Road Vehicle Standards Act 2018

Subject to this Act, a road vehicle may be used in transport on a public road in a State or Territory, even though it does not comply with a road vehicle standard imposed by a law of the State or Territory, if:

at the time the road vehicle is provided by a person for the first time in Australia:

the vehicle is a new road vehicle; and

the vehicle is on the RAV; and

the vehicle complies with the standards mentioned in subsection (3); and

the vehicle:

was manufactured or provided by a constitutional corporation for use in transport; or

is owned or used, or to be owned or used, by a constitutional corporation; or

is used, or to be used, exclusively or predominantly in trade or commerce among the States or between a State and a Territory; or

is used, or to be used, in a Territory or Commonwealth place.

For the purposes of paragraph (1)(a), in working out whether a road vehicle is provided for the first time in Australia, the provision of a road vehicle in a circumstance mentioned in paragraph (a) to (f) of the definition of new road vehicle in subsection (5) is to be disregarded.

For the purposes of subparagraph (1)(a)(iii), the standards are:

if the vehicle has been modified before the vehicle is provided for the first time in Australia and the modification causes the vehicle to not satisfy the requirements of the entry pathway that applied at the time the vehicle was entered on the RAV—the standards imposed by this Act, at the time of the modification, in relation to the vehicle as modified; or

otherwise—the standards imposed by this Act in relation to the vehicle at the time the vehicle was entered on the RAV.

For modifications of road vehicles on the RAV, see section 26.

To avoid doubt, this section does not prevent a law of a State or Territory from prohibiting or regulating a road vehicle’s use in transport on a public road in the State or Territory if:

the vehicle ceases to comply with the standards mentioned in subsection (3); or

the operation of the vehicle becomes defective in any respect.

In this section:

to have work done on it; or

to protect it; or

to store it; or

if the vehicle has been imported—to transport it to the importer; or

if the vehicle is to be exported—to transport it to the exporter; or

in a circumstance set out in the rules.

make such vehicles safe to use; or

control the emission of gas, particles or noise from such vehicles; or

secure such vehicles against theft; or

provide for security marking of such vehicles; or

promote the saving of energy.