What are the Steps and Formalities to get an HR Licence in NSW? A Generic Discussion

Thanks to the procedures and formalities that are attached to the process of acquiring an HR licence in New South Wales, it is a long process, to say the least! Here is a brief account of the procedure that the aspirants have to go through in order to obtain the licence.

As per the current procedure:

• A member has to be the holder of a Class C licence to be eligible to approach the district administration office and request for a letter that should be stating that the individual has been permitted to undertake the appropriate training for an HR licence in a service vehicle. The letter also helps the member to get an exemption from certain fees from the Roads & Maritime Services (RMS) office.

• The member then has to take this letter of consent to the RMS office and undertake the HR Licence Knowledge test in Aubu that is suitable for the vehicle class the person is looking forward to driving.

• As and when the person passes the test, the individual has to go through an eyesight test. Upon passing that test, the person will receive a logbook for recording the training hours.

• From this moment, they are supposed to start the procedures of driving and the technicalities thereof, under the surveillance, guidance, and supervision of a qualified and licenced trainer, till the person is technically ready to undertake the competency-based assessment.

Now, these are fairly straightforward steps, though there are a few interpretations of the same, based on their individual experiences, but they can be accounted for as exceptions and should not be considered.

What does the Handbook say?

As per the HR licence handbook, there are 2 procedures a person can take to become a qualified HR licence owner in Aubu or elsewhere in NSW. One is through a recognised and driving licence school, and the other is through an assessment that is based on competency with the use of an RMS Assessor in the vehicle owned by the individual.

The handbook also states the HR knowledge test, as well as the eyesight test, has to be conducted prior to the assessment that the individual has to undertake to get the licence.

Upgrading the HR licence

When a person wants to upgrade the current licence to the HR category, the individual has to:

• Crack the knowledge Test
• Pass the Eyesight Test
• Either pass the Roads & Maritime Driving Test or undergo the Heavy Vehicle Competency Based Assessment (HBCVA) training and assessment.

If the applicant chooses to upgrade and does upgrade by going through these steps, they are eligible to drive whenever he or she wants to. The only thing that the person needs is to pass the knowledge and the eyesight test and the driving test when they apply, for varying their licence to add the new licence class.

The other route...

As an alte ative route, the HVCBA regulatio 9 says the authority may approve a scheme under which the competency of an individual can be assessed to determine the eligibility, in regards to the application for the variation of the driver licence. To put it in simpler terms, before the application of the individual to upgrade the licence is assessed or considered the competency of the individual to enjoy the upgraded licence will be ascertained.

So you see, these are the clauses in nutshell to obtain or upgrade to an HR licence in NSW.