Transport Legislation Review

288: 187:"...Transport Act had become the largest statute in Victoria with over 700 pages of dense and prescriptive provisions in accordance with the prevailing legislative style. A number of other transport related Acts (and amendments to the Transport Act) had also been created to respond to different transport policies of successive governments over time. Most of these were examples of either facilitative or coercive legislative approaches. Importantly, however, there was no overarching framework for transport policy reflected in the State's legislation. In other words, transport legislation did not have aspirational elements. More specifically: 19: 1301: 767: 753: 941:, 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." 850:

in 1985. The period 1995-1999 was also a major period of policy and legislative activity although not on a portfolio-wide scale. Review work and outputs in that period were mainly confined to statutes relating to reorganisation of rail services in the state and initial new safety regulation schemes

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Many of the major proposals originated by the Transport Legislation Review were developed using workshops or meetings with key stakeholders who were informed by the release of comprehensive discussion papers. The process for developing the Marine Safety Act 2010, for example, involved the holding of

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The Transport Legislation Review project and its policy and legislation projects were well supported during the term of the project. Most Acts and regulations generated by the project were passed or made with broad support and little or no opposition from affected parties. In the six years of the

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The Review concentrated on long, medium and short term measures. Global sector or scheme reviews typically resulted in the creation of suites of new contemporary regulatory policy which led in most instances to new Acts of Parliament which repealed existing Acts. These are called principal statutes

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The majority of the new statutes which emerged from the work of the Review were preceded by extensive policy and stakeholder processes. This typically involved the public release of documents outlining issues in the relevant transport sector and later circulation of draft proposals which signalled

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The Review was policy-driven and proceeded on a modular basis. This approach "...sought to more clearly delineate between overarching institutional elements and more detailed regulatory, operational, project and service delivery elements. It also sought to explicitly identify linkages within the

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effects in particular areas. The Review was notable for pursuing principle-based initiatives, introducing performance-based concepts into transport law often in the form of safety duties owed by industry participants to persons using transport services and to other industry participants and suites

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which came into effect on 1 July 2010. The Act "....locates the development of a policy framework for integrated and sustainable transport in Victoria within global and international debates regarding sustainable development. This has resulted in the inclusion of a vision, set of objectives and

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by Liberal and National party members of Parliament. However, the Bill was ultimately passed. Several policy proposals developed by the project including in 2009 during a review of the Marine Act 1988 were abandoned and not included in the subsequent Marine Safety Act 2010 due to widespread

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For example, the Transport (Conduct) Regulations 2005 and the Transport (Ticketing) Regulations 2006 were both subject to such processes. Copies of regulatory impact statements for these regulations are available from the website of the Victorian Competition and Efficiency Commission –

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was developed by the Review to provide a central statute to facilitate integration and co-ordination of the whole transport portfolio through the introduction of a modern policy framework and re-establishment of agencies with consistent charters which were tied bound by the framework. The

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The Review aimed to complete a wholesale revision of the State's transport policies and legislation. The project was guided by a target legislative framework diagram showing the final desired state of transport legislation in Victoria after completion of work. The diagram was headed by an

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and proceeded initially as policy ideas. Proposals were progressively refined over time using modules and sub projects sometimes in response to stakeholder input. Outputs from Review often proceeded as new State regulatory schemes and laws, commonly in the form of Bills considered by the

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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

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Further complex and discrete structural changes were driven by the Review through policy reviews and the development of new individual statutory schemes. For example, the work of the Review led to Victoria's first ever stand alone statutory schemes for rail and bus safety (the

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The Review had major impacts on Victoria's transport legislation suite. Before the Review, Victoria's suite of legislation was divided into land-based and water-based groupings. The land-based group covering rail and road statutes and associated activities was headed by the

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A range of new regulations was also generated by the Review. In the majority of cases, the regulations were advertised publicly in draft form accompanied by regulatory impact statements, and made available for comment by individuals, the community and affected industries.

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A wide range of amending statutes was also generated. While generally smaller than most principal statutes, the amending Acts often dealt with significant "big picture" changes and were routinely used to pursue discrete, urgent and priority regulatory reforms.

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industry in the former Transport Act 1983. While some provisions were re-enacted in a modified form in the new statute, provisions regulating trade towing were not continued therefore removing economic regulation controls from that

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The Review was the most extensive project of its kind in transport in Victoria and touched all areas of transport including land and water based transport activities. Proposals were developed by the Review for consideration by the

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A review between 1982 and 1988 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

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The work of the Transport Legislation Review led to the development and enactment of seven major principal statutes between early 2006 and late 2010. The centrepiece of the Review and now the prime transport statute in

620:. By contrast, the water-based grouping regulating the ports and marine sectors had no central coordinating statute. Both groupings were characterised by old and inconsistent underlying policy frameworks. 660:

The work of the Transport Legislation Review concluded in late 2010. Major areas signalled for overhaul before the conclusion of the project included policy reviews and new statutes in the following areas:

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merged the former marine safety regulator – the Director of Marine Safety – into the public transport safety regulator to create a new integrated transport safety regulator for the State (the

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between 2004 and late 2010. The aim of the project was review of transport policy and laws and generation of new policy and legislation as a platform for better transport across the State.

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for its agreement as recommended in the Dispute Resolution Committee of the Parliament on 27 July 2010. The Bill was subsequently passed by the Legislative Council on 12 August 2010.

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even when the Government of the day did not control Parliamentary numbers. The overwhelming majority of Act products, for example, were passed by Parliament with all party support.

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the Major Transport Projects Facilitation Act 2009 changed planning approvals procedures for major transport projects thereby having a significant impact on State planning agencies

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The work of the Transport Legislation Review had significant impacts on governance arrangements in the Victorian Transport portfolio. These effects can be summarised as follows:

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and typically take two years or more to fully complete. Smaller or mid range reforms, on the other hand, were pursued through Acts which amended existing principal statutes.

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of new administrative and court sanctions targeted at non compliance. The project also had significant impacts on organisational arrangements in Victorian transport.

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transport portfolio (road, rail, tram, bus, taxi, hire car, tow trucks) and interfaces with other portolios (local government authorities and planning portfolios)."

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was criticised by Liberal and National party members during its passage through Parliament but was not opposed. Finally, a proposal to add port authorities to the

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Pearce and Shepherd observed that it "...was a timely point to commence the review, given it had been 20 years since the State's central transport statute, the

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re-established the agencies and offices that comprise the Victorian transport portfolio and gave each a new statutory charter and in some cases, revised powers

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While the Review was not subject to public criticism, some individual policy and legislative proposals arising from it were criticised. For example, the

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was also troubled that areas of the laws did not reflect regulatory advances in other industries and were not sufficiently informed by overseas reforms.

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and the Transport Legislation (Safety Investigations) Act 2006 developed by the Review created Victoria's first independent safety offices – the

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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.

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transport laws. In particular, most transport legislation was thought to be complex, unnecessarily detailed and generally based on old policy. The

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Improving Marine Safety in Victoria – Review of the Marine Act 1988, Discussion Paper, July 2009. Foreword, Page 1. Paper available at the

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decision making principles for transport in the (transport Integration Act) reflecting an integration and sustainability policy framework."

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The explanatory memorandum to the Transport Legislation Amendment (Compliance, Enforcement and Regulation) Bill 2010 also observed that:

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which contained numerous criticisms of the style and substance of the former legislation. Another example can be found in the

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development of the Transport Integration Act also ultimately led to the subordination and renaming of the Transport Act as the

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extended transport regulation coverage in a major way across the planning and local government agencies for the first time

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brought land based and water-based transport together for the first time under a single statutory framework in Victoria.

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A reasoned amendment calling for the withdrawal of the Bill was defeated in the Victorian Parliament on 1 March 2006.

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the legislation contained minimal reference to social policy objectives and no reference to environmental objectives

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

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overarching portfolio-based statute intended to provide long term symbolic and aspirational direction, the

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Explanatory memorandum, page 1, Transport Legislation (Compliance, Enforcement and Regulation) Bill 2010

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linkages with related areas (such as planning and local government) were not clear or not recognised."

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provides an example of a de-regulatory initiative. The Act repealed provisions which regulated the

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the Transport (Taxi-cab Network Service Provider Accreditation – Exemptions) Regulations 2007

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there was no overarching framework to express broader policy objectives for transport as a whole

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See, for example, the policy framework reflected in the Transport Integration Act 2010.

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by the Liberal, National and Green parties. However, the Bill was later passed by the

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the Transport Legislation Amendment (Compliance, Enforcement and Regulation) Act 2010

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The Victorian Government Ministers who oversaw the work of the project at times were

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Current, future and past legislative structure diagrams are available online at the

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which observes that, "Tourist and heritage railways were previously governed by the

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Transport Legislation Amendment (Compliance, Enforcement and Regulation) Act 2010

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the Transport Legislation Amendment (Hoon Boating and Other Amendments) Act 2009

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As amended by the Transport Legislation Amendment (Ports Integration) Act 2010.

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and the Chief Investigator, Public Transport and Marine Safety Investigations

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forums and the receipt of public submissions was a feature of this activity.

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The Transport Legislation Review arose from concerns about the poor state of

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Transport Legislation Amendment (Hoon Boating and Other Amendments) Act 2009

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the Transport (Taxi-cab Licences – Market and Trading) Regulations 2005

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the Port Management (Port of Melbourne Safety and Property) Regulations 2010

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the Transport Legislation Amendment (Driver and Industry Standards) Act 2008

1088:: driving integrated and sustainable transport outcomes through legislation 1024:: driving integrated and sustainable transport outcomes through legislation 1007:: driving integrated and sustainable transport outcomes through legislation 977:: driving integrated and sustainable transport outcomes through legislation 766: 101: 1373:

Department of Transport Information about the Transport Legislation Review

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for the Transport Integration Bill. Copies of documents sourced from the

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For example, see the Minister's second reading speech in support of the

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Examples of new principal regulations developed by the Review included:

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Department of Transport Information about the Transport Integration Act

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explanatory memorandum for the Tourist and Heritage Railways Bill 2010

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the Transport Legislation (Further Miscellaneous Amendments) Act 2005

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See Hansard for the Legislative Council proceedings on 22 June 2010.

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available at the official Victorian Government legislation web site.

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organisational framework was opposed and eventually defeated in the

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the Transport (Taxi-cab Accreditation and Other Amendments) Act 2006

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transferred responsibility for towing industry regulation from the

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the Transport (Taxi-cab Industry Accreditation) Regulations 2007.

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the Transport (Taxi-cab Licences – Trading) Regulations 2005

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the Transport Legislation Amendment (Ports Integration) Act 2010.

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available at the official Victorian Government legislation site.

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available at the official Victorian Government legislation site.

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available at the official Victorian Government legislation site.

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Examples of other regulations developed by the Review included:

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the intended direction of change. The conduct of industry and

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taken from the official Victorian Government legislation site.

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the Transport Legislation (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act 2004

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is a policy and legislation review project conducted by the

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Transport (Taxi-cab Accreditation and Other Amendments) Act

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the Transport Legislation Miscellaneous Amendments Act 2009

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Taxi industry reform was taken up as a major issue by the

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the Transport Legislation (Safety Investigations) Act 2006

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project, no Act or regulation failed to be passed by the

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when the Review concluded. The Government established a

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compliance, enforcement and other matters covered by the

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the Transport (Infringements)(Tow Truck) Regulations 2005

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Some of these statutes developed by the Review included:

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