A significant part of the BIC’s mandate is to advocate for sensible regulation and national law on:

• heavy vehicle technical issues
• how buses and coaches operates on our roads
• workplace health and safety
• industrial relations.

Much of this work goes on behind the scenes and often for many years before we get the outcomes needed; and it means being incorporated as a member on select government working groups to ensure the bus industry agenda is heard by all stakeholders. The ultimate aim of our technical advocacy is to save time and money for bus businesses.

Some of the visible technical wins include increases in bus mass limits and the production of federally funded industry advisories such as the Bus Fire Mitigation Advisory, Bus Fire Emergency Evacuation Protocols and upgrading of bus door safety standards. But these outcomes are really only a small part of the work, as it is the things that are not seen that can have the largest effect on Industry. All vehicle regulation, standards and national laws undergo cyclic updates and/or reviews in some form and a key role of the BIC is to minimise the impact and where possible maximise the outcomes for industry viability. For example, a seemingly simple change to a clause within a regulation may have a potentially massive negative impact on our industry and it is the BIC’s role to work with the regulators to assess and where required, alter clauses to achieve the intended outcome, minimise the effect and in some cases maximise the outcome for industry.

The BIC is undertaking a number of significant technical projects relating to law reform and regulation review by various departments of the Australian Government. Our technical work often leads to forming a solid national bus industry policy and the publication of industry advisories and operator guidelines to assist suppliers and operators with the interpretation and compliance to the amendment of existing regulations or design of new regulations.

Some of the current projects being undertaken include:

• Heavy Vehicle National Law
• Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport (The Transport Standards)
• Heavy Vehicle Charging Determination
• National Road Safety Strategy 2021-2030
• National Heavy Vehicle Safety Strategy
• Assessing Fitness to Drive for Commercial and Private Vehicles.

These projects involve substantive participation on various federal government committees and working groups and formal submissions to regulation impact statements. The most recent of BIC’s submissions can be accessed on the submissions web page.