The National Transport Commission (NTC), in consultation with Austroads, have just released proposed changes to the medical standards for private and commercial drivers for public consultation.

Assessing Fitness to Drive - Commercial and Private Vehicle Drivers 2003 (AFTD) is a joint publication of Austroads and the NTC. It contains the nationally agreed medical standards for the purposes of driver licensing.

The publication undergoes regular reviews to ensure it reflects current best practice and meets the practical needs of both private and commercial drivers.

NTC sought feedback on the current standards in July 2009 and worked closely with specialist medical associations and societies to gather current medical knowledge and identify best practice.

The proposed changes to the standards are now open for public comment. To download the draft revision of the AFTD publication and the consultation document which details the proposed changes, please visit the NTC website.

Submissions are welcome until the public consultation period closes on 14 June 2010. For details on how to make a submission, please visit the NTC submissions page. Submissions can also be sent to medicalstandards@ntc.gov.au.

More information on the Review of Transport Medical Standards can be found here.

• Each year in Australia more than 1,500 Australians are killed on our roads and around 22,000 are seriously injured. The total economic cost exceeds $15 billion annually and the accompanying social costs greatly impact on our communities.
  
• Whilst many factors contribute to safety on the road, driver health is an important consideration and drivers must meet certain medical standards to ensure that their health status does not increase the risk of a crash in which they or other road users may be killed or injured.
  
• Revised medical standards have been released for drivers of private and commercial vehicles. The standards are contained in the document Assessing Fitness to Drive 2003 (reprinted in 2006), which replaces the previous private vehicle driver standards Assessing Fitness to Drive 2001 and the commercial vehicle driver standards Medical Examinations for Commercial Vehicle Drivers 1997.

Click here for the current edition of Assessing Fitness to Drive.

The Driving and Your Health campaign is a National Transport Commission (NTC) and Austroads initiative designed to support awareness and action in relation to the health of commercial vehicle drivers.  It alerts transport operators and drivers to the importance of health for road safety.