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Welcome to the final edition of the Department of Transport and Planning (DTP) Traffic Management Reform (TMR) program newsletter.
Thank you for your support of the TMR program
From all of us at DTP, thank you for your support of the TMR program which concludes on Friday 28 June 2024.
Our purpose has been to provide the extra support needed to promote safety on the road network, reduce unnecessary congestion and delays around road worksites, and make it easier for the traffic management industry to do business with government.
Over the last two years, we’ve delivered a range of initiatives to create a more consistent and safety-focused approach for how traffic management activities are planned and delivered – from centralising the Memorandum of Authorisation (MoA) permit process to developing and launching a Road Access Permits Portal (RAPP), updating the Code of Practice (CoP), introducing a new accreditation program, and delivering a road worker safety awareness and education campaign.
We’ve valued your ongoing input and engagement to help us transform the traffic management industry.
Thank you.
Final industry briefing session follow up questions
Thank you to everyone who joined us for our final online briefing session on Friday 7 June 2024. We appreciated the discussions, questions and feedback.
The presentation was emailed to all attendees following the session. If you did not receive the presentation and would like a copy, please email us at tmr.support@transport.vic.gov.au by 12pm Friday 28 June 2024.
As promised, below are responses to some of the questions raised during the session:
How will the national recognition work if one state, such as South Australia, is not participating?
All participating jurisdictions recognise national qualifications. Interstate qualifications will be recognised if you:
- have successfully completed the following units – RIIWHS302E – Implement Traffic Management Plans and RIIWHS205E – Control Traffic with Stop/Slow Bat
- can provide evidence of completion (for example a Statement of Attainment)
- have current work experience.
If you do not meet all the criteria above, you will need to complete the full traffic management training (TTM) course.
Before being issued with a Work Zone Traffic Management (WZTM) card, and have the ability to work in South Australia, you will be required to complete localised content training with an approved training provider.
Can Accredited Training Providers (ATPs) sign up to deliver only the Short Term Low Impact (STLI) training module for occasional users and/or the Utilities specific packages? There are Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) that specialise in these areas and want to deliver them but not the broader Traffic Controller (TC), Traffic Management Implementer (TMI) and Traffic Management Design (TMD) modules.
ATPs are the only providers permitted to deliver STLI and/or Utilities. To be an ATP, an RTO must have at least one trainer and one TTM program from the TC, TMI or TMD course offerings. RTOs who wish to deliver STLI and/or Utilities are advised to prepare an application to deliver TMI1.
There is no obligation on the RTO to deliver the TTM program – only to qualify and register as an ATP in a TTM category to ensure understanding of the differences between their packages and the TMI content.
There was an anecdote about the pre-requisites for TMD preventing progression due to six months of TMI experience – how are we going with modifying this requirement that TMI be a pre-requisite for TMD?
The entry requirements for TMD1 are required from a regulatory perspective, which all ATPs must adhere to. Entry requirements can be found here.
Austroads is leading a national discussion to consider whether the current entry requirements for TDM1 need to be adjusted.
Will the STLI training allow the use of a stop/slow bat? Industry reports that this is critical for the activity they perform like aiding trucks to back out of construction sites but currently explicitly not allowed as STLI under the AGTTM. Are they excluded from working while they are upgrading their training?
Feedback for STLI has strongly requested use of Stop/Slow bat – this is being added to the training package but will also include caveats around usage – we are trying to avoid people completing STLI instead of TC or TMI training. If required, the AGTTM will be updated to reflect this.
DTP will continue to recognise training taken under the current model until the STLI package is sufficiently available in the market. From the date it is released the old qualifications will continue to be recognised until they expire or 3 years from the issue date (whichever is the earliest).
Can Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) in the TMD space be completed after their ticket has expired? Do they have to start at category 1 (CAT1)? If so, are there mandated waiting periods between the categories?
Yes, RPL focuses on currency and industry experience not their ticket expiry date. For example, someone may have a current ticket but not be able to demonstrate currency or experience.
Yes, they have to start at CAT1 but they can wrap this in with a higher category. There are no mandated waiting periods – RPL allows for someone to gather evidence which meets the entry requirements.
Update on New Surveillance Framework and end-to-end processes
DTP is creating an Assurance and Enforcement Framework (the Framework) to incorporate the Surveillance Framework and end-to-end processes approach into one document and detail:
- DTP’s enforcement principles
- The offences DTP will now be conducting assurance and enforcement activities for
- The powers Traffic Assurance Authorised Officers will have and what evidence of noncompliance they may collect
- The types of enforcement outcomes which may result in cases where noncompliance is established.
The Framework will establish a fair and reasonable approach to compliance with traffic management laws and provide transparency for industry and stakeholders by being:
- Publicly available, as is the case with other regulators’ enforcement frameworks
- Clear and concise, using plain language to summarise key information
- Places the industry “on notice” in cases where prosecution is pursued.
The Framework is in the final stages of development and will be available on the Traffic Management Code of Practice and Surveillance Framework webpage once ready.
If you have any questions, please email TMAccreditation@roads.vic.gov.au.
Instrument of delegation
DTP has authorised an instrument of delegation under Regulation 18(1)(a) of the Road Safety (Traffic Management) Regulations 2019.
This allows interested local councils to authorise Portable Traffic Control Devices (PTCD) with traffic signals and Temporary Works Speed Limit Signs (TWSLS) for non-road related works on their road network.
The process will be:
- A letter will be sent to local council CEOs in July 2024 providing details of the instrument of delegation and how local councils can adopt it.
- Local councils will need to notify the Roadwork Permits team that they intend to utilise the delegation via RAPP.support@transport.vic.gov.au.
- DTP will publish a list of local councils authorising PTCDs with traffic signals and TWSLS as a reference guide for the traffic management industry.
- DTP will redirect any permit applications received for PTCDs with traffic signals and TWSLS for local councils who take up this delegation.
If you have any questions, please email the Roadwork Permits team on RAPP.support@transport.vic.gov.au.
Changes to TMD training
The new TMD training will become mandatory on 10 July 2024. This follows the rollout of the new TC and TMI training – both of which became mandatory on 1 March 2024 – and will be in line with the introduction of the National Training Framework on 1 December 2023.
When the TMD training becomes mandatory on 10 July 2024:
- New TMDs will need to undertake training under the new courses.
- Qualifications expiring from 10 July 2024 must be renewed under the new training courses.
- Current TMD qualifications will continue to be recognised by DTP until they expire or three years from date of issue (whichever is the earliest).
Additional information for RTOs
The new TMD training package was made available on 25 January 2024 for RTOs to deliver as an ATP. DTP has been advising the traffic management industry to upskill themselves in the design elements of the new Road Management Act (Code of Practice for Worksite Safety – Traffic Management) (CoP) as soon as they can (if they haven’t already). This is important because any documents that design traffic management set ups on roads managed by DTP must comply to the new CoP from 14 October 2024.
If you are interested in delivering the new TMD training or have any questions about the TMD training package, please contact Austroads on ttmtraining@austroads.com.au for more information.
Additional information for TMDs
As part of the TMD training rollout, there is a change to compliance to the design elements of the Road Management Act (Code of Practice for Worksite Safety – Traffic Management) (CoP).
DTP paused enforcing compliance until the new TMD training was readily available and workers had the opportunity to receive formal training. With the TMD training mandatory from 10 July 2024, MoA permit applications and supporting documents submitted to DTP must now be designed to comply to the standards and requirements in the current CoP (such as Traffic Guidance Schemes) from 14 October 2024.
DTP is providing a three-month compliance transition period to give TMDs the opportunity to start designing to the new CoP as soon as possible. This will ensure TMDs are ready to comply to the new standards and obligations from 14 October 2024. Please contact an Approved Training Provider if updated TMD training is required to support this.
If you have any questions about the new TMD training, please contact Austroads on ttmtraining@austroads.com.au for more information. If you have any questions about the CoP, please contact the DTP Accreditation team on tmaccreditation@transport.vic.gov.au.
Want to feature in our new road worker safety campaign?
We recently delivered the first phase of our road worker safety campaign and are currently developing a follow up campaign to help improve poor driver behaviour. We’re looking to do this by sharing stories of Victorian road workers, so we need your help to bring this campaign to life.
If you’re interested in being involved, please email tmr.support@transport.vic.gov.au by COB Friday 28 June 2024 to be added to the stakeholder list. We’ll be in contact once production is ready to begin to share how you can be involved. This campaign is expected to be live later this year.
How to keep in touch
With the TMR program wrapping up on Friday 28 June 2024, the TMR inbox (tmr.support@transport.vic.gov.au) will no longer be monitored from Monday 1 July 2024.
If you need support with the ongoing initiatives, please direct any email enquiries as follows:
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