On 4 November 2025, the Senate established the Select Committee on Productivity in Australia to inquire into and report on the history of Australia’s productivity, opportunities to drive growth and the structural barriers to growth.
The committee’s discussion paper notes that the freight and logistics industry’s productivity has experienced either limited growth or declines in most years since 2003-04.
The Australian and state governments have agreed to a revitalised National Competition Policy (NCP), which includes a package of heavy vehicle reforms. The Productivity Commission is providing advice on the potential impacts.
This submission reviews the history of productivity growth in road freight transport and its stagnation since the 2000s, before arguing that the Government should:
- make NCP payments to the states that achieve the milestones for delivering the emerging regtech solution to high productivity vehicle road access
- eliminate bottlenecks in the road network
- adopt the UN light vehicle regulations along with some other international standards, to give vehicle purchasers more choice, reduce compliance costs and enable the government to focus on maintaining Australia’s heavy vehicle standards
- improve landside port productivity by regulating stevedoring charges
- address the industry’s driver shortage with better licensing and training, and adding articulated truck and tanker truck driving to the occupation list for skilled migration.