National Voluntary Guidelines for Landside Stevedore Charges

The National Voluntary Guidelines are voluntary guidelines for the introduction of any new stevedore landside charges, notification periods and explanation of price increases at the Port of Brisbane. 

The National Transport Commission created the guidelines with input from transportation companies, stevedores and road transport operators. The guidelines are designed to create transparency and consistency in timing of the introduction of new charges and price increases for existing charges.

The guidelines were published by the National Transport Commission on 31 March 2022, with each state and territory deciding how they will be implemented. This means, where a stevedore agrees to apply them:

• The charges will only be changed once per annum on an Annual Review Date nominated by the individual stevedoring company.
• Stevedoring companies must issue a Notice of Intention to the department and publish the notice on their website 60 calendar days prior to the proposed date of change of an existing, or the 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.
• Stevedoring companies must publish a Final Confirmation Notice of changes on their website 30 calendar days prior to the proposed date of implementation.
• Stevedoring companies that levy charges to access their terminals have voluntarily agreed to adhere to this protocol to enhance the communication, transparency, and predictability of charges.

Currently, the Queensland Government does not have regulatory or legislative oversight of the stevedore industry at the Port of Brisbane. We will monitor the industry’s compliance to the National Voluntary Guidelines. 

For more information or to download a copy of the National voluntary guidelines for landside stevedore charges, please visit the National Transport Commission website.