Michelle Landry (Capricornia, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On the behalf of the Standing Committee on Industry, Innovation Science and Resources, I present the committee's report entitled Social issues relating to land-based automated vehicles in Australia, together with the minutes of proceedings and evidence received by the committee.

The introduction of highly automated vehicles will have wide-ranging and significant effects, and it is important that the general public is on board with these changes. One of the main things that the committee was told throughout this inquiry was that public engagement is vital if we want the expected benefits of automated vehicles to happen in Australia. As the technological and regulatory barriers to automated vehicles are solved, it becomes more and more important that the social issues which will come from the introduction of automated vehicles are considered. The committee heard that the availability of automated vehicles should bring some great benefits to Australians: better road safety, improved mobility and quality of life for people with disability and older Australians, decreased traffic congestion and pollution, and changes to the way land is used, particularly in cities.

However, automated vehicles will bring with them a series of challenges, too. Before Australians can be entirely comfortable in highly automated vehicles, they will want to know that the legal and insurance questions have been settled, that their personal data and their privacy are secure and that their concerns about safety have been resolved in a transparent way. The committee is also strongly committed to the idea that people in regional and rural Australia should not be disadvantaged by a lack of access to the benefits of automated vehicles.

The committee's report makes 10 recommendations and, while I don't intend to read all of them out now, I would like to highlight some of them. In recommendation 2, the committee recommends that, noting the range of benefits automated vehicles are likely to bring and the need for public acceptance of the technology, the Commonwealth government facilitate and encourage trials of automated vehicles in Australia, with a particular focus on trials that enable members of the public to experience automated vehicles on public roads. The committee made this recommendation because one of the main barriers to the public acceptance of automated vehicles is that most people have never been in one. Studies have shown that people are much more comfortable with the technology once they have experienced it firsthand, and so the committee believes that more people should have that opportunity.

In recommendation 3, the committee recommends that the national cyber security strategy specifically investigate automated vehicles and associated transport systems to address potential vulnerabilities relating to automation. Another significant barrier, as I mentioned above, is that highly automated vehicles will generate enormous amounts of data, some of which will be quite personal to individual passengers. It is vital that this data is secure, private and trustworthy.

In recommendation 6, the committee recommends that the Commonwealth government's preparation for autonomous vehicles includes consideration of how the needs of people with disability, older Australians and those in regional and rural areas can be met via automated vehicles. One of the major benefits of automated vehicles is that they have the chance to improve quality of life for people who are unable to drive, particularly people with disability and older people. The committee thinks it is important that there are no barriers preventing these benefits from being available to those who need them most. Similarly, the committee believes it is vital that a divide in access to these benefits between those in Australia's major cities and those in regional, rural areas does not develop. The committee recommends that the Commonwealth government consider the merits of establishing either a dedicated national body or a cross-agency task force in conjunction with state and territory jurisdictions and working with vehicle and software manufacturers to coordinate Australia's preparation for the introduction of land based automated vehicles and the associated social issues that the committee has heard about during the inquiry.

As I have said, there will be many changes brought about by the widespread availability of automated vehicles in Australia. Our report discusses some of those. The committee believes it is important that this work continues. If Australians are to reap the undoubted benefits of automated vehicles, we need to ensure we are prepared for these changes, including how the impact on employment is managed, how people in rural and regional Australia can better access these benefits, how legal and safety dilemmas are answered and many more.

The committee received nearly 50 written submissions and held 10 public hearings, with a total of over 30 witnesses, over the course of the inquiry. We also conducted four inspections, including riding on an automated bus in Perth and in a highly automated car here in Canberra. I would like to thank those individuals and organisations who took the time to contribute to this inquiry and help the committee to identify some of the key issues and solutions. (Time expired)

Report made a parliamentary paper in accordance with standing order 39(e).

Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank madam chair for her work on this committee. I rise to speak to the tabling of this report, a very important report for our time, for our days, a report on the social issues relating to land based automated vehicles in Australia. I was very pleased to be the deputy chair of this committee; and I had the chance to chair one of the hearings, which was a great experience, down in Melbourne. The chair has already outlined some of the committee's main findings and recommendations. I want to speak to some of the other recommendations because they're important themes for this inquiry. In recommendation 4, the committee recommended that the Commonwealth government further investigate the issue of data rights for consumers, vehicle manufacturers and third parties such as insurers and relevant government agencies. I would like to thank the member for Lyons, who had a particular interest in this area and provided some great thinking for the committee.

The chair has already discussed some of these data and privacy issues. They are incredibly important for us to consider. There is going to be an incredible amount of data produced. A benefit of that is that it could explain to us how and why an accident between two automated vehicles may have occurred. Hopefully, automated vehicles won't crash into each other. But if any vehicles do come into contact with each other, that data will help to ascertain how that may have occurred and will reduce the amount of accidents on our roads overall.

The ownership issue that we've spoken about is important to work through. Recommendation 5 is that the Commonwealth government establish a working party with industry and academic stakeholders to identify those industry needs and to look at support services and a strategy—how we can best exploit emerging opportunities and also how as seamlessly as possible we can move into this new future not only for public transport but for private transport as well.

One of the inquiry's main themes was the impact of automated vehicles on employment, and obviously a lot of drivers out there may be a little bit nervous about what this automated future looks like. It's important that we look at the skill sets that are going to be involved and have a clear understanding of where the jobs may be lost, but there are also opportunities for future jobs. As these new technologies develop in the coming years and decades, we need to be well placed to contribute to the opportunities of those emerging technologies but also clear eyed about those that are going to be affected by the change in employment circumstances.

Recommendation 7 went to the Commonwealth government in association with the state and territory governments and local councils—the three levels of government—considering trials. When it comes to trials in my own electorate, I'm very proud to say that we've been trialling automated vehicles in Darwin for some time. First, we had a trial down at Stokes Hill Wharf in our tourism precinct down at the waterfront. It was a very short distance travelled by a semi-autonomous vehicle. Then it was a longer stretch of road down by the waterfront. This month we are running stage 3 of the automated vehicle trial in Darwin city, where we will have people actually driving down the Esplanade in Darwin. Almost 5,000 people have taken part in those trials so far, and it went to what the chair mentioned before about more opportunities for Australians to be involve in these trials. That will give the general public a bit more of an understanding about the issues involved in this transition but also a little bit more trust in this technology and the transition. I think those experiences are important for the Australian people to get an understanding of how these technologies operate.

We need to remember—and I know the chair does, as I do, as we are from regional areas of Australia—that we need to continually look at how these technologies are going to improve life in regional areas of Australia. I join the chair in thanking all those who contributed to the inquiry, in particular the secretariat. We've had a number of people working on the secretariat. Thank you for your work. I also thank the other members of the committee.

Mark Coulton (Parkes, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The time allocated for statements on this report has expired.

Michelle Landry (Capricornia, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the house take note of the report.

Mark Coulton (Parkes, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In accordance with standing order 39, the debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order for the next day's sitting.