The Australian Logistics Council (ALC) has called on the government to more carefully consider which additional freight and logistics assets will be subject to the national critical infrastructure legislation.
The bill is before Parliament and introduces new rules about reporting obligations on operators of intermodals and critical freight services such as Toll Group, DHL Global Forwarding and Linfox.
The reporting obligations would apply to national logistics providers with an annual revenue threshold of over $150 million as well as the operators of 49 intermodal models.
Rachel Smith, ALC Interim CEO, says further consultation is required to define what constitutes critical infrastructure.
“Imposing reporting obligations on companies on the basis of revenue alone is lazy as many companies provide services or do things not directly related to movement of critical freight – which is the information that governments want,” she says.
Industry members say some of the identified intermodals are not of strategic importance, while other key assets are left out of the bill.
“So the vital security interests of Australia are protected, the Government should take the time to get the legislative package right without imposing unnecessary red-tape on business,” Rachel says.