VicRoads

Governance

In 1983, the Country Roads Board was replaced by the Road Construction Authority, under the Transport Act 1983. In 1989, the Road Traffic Authority was merged with the Road Construction Authority to form the Roads Corporation, trading under the name VicRoads.

VicRoads was re-established on 1 July 2010 under the Transport Integration Act, which establishes a framework for an integrated and sustainable transport system in Victoria and empowered the key Victorian Government agencies with responsibility for the State's land and water transport system. The Act provided that VicRoads' primary object was to provide, operate and maintain the road system consistent with the vision statement in the Act and objectives which emphasise transport integration and sustainability. The statute also required VicRoads to "...manage the road system in a manner which supports a sustainable Victoria by seeking to increase the share of public transport, walking and cycling trips as a proportion of all transport trips in Victoria..."

In July 2016, the government announced the creation of Transport for Victoria, a new statutory authority combining planning functions of Public Transport Victoria and VicRoads as well as functions of other agencies.

On 1 July 2018, the Major Road Projects Authority was formed, with the function of administering specified road projects transferred from VicRoads to the new authority. On 1 January 2019, the Department of Transport and its major project authority, the Major Transport Infrastructure Authority (MTIA) were formed. The Major Road Projects Authority was renamed Major Road Projects Victoria (MRPV) and became part of MTIA.

In April 2019, it was announced that VicRoads would cease to exist as an independent entity from 30 June 2019 with its functions merged with those of Public Transport Victoria into a new division of the Department of Transport. Announcing the reforms, Premier Daniel Andrews argued that the reform would go "one step beyond" the formation of Transport for Victoria, and said that merging the two agencies would lead to planning of an integrated and mode-agnostic transport network. Although the Rail, Tram and Bus Union supported the government's decision, the Australian Services Union, representing a large number of VicRoads administrative staff, opposed the merger. On 1 July 2019, most of VicRoads functions were absorbed into the Department of Transport, excluding registration and licensing functions and some heavy vehicle functions, which remained under VicRoads.

Operations

From 1 July 2019, VicRoads' remaining functions were registration and licensing, and heavy vehicle compliance, enforcement and investigation functions.

On 1 January 2020, all road management functions and responsibilities of VicRoads were transferred to and vested in the Head, Transport for Victoria, an office established under section 64A of the Transport Integration Act 2010 and currently held by the Secretary of Department of Transport. This meant that any reference to VicRoads in road management standards and other technical information must be construed as a reference to Head, Transport for Victoria.

In March 2021, the Victorian Government made an in-principle decision to progress a joint venture model for VicRoads registration, licensing and custom plates. On 30 June 2022 the Roads Corporation ceased to exist through a legislative abolition. On 1 July 2022 partial privatisation formally went into effect for VicRoads through a joint venture model with Aware Super, Australian Retirement Trust and Macquarie Asset Management.

In early 2025, VicRoads became one of the first government agencies worldwide to implement passkeys on a large scale. This initiative allows nearly 5 million Victorians to securely access their myVicRoads accounts using biometric authentication methods such as Face ID, Touch ID, or Windows Hello, eliminating the need for traditional passwords.

References

References

1. (September 2018). "Annual Report 2017-18". VicRoads.
2. "History of VicRoads".
3. "Department of Transport — Transport Integration Act". Transport.vic.gov.au.
4. "Transport Integration Act 2010".
5. "Simpler, More Coordinated Transport System For Victoria".
6. (4 April 2019). "Big merger: VicRoads and PTV to become one mega-agency". [[The Age]].
7. "Acts, regulations & policies".
8. "Governance".
9. (September 2019). "Annual Report 2018-19". Department of Transport.
10. "About VicRoads".
11. VicRoads. (2021-03-09). "VicRoads Modernisation".
12. "VicRoads Modernisation".
13. "Transport Legislation Amendment Bill 2019".
14. (July 2022). "Free licences and cheaper licence renewal on offer as VicRoads becomes partly privatised".
15. "VicRoads Modernisation".
16. "VicRoads Launches Passkeys with Corbado".