News Nov 26 2025

November 2025 Wrap-up

First up, the Master Code. If you’re still wondering what the proposed changes are, you can check out the webinar we hosted in September with our Supply Chain Technical Manager Aaron Louws, joined by Legal Partner Nathan Cecil from Holding Redlich. While a new Master Code doesn’t signal any changes to businesses’ legal obligations under HVNL, it does change what courts might consider when determining what was reasonably practicable for a business to do when managing a hazard or risk related to their transport activities.

This distinction is important, because with increased guidance, a change in emphasis on activities (instead of roles), and a broader array of hazards and risks included in the proposed Code, the best source for interpreting what meeting your legal obligations looks like under HVNL continues to be the Master Code. What’s more, because legal obligations aren’t changing, there isn’t a ‘grace period’ for businesses to consider the new Master Code, review their transport activities or existing risk management practices, then determine if what they have in place is suitable, or if more needs to be done.

At this stage a release of the new Master Code will likely happen before the end of the year, or very early in the new year, making 2026 an important year for businesses to review how they’ve traditionally managed CoR internally and across their supply chain, and ensure their systems, culture, operations and relationships are meeting the latest standard.

We’ll be hosting another webinar in the New Year once the new Master Code is released – keep an eye out for any updates from us with more details, or follow us on LinkedIn.

The Heavy Vehicle National Law Amendment Bill

The HVNL Amendment Bill currently progressing through Queensland Parliament has taken more than 6 years to reach this stage, but is starting to see significant traction as the final few pieces of the updated legislation are being passed in parliament now. The Amendment Bill, which first needs to be passed in Queensland before being introduced into other jurisdictions, will have a number of impacts on how businesses meet their HVNL obligations, including:

For all transport operators currently holding NHVAS Mass, Maintenance or Fatigue – a new accreditation framework, the introduction of a Safety Management System accreditation, new national audit standard, a new fatigue alternative compliance accreditation, and a new audit assessment tool to be hosted online.
For all heavy vehicles – most vehicle types and combinations will have updated mass limits, changing from existing ‘General Mass Limits’ (GML) to what is currently available under ‘Concessional Mass Limits’ (CML). Access to these increased limits will not require a mass accreditation, but some instances where this won’t automatically occur have been flagged, and still awaiting final confirmation.
For those that employ, engage, contract, or are exposed to heavy vehicle drivers– a new duty for drivers is being introduced in combination with the existing duty to not drive a fatigue-regulated heavy vehicle while impaired by fatigue. This new duty, according to the amendments will be requiring drivers to be “fit to drive”, extends beyond the elements of fatigue, incorporating things like ‘fitness’ into what it means to be “fit for duty”.
- This new requirement, along with the duty to not drive while fatigued is also extending to all drivers of a heavy vehicle (vehicles with a Gross Vehicle Mass of 4.5T or more), not just fatigue regulated vehicles (vehicles with a Gross Vehicle Mass of 12T or more).
- NHVR CEO Nicole Rosie in an interview stated “the duty is designed to empower drivers to stop driving if their health or fitness impacts their ability to drive a heavy vehicle safely at any point in time.”
For industries covered by Registered Industry Codes of Practice (RICP) now, or in the future – the NHVR will be able to issue, amend and revoke RICPs without needing industry to kick off the process. While they will still need to involve industry in consultation, they now have significantly more autonomy over what industries, activities or risks need dedicated RICPs (where they believe the Master Code does not sufficiently cover these areas, or their risk data indicates further guidance is required).

For more detail on what the changes are, have a look at the article published by Holding Redlich, and keep an eye out for more updates from us.

4 key documents out for consultation relating to NHVAS

The National Transport Commission has signalled what might be the most significant sign that the HVNL Amendment Bill is rapidly approaching its implementation – by releasing for consultation the following 4 documents:

Heavy Vehicle Accreditation Guidelines
Safety Management System Standard
National Audit Standard
Ministerial Standard for Fatigue Alternative Compliance Hours

These 4 documents, heavily referenced in the HVNL Amendment Bill, detail functionally how a new NHVAS program will be implemented, the standards transport operators will need to meet, and what auditors will have to look for when assessing a carrier for accreditation.

The Heavy Vehicle Accreditation Guidelines are the framework for how NHVAS will operate, such as what layers of accreditation exist, the type of information each program needs to cover, or what the transition period will be for those already accredited.

The Safety Management System Standard takes the microscope at what is meant by a ‘safety management system’ (SMS), and what transport operators will need to have in place to be accredited. Under the new NHVAS program, all transport operators with accreditation will need to demonstrate they have a suitable SMS in place that meets this standard.

The standard identifies 5 focus areas that are required in an approved SMS:

Leadership and Commitment
Risk Management
People
Assurance, Monitoring & Improvement
Safety Systems

For each standard, it identifies:

The types of evidence expected by carriers when being audited against the standard.
Examples of the different expected evidence.
- Notably this acknowledges that different sizes/types of companies might meet the evidence requirements in different ways.
The things the regulator needs to be satisfied are occurring/in-place, following an audit (to approve the accreditation application).

The National Audit Standard covers in more detail how everything will work, from who can audit companies, the number of records/sites that need to be sampled, how audits will be completed, responding to non-conformances, and more.

This is the document that auditors usually pay a lot of attention to as it outlines the NHVR’s expectations of them, and how the audit program will be managed. For transport carriers, this document will largely effect how they experience the accreditation program and any audits/applications (i.e. what systems they use, when they need to be audited), but won’t have too much to do with what they are assessed against, or how they need to run their business.

It’s also where they outline the audit methodology for auditors to use – Present, Suitable, Operating and Effective (PSOE). Essentially, for each applicable audit criteria, auditors will be looking for evidence that is:

Present – readily available
Suitable – is appropriate for the business being audited
Operating – actually in practice and working
Effective – meets the requirements of the standard

The Ministerial Standard for Fatigue Alternative Compliance Hours is the standard effectively replacing the existing requirements for ‘Basic Fatigue Management’ (BFM) and ‘Advanced Fatigue Management’ (AFM). Under the new NHVAS framework, transport operators wishing to adopt alternative work/rest requirements (other than standard hours) for drivers, will need to obtain Fatigue Alternative Compliance Accreditation, and meet the Safety Management System Standard.

The new fatigue accreditation requirements place a greater emphasis on managing/assessing the hazards and risks of fatigue, and ensuring appropriate controls are in place to address this. For those already familiar with AFM, this likely won’t be a dramatic change from existing processes, but could signal a significant change for those used to the existing requirements under BFM.

Consultation for all 4 documents closes on Monday, the 1^st of December.

SOURCES

Audit Documents

Draft Master Code

Referenced Holding Redlich Article

Quote from Nicole Rosie

NTC webinar on the changes to the NHVAS

The information in this publication is provided for general information purposes only and does not constitute legal, compliance, or other professional advice. LSS makes no representation that the information is complete or up to date. Readers should seek independent advice relevant to their particular circumstances before acting on any information contained herein.

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