GrainGrowers welcomes the opportunity to provide a submission to the Productivity Commission’s Impacts of Heavy Vehicle Reform consultation.
Improving the efficient movement of heavy vehicles is critical to the performance of Australia’s $29 billion grain industry, where agricultural machinery and heavy vehicles underpin every stage of production, from sowing and harvesting through to transporting grain from farm gate to market. Road regulation is a core pillar of GrainGrowers’ National Grain Freight Strategy, which sets out practical, evidence-based actions to enhance freight efficiency and strengthen Australia’s global competitiveness.
Crucially, several of the reforms under consideration by the Productivity Commission closely align with two of the key actions identified in the National Grain Freight Strategy:
- streamlining compliance and administration for High Productivity Freight Vehicles (HPFVs), and
- implementing a national road access system to support faster, more consistent and more transparent access decisions.
As identified in GrainGrowers’ Performance Based Standards Policy, greater uptake of Performance-Based Standards (PBS) vehicles is one of the most effective ways to reduce freight costs and emissions using proven existing technologies. Yet complex and inconsistent permit processes continue to limit adoption, particularly for smaller operators. The proposed National Automated Access System (NAAS) directly addresses these barriers by automating
access decisions, reducing permit volumes, and unlocking the productivity and safety benefits the PBS scheme is designed to deliver.
By progressing these reforms, government has a clear opportunity to deliver significant efficiency gains, reduce costs for growers, and improve the performance of Australia’s regional freight networks.
To ensure these benefits are fully realised, GrainGrowers makes the following
recommendations:
- Streamline the Performance Based Standards road access process to unlock productivity, improve safety, and reduce emissions
- Tie Commonwealth road funding to gazetted road access
- Provide additional resourcing for NHVR to work with local government and states to expand road access
- Adopt the use of the Historic Access Reporting Tool (HART) and the Access Permit Rapid Cost Benefit Analysis Tool (Rapid CBA) to determine which roads might be eligible for automatic access under the NAAS
- Increase dedicated bridge funding to expand HPFV access
GrainGrowers looks forward to working with the Productivity Commission on this critical issue. Should we be able to provide further assistance or if there are any enquiries relating to this submission please contact Policy Manager, Trade and Supply Chains, Annabel Mactier at annnabel.mactier@graingrowers.com.au.
Read the full submission: