Transport Legislation Amendment (Taxi Services Reform and Other Matters) Act 2011
The Transport Legislation Amendment (Taxi Services Reform and Other Matters) Act 2011 (the act) is a law enacted by the Parliament of the State of Victoria, Australia to reform taxi and other small commercial passenger vehicle services in the State.
[1] In general, the act establishes a regulatory scheme with the following key elements - The Victorian Government's pursuit of the act was driven by concerns about the ongoing poor performance of Victoria's taxi industry and the desire to establish an inquiry and signal long term organisational and regulatory changes.
[3] Baillieu said the Fels Inquiry’s key tasks would include improving disastrously low levels of public confidence, providing better security and support services for drivers and safety for customers, and ensuring drivers were properly trained and knowledgeable.
The media release issued by the Premier announcing the Inquiry reported him as saying that - The key problems with the current Victorian taxi industry listed by Baillieu in his announcement were - Reforming the Victorian taxi industry occurred in two stages.
During the second stage staff and resources from the VTD were moved to TSC once it assumes the ongoing role of regulator.
[9] The Commission is then required to report on those matters including by making recommendations about how the commercial passenger vehicle industry should be structured and regulated.
They enable the Commission to not only investigate traditional matters relating to vehicles, drivers, licences and the like but also a wide range of ancillary matters such as the supply of relevant goods and services in the taxi and broader small commercial passenger vehicles industry.
[11] This breadth facilitates the investigation of provision of electronic and other payment systems for the payment of fares and charges, suppliers of booking and dispatch systems, driver protection screens, taxi fit outs, taxi meters and sealers, security cameras, panel beating, vehicle repairs and maintenance, finance and banking services, licence and insurance broking, bureau services, call number services, taxi ranks, and vehicle consumables such as fuel, oil and tyres.
In its second phase, the Commission is positioned as the Victorian Government's regulator of taxi services and other small commercial passenger vehicles.
[13] This role will require the TSC to, among other things, administer any licensing and accreditation schemes and conduct compliance and enforcement and other activities.
[17] The Transport Legislation Amendment (Taxi Services Reform and Other Matters) Act amended the Transport Integration Act to provide the TSC with a governance framework - the objects, functions and powers - which comprise the charter of the agency.
[32] The act establishes an elaborate scheme relating to the Commission's handling of confidential or commercially sensitive information.
[43] These functions are instead reserved for the Department of Transport to avoid the conflicts of interest involved in regulators performing both policy and legislative tasks.
[44] A range of other substantive and procedural changes are made by the act to position the Commission as the regulator of the taxi and small commercial passenger vehicle sector.
[46] However, the Victorian Government has indicated that as designed these requirements will not come into operation until after the conclusion of the current Taxi Industry Inquiry.
