The Road Transport (Driver Licensing) Act 1999 will provide a head of power from 21 June 2024 to allow for a scheme where health practitioners are required to report on a person’s fitness to drive. This amendment was introduced by the Road Safety Legislation Amendment Act 2023, passed by the Legislative Assembly on 7 June 2023.
Transport Canberra and City Services requested feedback from interested stakeholders on the detail of the Exposure Draft Road Transport (Driver Licensing) Amendment Regulation 2022 (PDF 260.7 KB). Under the proposed regulatory changes, medical practitioners and selected allied health practitioners will be required to notify Access Canberra when they believe a patient has a permanent or long-term illness, injury or incapacity that may impair their fitness to drive a heavy vehicle safely.
Public consultation has now closed and we are reviewing the feedback received. Thank you to all interested stakeholders who provided feedback on the details of the Exposure Draft Road Transport (Driver Licensing) Amendment Regulation 2022. Further information will be included on our website following review of the feedback.
Currently, all drivers must self-report to Access Canberra if they have a medical condition affecting their ability to drive. For more information about a driver licence holder's obligations please visit the Access Canberra website.
Voluntary notifications can also be made by any person, such as concerned health practitioners or family members. In an effort to reduce road trauma by identifying at risk heavy vehicle drivers on ACT roads, the reporting requirements proposed below are in addition to those already in place.
The proposed changes
Under the proposal, medical practitioners as well as those registered in occupational therapy, optometry, physiotherapy or psychology professions will be required to report to Access Canberra once certain requirements are met. A report is required if the relevant health practitioner:
- carries out an examination or assessment of a person; AND
- reasonably believes the person holds, or is applying for, a heavy vehicle licence; AND
- forms an opinion that the person has a permanent or long-term illness, injury or incapacity that may impair the person’s fitness to drive a heavy vehicle safely.
The report must be made in writing to Access Canberra within seven days.
The health practitioner must take all reasonable steps to tell the person as soon as practicable of their requirement to report and the contents of the report.
Information for health practitioners
Refer to the information for health practitioners which details the proposed amendments, including when a report would need to be made to Access Canberra, how a health practitioner might know a person holds a heavy vehicle licence and the process after a report is made.
The information may also assist other stakeholders, such as drivers of heavy vehicles, to understand the proposed changes.
Frequently asked questions
Why are these changes being proposed?
Heavy vehicles can have devastating consequences if involved in a collision with another vehicle. Additionally, commercial heavy vehicles generally spend a significant amount of time on the road elevating their crash risk. It is imperative that drivers of heavy vehicles meet the medical fitness to drive standards and are competent in the skills necessary to control the vehicle.
The introduction of mandatory reporting by certain health practitioners is another step in keeping our roads safe. Drivers are already required to self-report any permanent or long-term illness, injury or incapacity that may impair their ability to drive safely. Drivers must self-report any relevant medical condition to Access Canberra when applying for a driver licence as well meet their ongoing obligation to inform Access Canberra of any changes to their medical condition while holding the licence. Additionally, when applying to drive a heavy vehicle of class MR and above, applicants must complete a commercial driver medical assessment with their medical practitioner.
Introducing the proposed changes in the Amendment Regulation will strengthen the reporting requirements already in place.
Will the driver know the health practitioner has reported their medical condition to Access Canberra?
The proposed amendments require that the health practitioner takes all reasonable steps to inform the person to whom the report relates of the contents of the report and the requirement to submit the report to Access Canberra.
What will happen after a report is made?
The information contained within the report will be considered by Access Canberra. Access Canberra may:
- Take no action – and will not contact the person or the health practitioner. For example, Access Canberra may already be aware of the person’s medical condition and there are no reported changes, or Access Canberra may consider the person meets the required medical standards; or
- Write to the person requesting that that they complete further assessments. For example, Access Canberra may require that the person completes a Commercial Driver’s Health Assessment with their GP or a driver related assessment with an occupational therapist or obtain a specialist report; or
- Write to the person advising of changes to a driver licence, if necessary. Once Access Canberra has completed a review of a person’s Fitness to Drive, if a change is needed to the driver licence, it will be communicated in writing to the licence holder. Any changes to a driver licence will only be made to the extent necessary for public safety. The driver licence holder will have a right to request an internal review of any decision made by Access Canberra.
Access Canberra will review the person’s Fitness to Drive based on the nationally approved medical standards in Austroads’ Assessing Fitness to Drive. The standards in Assessing Fitness to Drive provide evidence-based guidelines on how medical conditions can affect a person’s ability to drive and identifies suitable and consistent measures to control the risk. Assessing Fitness to Drive sets two medical standards, with more stringent commercial standards applicable to drivers of heavy vehicles (class MR and above), drivers of public passenger vehicles and drivers of dangerous goods vehicles.
While Access Canberra utilises the advice of medical professionals as part of the assessment, any decision affecting a person’s driver licence will remain with Access Canberra, as the Road Transport Authority. An overview of this process can be found in the flowchart - reporting and the fitness to drive process (JPG 506.3 KB).
Further details on the process undertaken by Access Canberra, and the right for a review of a decision, is provided in the information for health practitioners webpage.
When might the proposal be introduced?
The section of the Road Safety Legislation Amendment Act 2023 that introduces the head of power for a fitness to drive reporting scheme has a 12 month delayed commencement. This means that details and requirements of the scheme can’t be introduced by an Amendment Regulation before 21 June 2024.
This will provide sufficient time for Transport Canberra and City Services to consult widely with stakeholders on a workable scheme in the ACT and allow for subsequent education and implementation of the changes.
Timeline - the process so far
| 5 May 2022 The ACT Government responds to the Coroner’s Inquest into the death of Blake Corney, agreeing to consider a mandatory notification requirement for certain health practitioners. See the ACT Government Response to the Coroner’s report. |
| September 2022 Feedback obtained from key stakeholder representatives on a draft framework that would require certain health practitioners to report when they believe a patient has any permanent or long-term illness, injury or incapacity that may impair the person’s ability to drive a heavy vehicle safely |
| 23 November 2022 The Road Safety Legislation Amendment Bill 2022 is introduced into the Legislative Assembly. It proposes a head of power to allow for a mandatory notification requirement for health practitioners to be developed and prescribed in the Road Transport (Driver Licensing) Regulation 2000. |
| 14 December 2022 Release of the draft Road Transport (Driver Licensing) Amendment Regulation 2022 for public comment. |
| 17 February 2023 Feedback due on the draft Road Transport (Driver Licensing) Amendment Regulation 2022 and other supporting documents. |
| From March 2023 Review of feedback received and further consultation as necessary. |
| | 21 June 2023 The Road Safety Legislation Amendment Bill 2022 is passed by the Legislative Assembly on 7 June 2023, and notified on the ACT Legislation Register on 21 June 2023. |
