HVIA has called on the Department of Transport to drop the requirement for approval holders to re-apply every seven years for all valid approvals under the Road Vehicle Standards Act’s (RVSA) online administration system ROVER.
In its submission, HVIA calls on administrators to update the digital platform to allow existing applications to be pulled across to create a renewal application which can then be checked over and submitted by the approval holder.
Under proposed changes to the current system applicants will need to manually re-enter and attach multiple pages of text and evidence for renewal of seven-year-old approvals. HVIA members suggest this process is completely unnecessary, time consuming and adds no value to the current process other than increasing cost and red tape to industry.
They believe this will create confusion, errors and hold ups on renewal processing times – and see no positive outcome or benefit in re-entering existing data which has not changed.
Given that many approvals which were entered when the RVSA first transitioned will expire in two years, implementation of updates to the ROVER portal will need to be planned and actioned now.
Industry is also currently challenged with the deadline to submit all Opt-in approvals, which is coming up at year’s end.
The latest HVIA submission calls for some clarity on timeframes and consideration around how the December 31, 2026 deadline is administered. If all approvals received before this date (rather than reviewed and approved) could be considered valid until reviewed, this would create some valuable breathing space for both industry and the Department.
Members have also raised several other concerns or suggestions for improvement to the portal and vehicle registration scheme which are highlighted in the submission.
While the Department has been open to discussions on this topic so far, HVIA is mindful action will need to be taken soon to avoid further burden on industry in 2028.
HVIA looks forward to further discussions with the Department and encourages any members who have concerns to contact r.michaud@hvia.asn.au.