Reviews of the National Transport Commission

Section 51 of the NTC Act requires Australia’s Infrastructure and Transport Ministers to review the NTC every six years from its establishment. This review must report on the operations of the NTC and the NTC Act, its associated Inter-Government Agreement for Regulatory and Operational Reform in Road, Rail and Intermodal Transport 2003 (IGA), and make recommendations about whether the NTC should continue and/or the NTC Act be repealed.

2021 Review

The 2021 NTC Review, which is the third statutory review under the NTC Act, was reported to the Infrastructure and Transport Ministers Meeting in May 2021. Infrastructure and Transport Ministers provided their response to the Review to First Ministers in September 2021.

Terms of Reference for the 2021 Review of the National Transport Commission (NTC) were endorsed by Infrastructure and Transport Ministers on 20 November 2020.

Previous Reviews

2015 Review

The final 2015 NTC Review was reported to the Transport and Infrastructure Council in August 2015. The Council's response to the Review has been noted by the Council of Australian Governments (COAG).

Terms of Reference for a six-yearly review of the National Transport Commission (NTC) in 2015 were endorsed by the Transport and Infrastructure Council on 7 November 2014.

2012 Review

Transport Ministers agreed in November 2011 the terms of reference for the review of the National Transport Commission, Austroads, ARRB Group Limited, Transport Certification Australia and the Rail Industry Safety and Standards Board. The review examined the role and functions of these bodies going forward with the commencement of the new national transport regulatory systems in January 2013.

The 2012 review was formulated in response to the 2009 Review of the NTC. The ministerial council responded to the 2009 review by recommending to the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) that a further review of the NTC and other relevant transport bodies be undertaken in 2012, in light of the impending implementation of national regulators for heavy vehicles, rail safety and maritime safety, which was endorsed by COAG. A further impetus for reconsidering the roles of these national organisations in the transport sector was the significant change to ministerial council arrangements under COAG, which commenced in mid-2011.

The review was undertaken by the Transport and Infrastructure Senior Officials’ Committee. The finalised review report was agreed by the ministerial council at its May 2013 meeting.

2009 Review

The 2009 Review of the NTC was conducted on the six year anniversary of the NTC Act and was reported in June 2009, with endorsement of the ministerial council's response by COAG on 7 December 2009.

Key Documents