Part 1.1Introductory
Note—
This Act and the regulations made under it form
part of the road
transport legislation identified by section 5. Other road
transport legislation includes the Road Transport
(Driver Licensing) Act 1998, the Road
Transport (Heavy Vehicles Registration Charges) Act 1995,
the Road Transport (Safety and Traffic Management) Act
1999, the Road Transport (Vehicle
Registration) Act 1997, the Motor
Vehicles Taxation Act 1988 and the regulations made under
those Acts. As part of the road transport legislation, this Act is subject to
various provisions in this Act concerning the administration and enforcement
of the road transport legislation generally.
1Name of
Act
This Act is the Road Transport
(General) Act 2005.
2Commencement
(1)
This Act commences on a day or days to be
appointed by proclamation, except as provided by this
section.
(2)
Schedule 3.33 [1]–[3] and [15]–[19]
commence on the commencement of Part 5 of the Law Enforcement
(Powers and Responsibilities) Act 2002 or on the
commencement of this Act, whichever occurs later.
3Definitions
(cf former Act, s 3, model provisions, s
6)
(1)
In this Act:
applicable road law means:
(a)
Chapter 3 and Part 4.2, or
(b)
regulations made under Chapter 3 or Part 4.2,
or
(c)
the Road Transport
(Mass, Loading and Access) Regulation 1996,
or
(d)
any other provision of the road transport
legislation prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this
definition.
applicable road law offence means an
offence against an applicable road law.
approved
road transport compliance scheme means a scheme, agreement
or arrangement that:
(a)
is prescribed by the regulations,
or
(b)
is identified by, or is of a class identified by,
the regulations,
and that makes provision for compliance with and
enforcement of any Australian applicable road laws, including (for example) a
scheme, agreement or arrangement that provides for:
(c)
a system of accreditation-based compliance,
or
(d)
an intelligent transport system,
or
(e)
a system applying alternative legal entitlements
to those otherwise applicable, such as one based on performance-based
standards.
associate—see section
23.
Australian applicable road law means
an applicable road law or a corresponding applicable road law.
Australian applicable road law
offence means an offence against an Australian applicable
road law.
Australian authorised officer means
an authorised officer or a person appointed as an authorised officer under a
corresponding applicable road law.
Australian Authority means the
Authority or a corresponding Authority.
Australian driver licence has the
same meaning as it has in the Road Transport (Driver Licensing)
Act 1998.
Australian police officer
means:
(a)
a police officer, or
(b)
a member (however described) of the police force
or police service of another jurisdiction.
authorised officer means:
(a)
a police officer, or
(b)
a person appointed as an authorised officer, or a
class of persons appointed as authorised officers, under section 121
(Authorised officers), or
(c)
a person (or a person belonging to a class or
description of persons) prescribed by the
regulations.
Authority means the Roads and
Traffic Authority.
base of a driver—see section
22 (Driver’s base).
body
corporate includes the Crown in any capacity and any body or
entity that is not an individual.
capabilities of a vehicle means the
functional capabilities of the vehicle or any of its components, as determined
by the vehicle’s manufacturer or by an Australian Authority, and
includes:
(a)
its GCM and GVM, and
(b)
its speed
capabilities.
combination means a group consisting
of a motor vehicle connected to one or more other vehicles.
commercial benefits penalty order
means an order under Division 4 of Part 3.5.
compensation order means an order
under Division 1 of Part 5.5.
compliance purposes—see
section 134.
condition includes a
restriction.
conduct means an act, an omission to
perform an act or a state of affairs.
corresponding applicable road law
means a law of another jurisdiction corresponding, or substantially
corresponding, to an applicable road law or a law of another jurisdiction that
is declared under the regulations to be a corresponding applicable road
law.
corresponding Authority
means:
(a)
the Authority as defined in a corresponding
applicable road law (except in the case of a jurisdiction for which a person
is prescribed under paragraph (b)), or
(b)
a person prescribed by the regulations as the
corresponding Authority for another jurisdiction for the purposes of this
Act.
corresponding law means:
(a)
a law of another jurisdiction corresponding, or
substantially corresponding, to this Act or a specified provision or
provisions of this Act, or
(b)
a law of another jurisdiction that is declared
under the regulations to be a corresponding law, whether or not the law
corresponds, or substantially corresponds, to this Act or a specified
provision or provisions of this Act.
depot includes a base of
operations.
drive includes the following:
(a)
be in control of the steering, movement or
propulsion of a vehicle,
(b)
in relation to a trailer, draw or tow the
trailer,
(c)
ride a vehicle.
driver means any person driving a
vehicle, and includes any person riding a cycle.
driver of a vehicle or combination
includes:
(a)
a two-up driver of the vehicle or combination who
is present in or near the vehicle or combination, and
(b)
a person who is driving the vehicle or
combination as a driver under instruction or under an appropriate learner
licence or learner permit.
driver
licence has the same meaning as it has in the Road Transport (Driver Licensing) Act
1998.
driver
licence means (in Parts 4.2 and 4.3 and section 230):
(a)
an Australian driver licence,
or
(b)
a learner licence issued under a law in force in
a State or internal Territory authorising the holder to drive a motor vehicle
on a road.
employee means an individual who
works under a contract of employment, apprenticeship or
training.
employer means a person who employs
persons under:
(a)
contracts of employment, apprenticeship or
training, or
(b)
contracts for
services.
engage in
conduct means:
(a)
do an act, or
(b)
omit to perform an
act.
equipment, in relation to a vehicle
or combination, includes tools, devices and accessories in or on the vehicle
or combination.
exercise a function includes perform
a duty.
from a record, device or
other thing else means a copy of any information contained in the record,
device or other thing.
function includes a power, authority
or duty.
garage
address of a vehicle means:
(a)
in the case of a heavy vehicle that is normally
kept at a depot when not in use—the principal depot of the vehicle,
or
(b)
in the case of a heavy vehicle that is not
normally kept at a depot when not in use:
(i)
where the vehicle has only one registered
operator—the home address of the registered operator,
or
(ii)
where the vehicle has more than one registered
operator—each of the home addresses of the registered operators,
or
(c)
in the case of a vehicle that is not a heavy
vehicle—the place nominated by the applicant for registration of the
vehicle as the place where the vehicle is normally
kept.
GCM
(gross combination mass) of a vehicle means the greatest
possible sum of the maximum loaded mass of the vehicle and of any vehicles
that may be towed by it at the one time:
(a)
as specified by the vehicle’s manufacturer
on an identification plate on the vehicle, or
(b)
as specified by the Authority if:
(i)
a sum is not specified by the vehicle’s
manufacturer on an identification plate on the vehicle, or
(ii)
a sum so specified on an identification plate is
no longer appropriate because the vehicle has been
modified.
goods includes:
(a)
animals (whether alive or dead),
and
(b)
a container (whether empty or
not),
but does not include people, fuel, water, lubricants and
equipment required for the normal operation of the vehicle or combination in
which they are carried.
GVM
(gross vehicle mass) of a vehicle means the maximum loaded
mass of the vehicle:
(a)
as specified by the vehicle’s manufacturer
on an identification plate on the vehicle, or
(b)
as specified by the Authority if:
(i)
a mass is not specified by the vehicle’s
manufacturer on an identification plate on the vehicle, or
(ii)
a mass so specified on an identification plate is
no longer appropriate because the vehicle has been
modified.
heavy
combination means a combination that includes a heavy
vehicle.
heavy
vehicle means a motor vehicle or trailer that has a GVM
greater than 4.5 tonnes, and includes:
(a)
a special purpose vehicle that has such a GVM,
and
(b)
a passenger-carrying vehicle that has such a
GVM.
home
address of a person means:
(a)
in the case of an individual—the
person’s residential address or place of abode in Australia,
or
(b)
in the case of a body corporate that has a
registered office in Australia—the address of the registered office,
or
(c)
in any other case—the address of the
person’s principal or only place of business in
Australia.
horse includes any animal used for
the carriage of persons or goods.
infringement penalty means a penalty
imposed under a penalty notice or a notice of the same kind under an
Australian applicable road law.
intelligent transport system means a
system involving the use of electronic or other technology (whether located in
or on a vehicle or combination, or on or near a road, or elsewhere) that has
the capacity and capability to monitor, collect, store, display, analyse,
transmit or report information relating to:
(a)
a vehicle or combination or its equipment or
load, the driver of a vehicle or combination, the operator of a fleet of
vehicles or combinations or another person involved in road transport,
and
(b)
without limiting the above, the operation of a
vehicle or combination in relation to its legal
entitlements.
journey
documentation means any documentation (other than transport
documentation) directly or indirectly associated with:
(a)
the actual or proposed physical transport of
goods or passengers by road or any previous transport of the goods or
passengers by any mode, or
(b)
goods or passengers themselves so far as the
documentation is relevant to their actual or proposed physical
transport,
whether the documentation is in paper, electronic or any
other form, and whether or not the documentation has been transmitted
physically, electronically or in any other manner, and whether or not the
documentation relates to a particular journey or to journeys generally, and
includes (without limiting this definition) any of the following:
(c)
records kept, used or obtained by a responsible
person for a vehicle in connection with the transport of the goods or
passengers,
(d)
workshop, maintenance and repair records relating
to a vehicle or combination used, or claimed to be used, for the transport of
the goods or passengers,
(e)
a subcontractor’s payment advice relating
to the goods or passengers or the transport of the goods or
passengers,
(f)
records kept, used or obtained by the driver of
the vehicle or combination used, or claimed to be used, for the transport of
the goods or passengers, including (for example) a driver’s run sheet, a
log book entry, a fuel docket or receipt, a food receipt, a tollway receipt,
pay records and mobile or other phone records,
(g)
information reported through the use of an
intelligent transport system,
(h)
driver manuals and instruction
sheets,
(i)
advice in any form from check weighing performed
before, during or after a journey.
jurisdiction means the Commonwealth
or a State or Territory.
learner
licence has the same meaning as it has in the Road Transport (Driver Licensing) Act
1998.
legal
entitlements of a vehicle or combination (or component of a
vehicle or combination) means the particulars of the entitlements, conferred
by or under an Australian applicable road law, that authorise the vehicle or
combination (or component) to be operated on a road, and includes:
(a)
any entitlements arising under or as affected by
a permit, authorisation, approval, exemption, notice or anything else given or
issued in writing under such a law, and
(b)
any entitlements arising under or as affected by
restrictions, or by the application of restrictions, under an Australian
applicable road law or other laws (for example, sign-posted mass limits for
bridges, hazardous weather condition permits, and special road protection
limits), and
(c)
any entitlements arising under or as affected by
an approved road transport compliance scheme.
light
rail vehicle has the same meaning as it has in the Road Transport (Safety and Traffic Management) Act
1999.
load of a vehicle or combination, or
in or on a vehicle or combination, means:
(a)
all the goods, passengers and drivers in or on
the vehicle or combination, and
(b)
all fuel, water, lubricants and readily removable
equipment carried in or on the vehicle or combination and required for its
normal operation, and
(c)
personal items used by a driver of the vehicle or
combination, and
(d)
anything that is normally removed from the
vehicle or combination when not in use,
and includes a part of a load as so
defined.
major
offence means:
(a)
a crime or offence referred to in the definition
of convicted
person in section 188 (1), or
(b)
any other crime or offence that, at the time it
was committed, was a major offence under this Act, the Road
Transport (General) Act 1999 or the Traffic Act
1909.
minor
risk breach of a mass, dimension or load restraint
requirement—see section 31.
motor
vehicle means a vehicle that is built to be propelled by a
motor that forms part of the vehicle.
night means the period between
sunset on one day and sunrise on the next day.
owner:
(a)
in relation to a vehicle (including a vehicle in
a combination)—means a person who:
(i)
is the sole owner, a joint owner or a part owner
of the vehicle, or
(ii)
has possession or use of the vehicle under a
credit, hire-purchase, lease or other agreement, except an agreement requiring
the vehicle to be registered in the name of someone else,
or
(b)
in relation to a combination—means a person
who:
(i)
is the sole owner, a joint owner or a part owner
of the towing vehicle in the combination, or
(ii)
has possession or use of the towing vehicle in
the combination under a credit, hire-purchase, lease or other agreement,
except an agreement requiring the vehicle to be registered in the name of
someone else.
passenger, in relation to a vehicle
or combination, does not include a driver of the vehicle or combination or any
person necessary for the normal operation of the vehicle or
combination.
penalty
notice means a penalty notice issued under Part
5.3.
premises includes any structure,
building, vessel or place (whether built on or not), and any part of any such
structure, building, vessel or place.
prescribed speeding offence means an
offence under the Road Transport (Safety and
Traffic Management) Act 1999 (or regulations made under
that Act) involving the use of a vehicle on a road at an excessive speed,
being an offence that is prescribed by the regulations.
public
authority means:
(a)
the Crown in any capacity, or
(b)
a body established by or under law, or the holder
of an office established by or under law, for a public purpose, including a
local government authority, or
(c)
a police force or police
service.
public
place includes a place:
(a)
of public resort open to or used by the public as
of right, or
(b)
for the time being:
(i)
used for a public purpose, or
(ii)
open to access by the
public,
whether on payment or otherwise, or
(c)
open to access by the public by the express or
tacit consent or sufferance of the owner of that place, whether the place is
or is not always open to the public,
but does not include:
(d)
a track that at the material time is being used
as a course for racing or testing motor vehicles and from which other traffic
is excluded during that use, or
(e)
a road, or
(f)
a place declared by the regulations not to be a
public place.
public
safety means the safety of persons or property, including
the safety of:
(a)
the drivers of and passengers in vehicles and
combinations, and
(b)
persons in or in the vicinity of (or likely to be
in or in the vicinity of) roads, road infrastructure and public places,
and
(c)
vehicles and combinations and any loads in or on
them.
reasonable steps defence—see
sections 87, 88 and 89.
records means any documents or
documentation, whether in paper, electronic or any other form.
registered, in relation to a
vehicle, means registered under the Road Transport
(Vehicle Registration) Act 1997.
registered operator:
(a)
in relation to a vehicle (including a vehicle in
a combination)—means the person recorded by an Australian Authority on a
register maintained in accordance with an Australian applicable road law as
the person responsible for the vehicle, or
(b)
in relation to a combination—means the
person recorded by an Australian Authority on a register maintained in
accordance with an Australian applicable road law as the person responsible
for the towing vehicle in the combination.
registrable vehicle has the same
meaning as it has in the Road Transport (Vehicle
Registration) Act 1997.
registration of a vehicle means
registration of the vehicle under an Australian applicable road
law.
responsible entity in relation to a
freight container—see section 63 (Meaning of “responsible
entity”).
responsible person for a
vehicle—see section 6.
rider of an animal includes a person
having charge of the animal.
road means an area that is open to
or used by the public and is developed for, or has as one of its main uses,
the driving or riding of motor vehicles.
road
infrastructure includes:
(a)
a road, including its surface or pavement,
and
(b)
anything under or supporting a road or its
surface or pavement and maintained by a roads authority,
and
(c)
any bridge, tunnel, causeway, road-ferry, ford or
other work or structure forming part of a road system or supporting a road,
and
(d)
any bridge or other work or structure located
above, in or on a road and maintained by a roads authority,
and
(e)
any traffic control devices, railway or tramway
equipment, electricity equipment, emergency telephone systems or any other
facilities (whether of the same or a different kind) in, on, over, under or
connected with anything referred to in paragraphs (a)–(d),
and
(f)
anything declared by the regulations to be
included in this definition,
but does not include anything declared by the
regulations to be excluded from this definition.
road
related area means:
(a)
an area that divides a road,
or
(b)
a footpath or nature strip adjacent to a road,
or
(c)
an area that is open to the public and is
designated for use by cyclists or animals, or
(d)
an area that is not a road and that is open to or
used by the public for driving, riding or parking vehicles,
or
(e)
a shoulder of a road, or
(f)
any other area that is open to or used by the
public and that has been declared under section 15 to be an area to which
specified provisions of this Act or the regulations
apply.
road
transport or transport
by road means the transport of goods or passengers by road
by means of a vehicle or combination.
road
transport legislation—see section 5.
roads
authority has the same meaning as it has in the Roads Act 1993.
run the engine of a vehicle or
combination includes to start or stop the engine.
severe
risk breach of a mass, dimension or load restraint
requirement—see section 33.
special
purpose vehicle means:
(a)
a vehicle (other than one declared by the
regulations not to be a special purpose vehicle for the purposes of this
definition) where the primary purpose for which it was built, or permanently
modified, was not the carriage of goods or passengers, or
(b)
a vehicle declared by the regulations to be a
special purpose vehicle for the purposes of this
definition.
specifications of a vehicle means
the physical dimensions and other physical attributes of the vehicle and its
fittings.
substantial risk breach of a mass,
dimension or load restraint requirement—see section 32.
this
jurisdiction means New South Wales.
trader’s plate has the same
meaning as it has in the Road Transport (Vehicle
Registration) Act 1997.
traffic includes vehicular traffic
and pedestrian traffic and all other forms of road traffic.
trailer means a vehicle that:
(a)
is built to be towed, or is towed, by a motor
vehicle, and
(b)
is not capable of being propelled in the course
of normal use on roads without being towed by a motor
vehicle,
whether or not its movement is aided by some other power
source, but does not include:
(c)
a motor vehicle being towed,
or
(d)
anything declared by the regulations to be
excluded from this definition.
transport
documentation means:
(a)
any contractual documentation directly or
indirectly associated with:
(i)
a transaction for or relating to the actual or
proposed transport of goods or passengers by road or any previous transport of
the goods or passengers by any mode, or
(ii)
goods or passengers themselves so far as the
documentation is relevant to their actual or proposed transport,
or
(b)
any associated documentation:
(i)
contemplated in the contractual documentation,
or
(ii)
required by law, or customarily provided, in
connection with the contractual documentation or with the
transaction,
whether the documentation is in paper, electronic or any
other form, and whether or not the documentation has been transmitted
physically, electronically or in any other manner, and includes (without
limiting this definition) an invoice, vendor declaration, delivery order,
consignment note, load manifest, export receival advice, bill of lading,
contract of carriage, sea carriage document, or container weight declaration,
relating to the goods or passengers.
two-up
driver means a person accompanying a driver of a vehicle or
combination on a journey or part of a journey, who has been, is or will be
sharing the task of driving the vehicle or combination during the
journey.
use of a vehicle includes standing
the vehicle on a road.
vehicle means:
(a)
any description of vehicle on wheels (including a
light rail vehicle) but not including any other vehicle used on a railway or
tramway, or
(b)
any other vehicle prescribed by the
regulations.
(2)
A reference in a provision of this Act relating
to the road transport legislation (other than this Act or the regulations) to
an expression that is defined in the legislation includes, for the purposes of
the application of the provision to the legislation, the expression as defined
in the legislation.
(3)
Each reference in this Act (except as provided by
this Act) to a road includes a road
related area.
4Notes
(cf former Act, s 4)
Notes included in this Act are explanatory notes
and do not form part of this Act.
Note—
For the purposes of comparison, a number of
provisions of this Act contain bracketed notes in headings drawing attention
(“cf”) to equivalent or comparable (though not necessarily
identical) provisions of other Acts. For instance, the abbreviation
“former Act” in the notes is a reference to the Road Transport (General) Act 1999 (as in
force immediately before its repeal). A reference to “model
provisions” is a reference to the Road Transport Reform (Compliance and Enforcement)
Bill model provisions approved by the Australian Transport
Council.
5Meaning of road transport
legislation
(cf former Act, s 5)
(1)
In this Act, the road
transport legislation means the following:
(a)
this Act,
(b)
the Road Transport
(Driver Licensing) Act 1998,
(c)
the Road Transport
(Heavy Vehicles Registration Charges) Act
1995,
(d)
the Road Transport
(Safety and Traffic Management) Act
1999,
(e)
the Road Transport
(Vehicle Registration) Act 1997,
(f)
the Motor Vehicles
Taxation Act 1988,
(g)
any other Act or regulation (or any provision of
such an Act or regulation) prescribed by the regulations,
(h)
any regulation made under any Act referred to in
paragraphs (a)–(f) (or any provision of such an
Act).
(2)
A regulation referred to in subsection (1) (g)
prescribing an Act or regulation (or provision of an Act or regulation) cannot
be made without the concurrence of the Minister administering the Act or
regulation concerned.
(3)
A provision of this Act relating to the road
transport legislation does not apply to the road transport legislation if that
legislation provides otherwise either expressly or by necessary
intendment.
6Responsible person for a
vehicle
(cf former Act, s 7)
(1)
In the road transport legislation, the responsible person for a vehicle
is:
(a)
in relation to a registered vehicle—each of
the following persons:
(i)
a registered operator of the vehicle, except
where the vehicle has been disposed of by the operator,
(ii)
if the vehicle has been disposed of by a previous
registered operator—a person who has acquired the vehicle from the
operator,
(iii)
a person who has a legal right to possession of
the vehicle (including any person who has the use of the vehicle under a lease
or hire-purchase agreement, but not the lessor while the vehicle is being
leased under any such agreement), and
(b)
in relation to an unregistered vehicle to which a
trader’s plate is affixed—each of the following persons:
(i)
the person to whom the trader’s plate is
issued under the Road Transport (Vehicle
Registration) Act 1997,
(ii)
a person who has a legal right to possession of
the vehicle (including any person who has the use of the vehicle under a lease
or hire-purchase agreement, but not the lessor while the vehicle is being
leased under any such agreement), and
(c)
in relation to an unregistered vehicle to which
no trader’s plate is affixed—each of the following persons:
(i)
a person who was last recorded as a registered
operator of the vehicle,
(ii)
a person who has a legal right to possession of
the vehicle (including any person who has the use of the vehicle under a lease
or hire-purchase agreement, but not the lessor while the vehicle is being
leased under any such agreement), and
(d)
any other person (or class of persons) prescribed
by the regulations for the purposes of this
definition.
(2)
For the purposes of subsection (1) (d), the
regulations may prescribe different persons for different provisions of the
road transport legislation.
Note—
A wider definition of responsible person applies for the
purposes of Chapter 3.
7Rights, liabilities and
obligations of multiple responsible persons
(cf former Act, s 8)
(1)
Subject to any regulations made under subsection
(2), if more than one person is the responsible person for a vehicle at any
one time, a reference in any relevant legislation to the responsible person
for a vehicle within the meaning of this Act or any other road transport
legislation is taken to include a reference to each person who is a
responsible person for such a vehicle.
(2)
The regulations may provide for the determination
of the respective rights, liabilities and obligations of each responsible
person for a vehicle under any relevant legislation, but only with the
concurrence of the Minister administering the relevant
legislation.
(3)
In this section:
relevant
legislation means:
(a)
a provision of the road transport legislation,
or
(b)
a provision of any other Act (or a provision of a
regulation made under any such Act) concerned with the responsible person for
a vehicle within the meaning of this Act or any other road transport
legislation.
8Act to bind
Crown
(cf former Act, s 70)
This Act binds the Crown in right of New South
Wales and, in so far as the legislative power of the Parliament of New South
Wales permits, the Crown in all its other capacities.
9Contracting out
prohibited
(cf model provisions, s 187)
A term of any contract or agreement that purports
to exclude, limit or modify the operation of this Act or of any provision of
this Act is void to the extent that it would otherwise have that
effect.