The Minister can label an application for a road transport contractual chain order as an emergency application; this happens if a situation is causing or likely to cause a significant national negative impact on the road transport industry.

The Fair Work Commission can shorten the standard 12-month consultation period for these orders; the new period must be at least 6 months.

The Fair Work Commission can ignore certain directions when deciding on an emergency application.

The Fair Work Commission must include specific terms about the emergency event in time-sensitive orders; these can include fuel levies, payment times, or rate reviews.

The relevant period for time-sensitive road transport contractual chain orders drops from 12 months to 3 months.