The Australian Transport Council, which is made up of Commonwealth, State and Territory Ministers, has approved changes to the National Heavy Vehicle Accreditation Scheme (NHVAS) Maintenance Management Module to make it a complying audited maintenance program for the purposes of attracting the Commonwealth fuel tax credit. These changes to NHVAS are effective from January 2007.

Under the fuel tax credit arrangements, which apply from 1 July 2006, a diesel vehicle must satisfy one of four environmental criteria to be eligible for a fuel tax credit. The details of these criteria are set out in Fuel Tax Credit for Heavy Diesel Vehicles: Guidelines for Satisfying Environmental Criteria. The guidelines are available from the Department of Transport and Regional Services website at www.dotars.gov.au

Under Criterion 2 of the environmental criteria set out in the Guidelines, a diesel vehicle which is part of an accredited audited maintenance program is eligible for the fuel tax credit.

For the purposes of the fuel tax credit, an accredited maintenance program is one that meets certain minimum requirements related to emissions performance and auditing, and is recognised by the Australian Government as meeting those requirements.

Operators/individuals wishing to use NHVAS to gain a fuel tax credit are required to include the additional standards prescribed in the Maintenance Management Accreditation Standards to their operating procedures. A copy of the Maintenance Management Standards are available from the VicRoads website at www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/Home/HeavyVehicles/ComplianceAccreditation/NHVAS.htm