National Voluntary Guidelines for Stevedores

The National Voluntary Guidelines are voluntary guidelines for the introduction of any new stevedore landside charges, notification periods and explanation of price increases at ports in New South Wales.

The Infrastructure and Transport Ministers endorsed the National Voluntary Guidelines (NVGs) for stevedores for notification and communication on charges levied on transport operators and they were published in April 2022.

The NVGs are voluntary guidelines for the introduction of any new stevedore landside charges, notification periods and explanation of price increases at New South Wales ports. The NVGs provide greater transparency and consistency in timing of the introduction of new charges and price increases for existing charges.

The NVGs were developed by the National Transport Commission (NTC) in consultation with transport bodies, stevedores and road transport operators, with each jurisdiction to determine how they will be implemented. This means, where a stevedore agrees to apply them:

Stevedore landside charges will only be changed once per annum.
Stevedores must issue a Notice of Intention to Transport for NSW (TfNSW), and industry, 60 days prior to the proposed date of the increase of an existing charge or introduction of a new charge.
The Notice of Intention must detail the rationale for the change, including any relevant supporting information, and excluding any such details deemed to be commercially sensitive.
The Notice of Intention will be published online and linked through the Transport for NSW freight website.
30 calendar days prior to the proposed implementation date, stevedore companies must publish a Final Confirmation Notice of changes on their website. The confirmation should include a statement of engagement summarising formal issues raised by affected stakeholders with the stevedoring company.

Transport for NSW is supporting the adoption of the guidelines by:

Aligning the timing of the separate reporting requirement under the Port Botany Landside Improvement Strategy with the NVGs.
Publishing a link to the stevedore’s Notice of Intention and Final Confirmation Notice on the Transport for NSW website.

For further information please contact freight@transport.nsw.gov.au