The Victorian and New South Wales Governments have welcomed an agreement between the states and territories to develop voluntary national guidelines for stevedore infrastructure and access charges.
Infrastructure and access charges have been implemented and charged by stevedores to transport carriers for the pickup and drop off of import and export containers.
Australia's Infrastructure and Transport Ministers endorsed a plan for the National Transport Commission to develop voluntary national guidelines for applying stevedore infrastructure and access charges at Australia's container ports.
Taking a national approach will support consistency between Australian ports.
The development of these guidelines will provide greater certainty for both stevedores and landside transport operators and provide greater understanding of the benefits of investment in terminal facilities.
The National Transport Commission, as the national land transport reform agency, will lead this work and will engage with industry and jurisdictions on developing the guidelines.
This work will include consideration of Victoria's Voluntary Performance Model at the Port of Melbourne.
Draft guidelines will be provided to the Infrastructure and Transport Ministers for endorsement in 2021.
Industry will continue to be updated and consulted as details on the project development timeframe become available.
