processes. Copies of regulatory impcat statements for these regulations are available from the website of the Victorian Competition and Efficiency Commission - www.vcec.vic.gov.au.
  22. ^ Copy of the Transport (Conduct) Regulations available at the official Victorian Government legislation site.
  23. ^ Copy of the Transport (Ticketing) Regulations available at the official Victorian Government legislation site.
  24. ^ Copy of the Transport (Infringements) Regulations available at the Victorian Government legislation site.
  25. ^ See, for example, the second reading speech and the explanatory memorandum for the Transport Integration Bill. Copies of documents sourced from the official Victorian Government legislation site.
  26. ^ A reasoned amendment calling for the withdrawal of the Bill was defeated in the Victorian Parliament on 1 March 2006.
  27. ^ See Hansard in the Legislative Assemby on 4 February 2010
  28. ^ See Hansard for the Legislative Council proceedings on 22 June 2010.
  29. ^ The Legislative Assembly returned the bill to the Legislative Council for their agreement as recommended in the Dispute Resolution on 27 July 2010. The Bill was subsequently passed by the Legislative Council on 12 August 2010.

External links edit

Category:Transport in Victoria (Australia) Category:Victoria (Australia) legislation

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