Victoria passes new no-truck zone camera laws

On 31 October 2024, the Roads and Road Safety Legislation Amendment Bill 2024 passed through the Victorian Legislative Council with amendments and has now returned to the Legislative Assembly for further consideration.

The Bill would amend the Road Safety Act 1986 and related legislation to provide that evidence obtained from prescribed no truck zone cameras can be used in establishing whether the existing offence of driving a heavy vehicle in a no-truck zone has been committed by a driver.

The Bill also supports the rollout of digital drivers licences and facilitates the ongoing sale of custom licence plate products. It also makes minor reforms to the infringements process applicable to Melbourne current and future toll roads.

What is the context for the no-truck zone cameras?

According to the second reading speech delivered by Melissa Horne (MLA), Minister for Casino, Gaming and Liquor Regulation, Minister for Local Government, and Minister for Ports and Freight, the motivation for the Bill is to deliver on the government’s commitment to remove trucks from the inner west streets by introducing a 24-hour truck ban in the inner west following the opening of the West Gate Tunnel, which was imposed via the addition of sections 65BA to 65BE of the Road Safety Act 1986 (Vic) in 2019.

Enforcement is currently reliant upon authorised officers catching drivers breaking the rules red-handed. This method is resource intensive, inefficient and unsustainable once the 24-hour curfew begins upon opening of the West Gate Tunnel.

The government has committed $10.2 million in the 2024-25 budget to provide for the 24/7 camera enforcement. The cameras are tools to detect non-compliant trucks and enables enforcement by authorised officers of both the Department of Transport and Planning, and the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) in their areas of responsibility, noting that general heavy vehicle compliance is managed by the NHVR while local infringements are managed by Fines Victoria.

Victoria is the first State to move on law reforms to facilitate no-truck zone enforcement aided by technology solutions. However, other States have also increasingly been deploying enforcement technology in transport contexts: for example, NSW and SA have, like Victoria, enacted law reforms to enable the use of AI-enabled camera systems to enforce updated seatbelt and use of mobile phone while driving offences.

More broadly, other technology solutions are being explored by Australian road authorities. Transport for NSW has recently completed the roll-out of solar-powered, AI-enabled cameras to monitor freight movements, but not enforce any road rules. The NSW “Machine Learning project was developed to understand if machine learning and artificial intelligence could be adapted to extract heavy vehicle information from roadside cameras… [which] will be used to improve… understanding of heavy vehicle and freight movement.”

Operator-onus offence and potential exceptions

The offence under section 65BA(1), where it is “detected by a prescribed no-truck zone camera or by a prescribed process or the detection of which involves the use of a prescribed no-truck zone camera”, is now deemed an ‘operator onus’ offence for the purposes of Part 6AA of the Road Safety Act 1986 (Vic), meaning the identity of the person driving, or in charge of the motor vehicle or trailer, does not need to be established at the time of the offence, but is deemed from registry information. This system would allow for enforcement of the offence without the need for direct intercept at the time of offence. As with similar road rule infringements, the offence includes a defence for a purported driver to nominate a person who was in fact the operator of the vehicle at the time of the offence.

With respect to the new evidence provisions in the amended Road Safety Act 1986 (Vic):

• definitions of “no-truck zone camera” (generic definition of a system) and “prescribed no-truck zone camera” (a type or class of no truck zone camera prescribed under regulations) have been added to section 3, meaning all cameras to be used must be prescribed (as it the case for road safety and tolling enforcement camera technology);
• a new section 80E would provide that prescribed no-truck zone camera evidence will be in addition to and not prejudice other types of evidence that may be adduced to prove the commission of an offence; and
• under new sections 83B and 84(7A), a certificate containing prescribe information issued by a State or NHVR authorised person with respect to camera-obtained evidence will be admissible in evidence in any proceeding, and proof of the matters stated in it in the absence of evidence to the contrary (including times, dates, locations and licence plate numbers).

The proposed legislation would also allow for exceptions to the law which will be defined in future regulations, which could be raised as a defence to proceedings under new section 84AC if raised at least 28 days prior to any hearing. While exceptions categories are not defined in the Bill, the explanatory memorandum anticipated that regulations outlining permitted exceptions could include authorisation from the Secretary to the Department of Transport and Planning, or where the driver is being escorted by a police officer or an authorised officer.

Why does it matter?

With a 24-hour no-truck zone in place in the inner west, the Victorian Government estimates that approximately 9,000 trucks will be removed from local streets each day, resulting in cleaner air, reducing noise and improved health outcomes from local families.

The amendments will enable the use of image captured by the new cameras as evidence that a heavy vehicle was in a no-truck zone in contravention of the new laws.

The Government has also confirmed there are exceptions for trucks with origins and designations within the no-truck zone area to ensure that local businesses and households can continue to receive and supply goods.