On 12 July 2013, the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal published its first draft Road Safety Remuneration Order (RSRO) after a series of hearings and submissions about the retail, bulk grain, livestock and long distance (interstate and intrastate) road transport sectors.

The draft RSRO is intended to take effect for four years from 1 October 2013. It covers drivers in the road transport and distribution industry within the meaning of the Road Transport and Distribution Award 2010 and long distance operations in the private transport industry under the Road Transport (Long Distance Operations) Award 2010. While the draft RSRO does not cover all road transport sectors, it is illustrative of the type of RSRO that may apply in the future.

The draft RSRO includes requirements for companies in these sectors to implement a series of initiatives, including:

  • the development and implementation of safe driving plans
  • the implementation of training by registered training providers
  • the development and implementation of a drug and alcohol policy, and
  • a requirement to pay a contractor driver a reasonable amount for the work that the driver does.

The draft RSRO also provides for whistleblower protection to prevent parties in the supply chain from taking adverse action against a road transport driver because they:

  • have a workplace entitlement
  • have or haven't exercised their workplace entitlement, or
  • propose to, or not to, exercise a workplace entitlement (or previously took either of those actions).

Interestingly, the Tribunal did not include a minimum rate of payment in the draft RSRO as none of the parties convinced the Tribunal that their proposed approach was appropriate. The Tribunal has, however, invited interested parties to make further submissions about the draft RSRO by 26 July 2013 and provide further evidence by 5 August 2013.

Further hearings on the draft RSRO will be convened in Sydney between 13 August and 16 August 2013.

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