The Transport Act 1983 (the Act) was the main statute establishing government transport organisations and regulating land transport activities in the

State of Victoria Victoria is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state with a land area of , the second most populated state (after New South Wales) with a population of over 6.5 million, and the most densely populated state in Au ...

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 ...

for 27 years from mid-1983 to mid-2010. The Act was used as the vehicle for changes to transport organisational arrangements and transport regulation activities pursued by Victorian governments over that period. The Transport Act received the

royal assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in other ...

on 23 June 1983 and commenced on 1 July of that year. The Act remained as Victoria's principal transport statute until mid-2010 when that position was taken by a new statute, the

Transport Integration Act 2010 The Transport Integration Act 2010 (the Act) is a law enacted by the Parliament of the State of Victoria, Australia. The Act is the prime transport statute in Victoria, having replaced major parts of the ''Transport Act 1983'', which was renam ...

. It was renamed as the

Transport (Compliance and Miscellaneous) Act 1983 The ''Transport (Compliance and Miscellaneous) Act 1983'' (the Act) is a prime statute regulating transport activities in the State of Victoria, Australia. Key areas regulated by the statute currently include taxi and hire car services and compl ...

, a title which it retains to this day.

Initial purpose

Organisational reforms

The Transport Act was initially passed by the

Victorian Parliament The Parliament of Victoria is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of Victoria that follows a Westminster-derived parliamentary system. It consists of the King, represented by the Governor of Victoria, the Legislative Assembly and ...

as a major reform measure particularly in relation to institutional arrangements in the transport portfolio. The Act abolished a range of long established transport agencies including the

Victorian Railways The Victorian Railways (VR), trading from 1974 as VicRail, was the state-owned operator of most rail transport in the Australian state of Victoria from 1859 to 1983. The first railways in Victoria were private companies, but when these companie ...

, the

Melbourne and Metropolitan Tramways Board Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metr ...

and the

Country Roads Board The Country Roads Board was a government authority responsible for the construction and maintenance of main roads in the state of Victoria, Australia between 1913 and 1983. History The Country Roads Board (CRB) was formed to take over responsi ...

. In their place a range of new organisations including the State Transport Authority, the Metropolitan Transit Authority, the

Road Construction Authority The Road Construction Authority was a government authority responsible for the construction and maintenance of main roads in the state of Victoria, Australia between 1983 and 1989. History The Road Construction Authority (RCB) was formed to take ...

and the Road Traffic Authority were established. The Transport Act also established the

Ministry of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government age ...

as the prime coordinating agency for transport in Victoria.

Transport regulation

The Transport Act also consolidated much of the suite of Victorian land transport statutes containing regulatory controls. The Act initially contained a suite of provisions affecting trains and trams, buses, taxis and hire cars and tow trucks. Few of these provisions remain today in the Transport (Compliance and Miscellaneous) Act. The main schemes which remain relate to taxi and hire car regulation, the only substantial area of Victorian transport regulation not to be contained in a discrete statute, and provisions relating to compliance and enforcement in safety areas and affecting public transport ticketing and conduct.

Later developments

The major organisational changes brought about by the Transport Act were themselves the subject of major changes in the period after 1983.

1989 organisational consolidation

In 1989, the Victorian Parliament passed a new statute, the Transport (Amendment) Act, which made major adjustments to the initial organisational changes made by the Transport Act in 1983. The new Act merged the State Transport Authority and the Metropolitan Transit Authority to establish a new organisation, the

Public Transport Corporation The Public Transport Corporation (PTC) was a Victoria State Government owned statutory authority formed under the Transport Act 1983 which operated passenger and freight trains, trams and bus services. The PTC was also responsible for directly ...

, to manage train, tram and bus operations in metropolitan and regional areas of Victoria. The Transport (Amendment) Act also merged the

and the Road Traffic Authority to create the Roads Corporation or

VicRoads VicRoads is a government joint venture in the state of Victoria, Australia. In the state, it is responsible for driver licensing and vehicle registration. It is owned and operated through a joint venture between the Victorian government and a c ...

to manage the State's road network and its vehicle licensing and registration systems. The mergers took effect on 1 July 1989.

Other organisational changes

Other major organisational changes occurred after 1989 including the establishment of the office of the

Director of Public Transport The Director of Public Transport (also referred to as the Director, or the DPT) was the head of the Public Transport Division (PTD) of the Victorian Department of Transport. PTD was the government agency responsible for promoting, providing, ...

and the abolition of the

as well as the creation of discrete and special purpose organisations such as

VicTrack VicTrack, the trading name of Victorian Rail Track Corporation, is a Government of Victoria, Victorian Government state-owned enterprise which owns all railway and tram lines, associated rail lands and other rail-related infrastructure in the ...

and

V/Line V/Line is a statutory authority that operates regional passenger train and coach services in Victoria, Australia. It provides passenger train services on five commuter lines and eight long-distance routes from its major hub at Southern Cross ...

Regulatory developments

Many of the regulatory consolidations effected by the Transport Act have been reversed since the Act was initially passed. In many cases, the Victorian Parliament has acted to pass new principal statutes for subject matters previously regulated by the Transport Act, for example: * Public Transport Competition Act 1995 (since renamed the Bus Services Act 1995) * Rail Corporations Act 1996 * Rail Safety Act 2006 * Accident Towing Services Act 2007 * Bus Safety Act 2009, and * Tourist and Heritage Railways Act 2010.

The Transport Integration Act 2010

In early 2010, the Victorian Parliament passed a major new transport statute, the

Transport Integration Act The Transport Integration Act 2010 (the Act) is a law enacted by the Parliament of the State of Victoria, Australia. The Act is the prime transport statute in Victoria, having replaced major parts of the ''Transport Act 1983'', which was renam ...

, which came into force on 1 July of that year. The new act superseded the Transport Act as Victoria's main transport statute and, at the same time, it extended the ambit of the legislation beyond land transport activities to cover ports and marine services.

- see Parts 3, 5 and 6.

Transfer of organisations

All Victorian transport organisations created by statute have been transferred to the

including the land transport agencies previously established and empowered by the Transport Act.

Change of name of Transport Act

The

changed the name of the Transport Act 1983 to the

. The name change took effect on 1 July 2010.

References

{{Reflist Transport in Victoria (Australia) Victoria (Australia) legislation Transport law in Australia 1983 in Australian law 1980s in Victoria (Australia) History of transport in Victoria (Australia) 1983 in transport Transport legislation