Austroads' centre of excellence for telematics certification, enabling trusted vehicle data collection for road use charging, safety, and productivity across Australia and New Zealand.
Transport Certification Australia Limited (TCA) is an Austroads subsidiary and integrated business unit that assesses and recognises telematics and other vehicle-based technologies. It administers the National Telematics Framework, including its rules, specifications, agreements, assurance processes and digital infrastructure. TCA also collects and standardises vehicle data and provides reporting and analysis through the Telematics Analytics Platform. The National Telematics Framework was established following Australian ministerial decisions between 2003 and 2008. TCA states that its core elements were recognised internationally through ISO 15638 in 2012. Its three current telematics applications have different assurance levels: Road Infrastructure Management (RIM) at Level 1, the Telematics Monitoring Application (TMA) at Level 2, and the Intelligent Access Program (IAP) at Level 3. RIM collects location, time and identity data for infrastructure utilisation, planning and network management; it is not identified in TCA’s current material as a road-pricing application. Austroads acquired TCA in January 2019. During 2024–25, TCA’s analytics platform processed location and mass data from more than 19,000 vehicles, and TCA partnered with NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi to pilot the framework in New Zealand for planning and management of heavy vehicle movements. TCA has relevant road-charging experience from a telematics-based application implemented with Main Roads Western Australia and announced in 2017, but current official pages do not confirm that the Kwinana charging arrangement remains operational.
Operational framework linking authorities, technology providers and vehicle operators. TCA administers its rules, specifications, agreements, assurance arrangements, data services and supporting digital infrastructure.
Level 3 assurance application for monitoring restricted-access heavy vehicles. Its data can be used as prima facie evidence for enforcement under the Heavy Vehicle National Law.
Level 2 assurance application that monitors vehicle location, time and identity. Optional features include mass, vehicle configuration and operator declarations. TMA data should not be used alone for Heavy Vehicle National Law enforcement.
Level 1 application collecting location, time and identity data from enrolled vehicles. TCA aggregates and de-identifies the data for infrastructure-use analysis, network planning and road-management reporting.
Assessment and oversight of application service providers, telematics devices and Smart On-Board Mass systems against performance-based specifications. The required process depends on the application’s assurance level.
Online platform providing authorised compliance reporting and aggregated or de-identified road-use analysis for transport agencies and road managers.
Evidence-based advice to Austroads members and other national or international bodies on transport technology, data, assurance and related policy or regulatory questions.
Australian transport ministers began a series of decisions, continuing to 2008, that led to the National Telematics Framework.
Transport Certification Australia Limited was registered in August 2005 and established to administer national telematics assurance arrangements.
Chris Koniditsiotis became TCA’s founding Chief Executive Officer.
The Australian Transport Council endorsed the Intelligent Access Program as a preferred heavy-vehicle compliance and management approach.
Core elements of the National Telematics Framework were recognised internationally through ISO 15638, covering collaborative telematics applications for regulated commercial freight vehicles.
TCA announced that it had worked with Main Roads Western Australia on a National Telematics Framework application for heavy-vehicle road-use charging in the Kwinana Industrial Area. Participating operators contributed to road-maintenance costs while gaining access for 36.5-metre road trains.
Austroads Ltd acquired TCA in January 2019.
Chris Koniditsiotis retired and Stuart Ballingall was appointed Executive General Manager from 6 May 2019.
TCA submitted to New Zealand’s RUC review that its National Telematics Framework experience could inform the review and that the framework might potentially support electronic RUC in future.
TCA introduced an industry-led data-sharing scheme using the Road Infrastructure Management application to provide participating industry associations with aggregated and de-identified vehicle-movement analysis.
Vehicle enrolments grew by 14%, the Telematics Analytics Platform handled data from more than 19,000 vehicles, and TCA partnered with NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi to pilot the National Telematics Framework in New Zealand.
TCA staff moved to Austroads email addresses as the organisations further integrated, while TCA’s legal entity, website, generic contact channels and services continued.
Managing Director of TCA; Chief Executive of Austroads
Appointed to the TCA board in March 2022 and Managing Director in May 2022. He remains identified as TCA Managing Director in 2026.
TCA Director; Austroads Chief Data and Technology Officer
Named as a TCA director in the 2024–25 annual report and oversees Austroads data and technology functions.
TCA Director; Austroads Chief Financial Officer and Head of Corporate Services
Named as a TCA director in the 2024–25 annual report. Her Austroads responsibilities include financial, corporate, legal and risk functions.
TCA Director; Austroads General Manager Service Delivery
Named as a TCA director in the 2024–25 annual report and currently speaks for TCA on certification and service-delivery matters.
TCA has relevant technical and policy experience in telematics-based road charging, but current evidence does not support describing it as the operator of Australia’s road-user-charging infrastructure. In March 2017, TCA announced a National Telematics Framework application developed with Main Roads Western Australia to allocate road-maintenance contributions for 36.5-metre road-train access in the Kwinana Industrial Area. TCA’s current application catalogue lists IAP, TMA and RIM and does not list a standalone Road Pricing application; continued operation of the Kwinana charging arrangement could not be verified. In its 2022 submission to New Zealand’s RUC review, TCA said the framework could inform the review and might potentially be leveraged for electronic RUC. Its 2024–25 pilot with NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi concerned telematics data for planning and managing heavy-vehicle movements and was not described as a RUC pilot.
Austroads report AP-R504-16 compared four charging regimes for high-productivity vehicles. It concluded that New Zealand’s mass-distance RUC system more closely aligned charges with road impacts than Australia’s PAYGO arrangements. This was Austroads research published before it acquired TCA and should not be presented as a TCA controversy.
TCA announced in March 2017 that it had worked with Main Roads Western Australia on a telematics application allocating road-maintenance contributions for 36.5-metre road-train access in the Kwinana Industrial Area. The announcement said more than 30,000 compatible or potentially compatible in-vehicle units existed at that time; it was not a current fleet-enrolment count.
The Australian Government completed a telematics phase testing mock mass-, distance- and location-based heavy-vehicle charges. The department identifies Air Brake as telematics provider and InLoop/Nuonic as invoicing provider. Its current account does not identify TCA as the infrastructure or certification provider, so no direct TCA role should be asserted without further evidence.
