NEW roads and freight legislation seeks to improve safety, operational and administrative efficiency in the transport sector, Victorian ports and freight minister Melissa Horne says.
The Roads and Ports Legislation Amendment (Road Safety and Other Matters) Bill 2025 was introduced on 13 May and read a second time on 14 May.
Further debate is scheduled for Wednesday 28 May.
The bill introduces a licencing scheme for people providing mooring services in Victoria’s commercial ports and seeks to streamline processes for disposing of abandoned things from ports and waterways, while expanding the powers “to compel the production of documents for the purpose of an investigation”.
“The bill will deliver a range of legislative amendments to improve safety, achieve operational and administrative efficiencies and improve the effectiveness of transport laws,” Ms Horne was quoted in Hansard.
“This bill will achieve this by improving enforcement practices and requirements to improve road safety outcomes, addressing known safety risks to workers and reliability at commercial ports by regulating the providers of mooring services, improving the management of certain road infrastructure and making processes for the consent of works on roads more effective, and making improvements to legislation that governs the operation of local ports and a range of other legislative amendments to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of transport legislation.”
The seeks to clarify arrangements for responding to marine pollution incidents by amending the Marine (Drug, Alcohol and Pollution Control) Act 1988 regarding clarify that the secretary of the Department of Transport and Planning functions in relation to marine pollution incidents.
The bill is also aimed at ensure that Victoria “is not left to bear a higher cost” of any pollution response resulting from the escape of oil from an oil tanker, by removing the “outdated liability limit” for such indents from the Marine (Drug, Alcohol and Pollution Control) Act 1988, and relying instead on the internationally agreed liability limit given effect under Commonwealth legislation.
Comment has been sought from industry on the legislation.