The National Road Transport Commission: an experiment in cooperative federalism

Abstract

Introduction: As powers over road transport are not specified in the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act, they lie, for the most part, with the States and Territories. The Commonwealth has made limited use of section 92 powers to establish a partial regulatory scheme for vehicles engaged in interstate trade (the Federal Interstate Regulation Scheme), but has not yet attempted to use more recently established powers (eg, corporations powers) in applications relating to road transport operations. However, the Commonwealth has also made use of corporations and foreign trade powers to regulate new motor vehicle safety and environment standards through the Motor Vehicle Standards Act 1989. These standards are known as the Australian Design Rules. Road transport regulation includes measures covering the registration, operation and charging of vehicles, the licensing of drivers, and measures to ensure compliance with the regulations. Generally, this regulation has been the responsibility of the States and Territories in the Australian federal system. Prior to the establishment of the National Road Transport Commission (NRTC) in 1991, national co-ordination of road transport regulation was undertaken through the Australian Transport Advisory Council, comprising Commonwealth, State and Territory Ministers for Transport. The process was advisory and relied on implementation by jurisdictions following consensus decisions at ATAC. Problems in the regulation of the road transport industry had been considered by the Inter-State Commission, which was re-established in 1984 and was merged into the Industry Commission in 1990. During its second existence, the Inter-State Commission had documented variations between jurisdictions in the regulation of road transport and had made recommendations to the Commonwealth Minister to consider, in conjunction with his colleagues in the Australian Transport Advisory Council. The final report of the Inter-State Commission recommended the establishment of a National Commission to co-ordinate the regulation of road transport.