The Australian Design Rules (ADRs) are

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

's national technical standards for

vehicle safety Automotive safety is the study and practice of design, construction, equipment and regulation to minimize the occurrence and consequences of traffic collisions involving motor vehicles. Road traffic safety more broadly includes roadway design. ...

, theft resistance, and

emissions Emission may refer to: Chemical products * Emission of air pollutants, notably: **Flue gas, gas exiting to the atmosphere via a flue ** Exhaust gas, flue gas generated by fuel combustion ** Emission of greenhouse gases, which absorb and emit rad ...

. They are largely based on and actively harmonised with the "ECE" regulations promulgated by the

World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations The World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations is a working party (WP.29) of the Inland Transport Committee (ITC) of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). Its responsibility is to manage the multilateral Agreements ...

, though some of the technical prescriptions of the US

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA ) is an agency of the U.S. federal government, part of the Department of Transportation. It describes its mission as "Save lives, prevent injuries, reduce vehicle-related crashes" rela ...

regulations are accepted despite differing from the ECE prescriptions. They are relate with

vehicle regulation Vehicle regulations are requirements that automobiles must satisfy in order to be approved for sale or use in a particular country or region. They are usually mandated by legislation, and administered by a government body. The regulations concern a ...

. The ADRs use only the technical requirements of the ECE Regulations; the ECE system of

type approval Type approval or certificate of conformity is granted to a product that meets a minimum set of regulatory, technical and safety requirements. Generally, type approval is required before a product is allowed to be sold in a particular country, so ...

is not used. Instead, the ADRs are administered according to a self-certification system like that of the United States—manufacturers do not seek government-sanctioned testing or homologation; rather, they certify that their vehicles and regulated vehicle components comply with all applicable provisions of all applicable ADRs in effect on the date of manufacture. On vehicles, this certification is made by dint of the manufacturer affixing a "compliance plate" stating the vehicle's specifications and parameters, build date,

identification number An identifier is a name that identifies (that is, labels the identity of) either a unique object or a unique ''class'' of objects, where the "object" or class may be an idea, physical countable object (or class thereof), or physical noncountable ...

, and other required information along with a statement to the effect that the vehicle complies with all applicable ADRs. Vehicles manufactured for sale in countries other than Australia are generally barred from import to Australia unless they are brought into compliance with applicable ADRs and the conversion work is inspected and certified by an authorised compliance engineer. According to Tristan Edis, climate reporter for '' Business Spectator'', Australia's emissions standards specified in the ADRs lag behind most developed countries, and Australia is one of only a few major economies without fuel economy standards applying to cars.

References

{{Vehicle regulations Manufacturing in Australia Road transport in Australia Vehicle law