Inquiry
title

Organisation conducting
the inquiry

Purpose of the inquiry

Date of the ATSB’s submission

Summary of the ATSB’s submission

Key points in the
ATSB’s submission

Document

National Transport Regulatory Reform Inquiry

Productivity Commission

The Australian Government has asked the Productivity Commission to assess the economic impact of reforms to transport regulation agreed to by the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) in 2008-09. Those reforms relate to heavy vehicle safety and productivity, rail safety and maritime safety. The Government has also asked the Commission to recommend further reforms towards a more integrated national market for transport services.

12 July 2019

This submission is in response to the Productivity Commission’s Issues Paper released on 17 May 2019. The ATSB’s submission addresses the ATSB’s role in the reforms as the national transport safety investigator.

• As a general principle the ATSB acknowledges the value of having an independent no-blame safety investigation entity as part of the overall transport safety system.
• The ATSB played an important part in the national transport reforms, taking on a significantly expanded role in rail.
• In the context of the national transport reforms, there was no clear decision for the ATSB to be involved or not be involved in domestic commercial vessels, and no funding was allocated to the ATSB for this purpose.  
• The ATSB does not have any role in heavy vehicle road safety.

Document available here.

National Transport Regulatory Reform Inquiry

Productivity Commission

The Australian Government has asked the Productivity Commission to assess the economic impact of reforms to transport regulation agreed to by the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) in 2008-09. Those reforms relate to heavy vehicle safety and productivity, rail safety and maritime safety. The Government has also asked the Commission to recommend further reforms towards a more integrated national market for transport services.

15 January 2020

This submission is in response to the Productivity Commission’s Draft Report released on 12 November 2019. The ATSB’s submission addresses recommendations made in the Draft Report relating to the ATSB and the role of a no-blame transport safety investigator.

• No-blame transport safety investigations can and do provide value in transport systems, identifying safety issues for the benefit of many.
• The current rail resourcing model for the ATSB has effectiveness, efficiency and equality issues.
• Any decision to expand the remit of the ATSB would need to be accompanied by careful planning, appropriate resourcing and realistic timeframes for implementation. There are also some legislative and logistical barriers to overcome. Expansion into more than one area would require extensive coordination between policy areas.

Document available here.