Overview
The National Hydrogen Regulatory Guidebooks are a joint project of the Commonwealth, state and territory Energy and Climate Change Ministers. This project has completed public consultation on three guidebooks of an anticipated series of four, this includes:
National Hydrogen Regulatory Guidebook: Production Facilities
National Hydrogen Regulatory Guidebook: Refuelling Facilities.
National Hydrogen Regulatory Guidebook: Pipelines
Current consultation on the National Hydrogen Regulatory Guidebook: Hydrogen Freight by Road is the fourth guidebook in this series and covers the regulatory guidance for the freight of hydrogen by road in Australia.
The National Hydrogen Regulatory Guidebook: Hydrogen Freight by Road, aims to:
Identify existing regulatory obligations at the Commonwealth, state and territory level for the transport of hydrogen by road.
Provide information which may support project proponents in satisfying regulatory obligations.
Identify how existing regimes interact with each other.
Given this, we are seeking your feedback on whether the National Hydrogen Regulatory Guidebook: Hydrogen Freight by Road, is:
Accurate and correct
Comprehensive
Usable
Consultation documents
Review of the National Hydrogen Regulatory Guidebook: Freight by Road
National Hydrogen Regulatory Guidebook: Hydrogen Freight by Road [PDF 1.29MB] [DOCX 1.05MB]
Annexure 1-2: National Hydrogen Regulatory Guidebook: Freight by Road [PDF 1.31MB] [DOCX 197KB]
Annexure 3: Legislation summaries - National Hydrogen Regulatory Guidebook: Freight by road [PDF 1.44MB] [DOCX 254KB]
Have your say
To have your say:
Download the ‘National Hydrogen Regulatory Guidebook: Freight by Road’ documents, including both the Guidebook and annexures 1, 2, and 3.
Provide your feedback through either, or both of the following:
Make track-changes or comments in the Hydrogen Freight Guidebook, and / or associated annexures, and / or
Upload your own submission.
Submit your feedback by 5.00pm AEST, Monday, 16 November 2026.
Previous consultations
The ‘National Hydrogen Regulatory Guidebook’ project has undertaken several public consultations on how core legislative regimes interact with and regulate hydrogen facilities and the hydrogen industry.
These public consultation processes included:
Initial regulatory review consultation, November 2022.
National Hydrogen Codes of Best Practice Co-design workshops, October 2023.
Through these consultations on the core legislation, the department then conducted detailed public consultation on guidance materials which were developed for specific types of hydrogen projects. These are the National Hydrogen Regulatory Guidebooks, and specifically include:
November 2024 - Technical and regulatory mapping underpinning the National Codes of Best Practice: Hydrogen Production and Refuelling.
July 2025 - Public consultation on the:
National Hydrogen Regulatory Guidebook: Production Facilities
National Hydrogen Regulatory Guidebook: Refuelling Facilities
March- April 2026 – Public consultation on the:
National Hydrogen Regulatory Guidebook: Pipelines
It is noted that these public consultations have been supplemented with multiple internal government consultation processes involving all applicable Commonwealth, state and territory regulators and departments.
Please note, the anticipated hydrogen regulatory guidance material changed their title from ‘National Hydrogen Codes of Best Practice’ to ‘National Hydrogen Regulatory Guidebooks’ in 2025. This change of title was made to more appropriately reflect the purpose and nature of the final documents.
Details and the documents released as part of these consultation processes and include:
National Hydrogen Regulatory Review – Public consultation on National Hydrogen Regulatory Guidebook: Pipelines, March – April 2026
In March – April 2026 public consultation was conducted on the draft of the National Hydrogen Regulatory Guidebook: Pipelines. Stakeholders were requested to evaluate the accuracy, comprehensiveness, and useability of the draft.
National Hydrogen Regulatory Guidebook: Pipelines
National Hydrogen Regulatory Guidebook: Pipelines [PDF 1.19MB] [DOCX 386KB]
Annexure 1 and 2: Hydrogen Pipelines Standards [PDF 1.72MB] [DOCX 273KB]
Annexure 3: Additional Information on Repurposing Hydrogen Pipelines [PDF 1MB] [DOCX 150KB]
Annexure 4: Legislation Summaries - Pipelines [PDF 1.34MB] [DOCX 373KB]
National Hydrogen Regulatory Review – Public Consultation on National Hydrogen Regulatory Guidebooks, July 2025
In July 2025 public consultation was conducted on drafts of the first two National Hydrogen Regulatory Guidebooks, specifically the:
National Hydrogen Regulatory Guidebook: Production Facilities
National Hydrogen Regulatory Guidebook: Refuelling Facilities
Stakeholders were requested to evaluate the accuracy, comprehensiveness, and usability of these drafts.
National Hydrogen Regulatory Guidebook: Production Facility
National Hydrogen Regulatory Guidebook: Production Facility [PDF 2.0MB] [DOCX 660KB]
Annexure 1 to 4 - National Hydrogen Regulatory Guidebook: Production Facility [PDF 2.1MB] [DOCX 665KB]
Annexure 5 - National Hydrogen Regulatory Guidebook - Production Facility – Legislation [PDF 2.1MB] [DOCX 291KB]
National Hydrogen Regulatory Guidebook: Refuelling Facility
National Hydrogen Regulatory Guidebook: Refuelling Facility [PDF 1.6MB] [DOCX 366KB]
Annexure 1 to 4 - National Hydrogen Regulatory Guidebook: Refuelling Facility [PDF 2.2MB] [DOCX 378KB]
Annexure 5 - National Hydrogen Regulatory Guidebook: Refuelling Facility – Legislation Summaries [PDF 2MB] [DOCX 285]
Technical and regulatory mapping underpinning the National Codes of Best Practice: Hydrogen Production and Refuelling, November 2024.
In November 2024 public consultation on the scope and contents of the National Codes of Best Practice Hydrogen Production and Refuelling (as they were then known) were completed. This consultation process included:
Facility Technical Maps for hydrogen refuelling and hydrogen production facilities. These ‘strawperson’ documents created for the purpose of collectively agreeing a standardised understanding of the operating environment of production and refuelling facilities relevant to hydrogen regulatory frameworks (including relevant job roles and competencies).
Draft Regulator Matrix: the Regulator Matrix provides a snapshot of how relevant regulatory frameworks across Australia apply to hydrogen production and refuelling facilities, and also identified relevant regulators should proponents have any queries about an approval or compliance obligation regarding their project.
National Hydrogen Codes of Best Practice Co–design workshop materials – October - November 2023
The early stages of development of the National Hydrogen Codes of Best Practice (as they were then known) commenced with co-design workshops, attended by both industry participants and regulators. These workshops were hosted through a number of face-to-face and online sessions between October and November 2023.
National Hydrogen Codes of Best Practice - Workshop Agenda [PDF 138KB] [DOCX 37KB]
National Hydrogen Codes of Best Practice - Co-design Workshops - Information for Participants [PDF 484KB] [DOCX 755KB]
National Hydrogen Codes of Best Practice - Workshop Presentation [PPTX 4.5MB]
National Codes of Best Practice - Potentially Relevant Legislation Matrix [PDF 222KB] [DOCX 29KB]
Input document 1 - Code Scope - current descriptions [DOCX 28KB] [PDF 125 KB]
Input document 2 - Code Scope - components and processes [DOCX 33KB] [PDF 151KB]
Input document 3 - Code Scope - legislative sectors and themes [DOCX 22KB] [PDF 128KB]
Input document 4 - Relevant regulatory obligations and best practice [DOCX 44KB] [PDF 358KB]
1st phase review consultation of National Hydrogen Regulatory Review - December 2022
The first phase of the National Hydrogen Regulatory Review was conducted during 2022, culminating in industry and regulator consultations in December 2022. The outcomes of these consultations informed the identification of priority reform measures, including the drafting of the National Hydrogen Regulatory Guidebooks.
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