The crane industry is constantly dealing with change, and what’s coming over the next 12–18 months is a shift in how cranes are monitored, managed and, ultimately, judged when something goes wrong.
Telematics is no longer a “nice to have” sitting quietly in the background, but is being used more and more to determine access, safety and chain-of-responsibility compliance across Australia.
Moving from tracking tool to compliance engine
In the past few years, telematics in cranes largely meant GPS tracking and maybe a basic view of utilisation, but that is changing quickly. Across multiple states, regulators and industry bodies are aligning around a simple expectation: that if the data exists, it should be used, and if it can improve safety, it likely will become part of the standard.
This has become very apparent in Queensland, where Class 1 Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs), including mobile cranes, are preparing to transition from the Intelligent Access Program to the Telematics Monitoring Application. This will finally bring Queensland into line with New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia.
This sits under the evolving National Heavy Vehicle Regulator Class 1 Heavy Vehicle Access Regime, with rollout expected to follow the initial low-loader phase in July 2026.
So, if you’re operating a road-registered crane in this space, telematics won’t just support your operations, but will determine whether you’re allowed to be on the road at all.
Interestingly, while SPVs like mobile cranes will require TMA (Telematics Monitoring Application) under the mandatory telematics policy, they won’t need Smart On-Board Mass (Smart OBM), that’s one small reprieve in an otherwise tightening framework.
Standards are catching up with reality
While access regimes are pushing telematics from the outside, standards are doing the same from within the crane itself.
Recent updates from Standards Australia are an indication of where expectations are heading.
The revised AS 1418.1 doesn’t just acknowledge electronic systems, it embeds them. Electronic limiting devices, remote monitoring and diagnostics are now part of the expected safety ecosystem, not optional extras.
At the same time, AS/NZS 4949 (crane maintenance) has moved to recognise data from onboard systems as part of maintenance decision-making.
So, if your crane is generating diagnostic data, you’re going to be expected to be using it.
This marks a subtle but important shift: maintenance is no longer just about scheduled inspections and logbooks, but moving to what the crane is telling you in real time, and what you do with that information.
Proving you’re doing the right thing
Overlay all of this with chain-of-responsibility and WHS expectations, and you start to see where things are heading.
The National Heavy Vehicle Regulator’s (NHVR) updated Master Code of Practice is leaning more heavily on systems, data and modern safety tech. It doesn’t spell out exactly what you must install, but it does raise the bar on what you’re expected to demonstrate. And that’s the key word: demonstrate.
When something goes wrong in the future, “we didn’t know” will be a much harder argument to run, because increasingly, the data will say otherwise.
It’s one thing to say you’ve got good systems in place. It’s another to show, with data, how risks are being managed, how operators are performing, and how incidents are being prevented.
That’s why more fleets are moving beyond basic GPS into things like event data, operator behaviour monitoring and, in some cases, video. Not because they have to (yet), but because that’s where expectations are heading.
What it looks like in real life
On the ground, this shift is starting to look like a much more connected operation.
• Cranes feeding real-time information back into fleet systems.
• Operator inputs being logged and reviewed.
• Maintenance teams using live data to spot issues before they become problems.
• And everything sitting in one place instead of scattered across logbooks, spreadsheets and separate systems.
With better connectivity, 5G and IoT (Internet of Things) playing a role, it’s becoming more realistic, even for smaller fleets.
The mindset shift
Telematics can’t be treated as a bolt-on anymore, it’s becoming part of how you run the business, and this will take some change of thinking. The operators who’ll stay ahead are the ones who start thinking about it now:
• Getting ready for mandated systems like TMA rather than scrambling later
• Linking crane data into broader fleet and CraneSafe, and
• Actually using the data, rather than just collecting it.
The real shift is, not so much in the technology itself, but in what’s expected of you once you have it.
Where it’s all heading
None of this is about ticking more boxes for the sake of it, but about lifting the standard across the board.
But it does change the playing field. In the past, if something went wrong, you relied heavily on procedures and people’s recollection of events. Increasingly, there’ll be data to back it all up, or contradict it.
That can feel like pressure. But it’s also an opportunity.
For businesses that embrace it early, it is about running tighter operations, picking up issues sooner, and being able to stand behind the way you work with confidence.
And that’s not a bad place for the industry to land.
What CICA’s been doing
When it comes to road access, CICA has been working with all relevant state road managers and Transport Certification Australia (TCA) to ensure a seamless transition to TMA for crane owners.
Following the integration of Queensland in July 2026, all states (except Western Australia and the Northern Territory) will accept TMA as a requirement of road access. Earlier this year South Australia formalised the TMA requirement with the release of a suite of notices which facilitate permit free access to the state network. It’s been mandatory in Tasmania for years and is a current option for owners in New South Wales and Victoria.
This is a rare win for industry in that the cost associated with running TMA is considerably lower than the IAP (Intelligent Access Program) alternatives. In even better news the transition to TMA can be done using the same equipment that currently runs your IAP application, meaning no additional set up costs.
This means road managers will have access to more operational data than ever before. It will be used for asset management, to better inform future investment decisions based on structure condition and user demand. CICA can also use the information to educate local road managers and promote higher levels of permit free access.
Data from cranes will be collected every 30 seconds on trips which will be collated and anonymised by Transport Certification Australia prior to being sent to road managers in the form of a mapping portal. CICA has also been granted access to this portal so we can stay on top of any emerging issues.
It is important to note that while TMA data cannot be used for enforcement purposes, the NHVR is able to view anonymised trends to target compliance and enforcement activities.
TMA will be mandatory in Queensland and South Australia as of 1 January 2027.
CICA Members, to find out more about TMA, including a list of service providers head to the CICA website https://cica.com.au/resources/telematics-resources/, or call Alice or Damien.
This article is written by Damien Hense CICA’s Road Policy Advisor.
