Page 2842 - Week 10 - Thursday, 7 October 2021
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well as other forms of mobility. For example, self-driving taxis have the potential to feed into mass transit options like light rail, rapid bus routes and train lines, rather than adding to traffic on congested thoroughfares.
As automated vehicle technology emerges, the ACT government’s approach will be supporting an integrated transport network for a connected, vibrant and sustainable city. Madam Speaker, it is clear that automated vehicle technology continues to advance, and governments have a clear role to play in policy and regulation to support road safety, environmental and transport outcomes.
I would like to take a couple of minutes to outline the work we are currently doing to prepare for the broader uptake of these vehicles, what we have achieved to date, and the next steps we are taking to progress this important area of innovation. As the Minister for Transport, I am working with Australia’s other transport ministers to get the right national policy frameworks in place for autonomous vehicles, through the infrastructure and transport ministers council and the national cabinet reform committee on infrastructure and transport.
Infrastructure and transport ministers have tasked the National Transport Commission with a program of work to complement the work of commonwealth, state and territory governments, as well as Austroads, in bringing automated vehicles to Australia. This program includes regulatory reforms for automated vehicles, which include legal and institutional mechanisms to regulate the safe importation and operation of automated vehicles on our roads; a national policy framework for land transport technology and an action plan which identifies the steps governments may take to prepare for the technological and data needs of automated vehicles; and the Austroads connected and automated vehicle program, which coordinates the trials of automated vehicles and intelligent transport systems occurring around the country. These three streams of work cover the regulation, technology and testing required to introduce automated vehicles to Australian roads in a safe and coordinated way.
From 2018 to 2020, ministers made decisions to adopt a national approach to the safety assurance of automated vehicles when they first enter the Australian market and when they are operating on Australian roads. In a significant step forward, infrastructure and transport ministers agreed in June 2020 to the development of a national automated vehicle safety law. The proposed law would establish a general safety duty on the entities responsible for automated driving systems and an in-service safety regulator responsible for regulating the operation of automated vehicles.
Working together with jurisdictions and the NTC, the aim is to have legislation drafted by the end of 2023, with the national regulator operational by 2026. It is anticipated that this would be ahead of the expected entry of automated vehicles into the Australian market. It is important to note that this is a proposal to develop national legislation that would be subject to consultation with the community and stakeholders and to approval by relevant governments, ministers and parliaments. The national legislation will be supported by reforms to state and territory laws.
In August 2016 the former Transport and Infrastructure Council agreed to the national policy framework for land transport technology. The framework outlines a national
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