Chain of Responsibility for Directors and Executives
Advice for directors and senior managers of transport businesses on the personal due diligence duty under the Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL).
A Personal Duty for Directors and Senior Managers
Under the HVNL, directors and senior managers of a transport business have a personal duty. It sits on top of the business's own duty, and it can be prosecuted separately.
Eric Navea worked at the NHVR as its Senior Prosecutor and led a team of prosecutors. He helps directors understand the due diligence duty under the Chain of Responsibility, check that the business can prove it is meeting it, and respond when the NHVR comes knocking.
If the NHVR has contacted your business, speak with Eric before anyone answers questions or produces documents.
Request a Confidential Consultation
Who Is an Executive Officer?
An executive officer is a person who makes, or takes part in making, decisions that affect all or a large part of the business.
A job title alone does not decide it. What matters is the decisions the person actually makes.
Executive officers usually include:
- Company directors
- The chief executive or managing director
- The general manager or operations manager
- Other senior managers who set budgets, schedules or safety policy
If you are not sure whether the duty applies to you, Eric can advise you confidentially.
The Business Duty and Your Personal Duty
There are two separate duties under the Chain of Responsibility:
- The primary duty: every party in the chain, including the transport business, must make sure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that its transport activities are safe
- The executive officer duty: directors and senior managers must exercise due diligence to make sure the business complies with its primary duty
If the business falls short, the NHVR can look at what each executive officer did, or failed to do, about it.
An executive officer can be charged whether or not the business itself has been charged or convicted.
What Due Diligence Means
The HVNL sets out the reasonable steps that due diligence includes. In practice, executive officers need to:
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Keep up to date
Keep up to date with the safe conduct of transport activities.
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Understand the risks
Understand the business's operations and the hazards and risks involved, including fatigue, speed, mass, dimension, loading and vehicle standards.
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Provide resources
Make sure the business has the right resources and processes to remove or reduce those risks.
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Act on information
Make sure there are processes to receive information about incidents, hazards and risks, and to respond to it in time.
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Have compliance processes
Make sure there are processes for complying with the business's duties under the HVNL.
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Check they work
Check that these resources and processes are actually provided and used. A policy in a folder is not enough.
What the NHVR Looks For
In an investigation, the NHVR often asks for documents that show how the board and managers manage safety risks, such as:
Board and management records
Minutes, safety reports and the questions directors asked about fatigue, speed and loading.
Policies and procedures
Fatigue management, scheduling, load restraint, maintenance and incident reporting.
Training records
Driver and staff training, and how the business checks it is understood.
Monitoring
Telematics reviews, audits and how breaches were followed up.
Contracts and scheduling
Customer contracts, delivery windows and whether schedules allow drivers to work safely.
Incident response
What the business did when a risk or incident was reported.
Penalties for Directors and Businesses
Breaches of the primary duty and the executive officer duty are grouped into three categories, depending on how serious the risk was. A prosecution can lead to:
- Very large fines for the business
- Personal fines for executive officers
- Imprisonment for individuals in the most serious (Category 1) cases
- Court orders, such as supervisory or prohibition orders
- Damage to contracts, insurance and reputation
The maximum penalties are set in the HVNL and are indexed each year, so check the NHVR's published penalty amounts for current figures.
Early advice can make a real difference to how the NHVR views the business and its officers.
A Practical Checklist for Directors
If you have received something from the NHVR, send it to Eric for review.
0401 937 269-
Make safety a standing item
Is heavy vehicle safety on the agenda at every board or management meeting?
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Ask for reports
Do you receive regular reports on fatigue, speed, mass and incident trends?
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Check delivery times
Have you checked how customer delivery times affect your drivers' hours?
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Keep a record
Is there a written record of what you did when a risk was reported?
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Get an outside review
Has anyone outside the business reviewed your systems in the last 12 months?
How Eric Can Help Directors and Executives
Eric knows what the NHVR looks for when it investigates a business and its directors. He can:
- Review your due diligence records
- Identify gaps before an investigation
- Brief the board on the executive officer duty
- Advise on a Notice to Produce or NHVR investigation
- Defend the business or its officers in court
- Give a second opinion to in-house lawyers and compliance teams
Eric handles each matter personally and does not pass it to a junior lawyer.
Legal help for transport businessesWhat Happens When You Contact Eric?
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Send Through What You Have Received
Provide the NHVR letter, statutory notice, request for information or other relevant documents.
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Eric Reviews Your Matter
Eric will identify the immediate issues, important deadlines and any further information needed to assess the matter.
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You Get Clear Advice on What’s Next
You will understand what the NHVR is asking, your available options and the recommended next step.
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Eric Can Take the Matter From There
Eric can communicate with investigators, help prepare your response, advise throughout the investigation and represent you if the matter proceeds to Court.
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Chain of Responsibility FAQs for Directors
Can a director be prosecuted even if the company isn't?
Yes. The executive officer duty is a separate duty, so the NHVR can charge an executive officer whether or not the business has been charged or convicted.
What does "reasonably practicable" mean?
It means doing what could reasonably be done at the time to ensure safety, weighing the likelihood and seriousness of the risk, what is known about it, the ways to remove or reduce it, and their cost.
Does the business need a safety management system?
The HVNL does not require a particular system, but a documented and working safety management system, or following a registered industry code of practice, is one of the clearest ways to show the business is meeting its duty.
What should I do if the NHVR contacts the business?
Get legal advice before answering questions or producing documents. You must comply with a valid notice, but how you respond, and what you provide, can affect the outcome.
Does Chain of Responsibility only apply to transport companies?
No. It applies to everyone in the chain, including employers, prime contractors, operators, schedulers, consignors, consignees, loaders and loading managers.
Related Heavy Vehicle Matters
Is Your Board Ready for an NHVR Investigation?
Speak with Eric confidentially about the executive officer duty and what your business can show.
Call Eric 0401 937 269Request a Confidential Consultation
This page is general information only and does not replace legal advice about your specific matter. It was last reviewed in November 2026. The NHVR may update the law, penalties and policies from time to time, so check the NHVR's official publications at nhvr.gov.au.