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About the Bill 

On 26 August 2025, the Hon Brent Mickelberg MP, Minister for Transport and Main Roads introduced the Heavy Vehicle National Law Amendment Bill 2025 into the Queensland Parliament. The Bill was referred to the State Development, Infrastructure and Works Committee for detailed consideration.   

View: Explanatory speech 
View: Bill 
View: Explanatory Notes 
View: Statement of compatibility 

The Bill amends the Heavy Vehicle National Law Act 2012 (HVNL Act) and Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL) as set out in the Schedule to the HVNL Act. The Bill implements recommendations of the National Transport Commission through the HVNL Review, which have been endorsed by the infrastructure and transport ministers.

The HVNL provides a single national law for the consistent regulation of heavy vehicle operations across Australia, with the exception of Western Australia and the Northern Territory. As host jurisdiction for the HVNL, the legislation needs to be enacted in Queensland before it can be applied by other participating states and territories.

According to the explanatory notes, the Bill amends the HVNL to provide:

• an enhanced accreditation framework to improve safety that requires operators to have a Safety Management System (SMS) and that broadens the types of accreditations that the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (Regulator) may grant
• a new duty to be fit to drive, which will improve road safety and be combined with the existing duty not to drive fatigued and apply to all heavy vehicle drivers regulated by the HVNL
• an improved code of practice framework that simplifies the process to make new code of practice and shifts responsibility for development and approval to the Regulator
• new ministerial direction and approval powers that support the changes to the accreditation and code of practice frameworks and provide an appropriate balance of regulatory discretion and ministerial oversight
• improved governance arrangements that will modernise the operation of the Regulator Board and provide for responsible ministers to approve a Statement of Expectations for the Regulator in the exercise of its functions
• improved enforcement arrangements that remove regulatory red tape, particularly for fatigue management record keeping and the issue of notices
• amended penalty amounts to deliver proportionate outcomes without reducing deterrence or increasing road safety risk
• moving prescriptive detail and offences into regulations to simplify the law and allow for more flexible risk-based obligations
• consequential amendments to Queensland law where it duplicates a section of the HVNL.

Further information

When available, further information including written briefings, correspondence, and transcripts will be published under the Related Publications tab.

PUBLIC PROCEEDINGS

The committee has scheduled a public briefing on the Bill by officers from the Department of Transport and Main Roads on Wednesday, 17 September 2025, and a public hearing on Wednesday, 1 October 2025. See timeline below for further information.

Committee’s report

The committee is due to table its report on Friday, 17 October 2025. The report will be published here.

Once the committee’s report has been tabled, the government has three months to respond to the report’s recommendations (if any). At that time, the government response will be published here.

Timeline