Senator Carol Brown has kicked off this year’s Bus Industry Summit this morning in Canberra as the Summit seeks to cover everything from the future of buses to driving inclusion and diversity in the industry
The annual Bus Industry Confederation (BIC) Summit has gotten underway this morning at Canberra’s Hotel Realm, with discussions on the zero-emissions transition being one of many talking points during the two-day event.
BIC Chair Tony Hopkins opened the Summit before handing to Senator and federal assistant transport and infrastructure minister Carol Brown to give the opening address.
After presenting at last year’s BIC National Conference in November, Brown says the industry has made good use of the months since the conference in Brisbane, but there are more areas that she’s pleased to see covered at the 2023 Bus Industry Summit.
“The industry definitely needs to attract more women, so I’m pleased to see the Women in the Bus Industry panel that will run today,” Brown says.
“It’s a timely introduction and I warmly welcome it.”
Alongside this diverse perspective, Brown also welcomes consultations on training pathways after the federal government announced 480,000 fee-free TAFE places to get people in the industry.
Brown then discussed climate change and the National Electric Vehicle Strategy that the federal government is pushing to encourage the zero-emissions transition.
“We’re also looking at the role that biofuels can play in the decarbonisation of the heavy vehicle industry,” Brown says.
“We’ll continue looking at funding hydrogen hubs, such as the Hydrogen Highway between Melbourne and Sydney proposed by Viva Energy, to reduce the cost of procuring green hydrogen.”
Brown finished by saying she is also escalating the development of two new Australian Design Rules (ADRs) to regulate electric and hydrogen fuel-cell heavy vehicle technology, including for buses and coaches.
In the opening session, consultant Ken Kanofski also presented details and findings on the Heavy Vehicle National Law 9HVNL) reform.
After the Infrastructure and Transport Ministerial Meeting (ITMM) first commissioned the report from Kanofski in February 2022, Kanofski has since led a package of propositions to update the HVNL.
Now, he says seven themes were part of the changes, including access and fatigue.
“In some ways, the reforms don’t go as far as I would’ve liked them to,” Kanofski says.
Kanofski says the recently created HVNL Steering Committee will ensure consistent enforcement of these findings and proposals for the future of the bus and coach industry.
In the afternoon, the Bus Industry Summit will also look at the future of buses, including automated transport and the uptake of electric vehicles, as well as the Women in the Bus Industry panel.