In response to the 2026 requirements for ROVER ‘Opt-in’ Approval renewals, HVIA will stand up a Trailer Working Group to tackle member issues raised around this topic, since the Federal Department of Infrastructure released updated information earlier this year.
Since last week’s Talk the Torque article, HVIA has heard from several members in the trailer building community that they will need to resubmit the majority of their Vehicle Type Approvals (VTAs) and Variants into the ROVER portal this year.
HVIA understands that this is because many VTAs were rolled over five years ago when the Road Vehicle Standards Act (RVSA) first came into force, which means as ‘opt-in’ approvals, they are due for renewal now. This has raised some concerns around the time and cost to industry to complete this task.
On a positive note, many trailer builders acknowledge that it’s a great opportunity to clean up their databases, improve documentation and generally modernise their systems.
Despite this, the task is not small and there are some concerns raised around the handling of non-standard approvals which could require letters of support to be re-obtained, of how the Department will cope with the large number of submissions coming, and what improvements are being made in the future to avoid re-entering data into the system for seven-year renewals which the Department already have.
Given the rise of technology and best practice data management, it would seem madness to be manually re-entering data in the future which is already held by the Department.
The Working Group will meet early next week to discuss a submission to the Department and determine what the key issues and concerns are around both ‘opt-in’ approvals and the ROVER system’s future ability to keep up with the wonderful age of technology.
For any HVIA members interested in joining the Trailer Working Group, please email your interest to r.michaud@hvia.asn.au.