Australia has 716 potential regulatory issues for driverless technology: advisory body

Australia has 716 potential issues with its current laws that need to be considered carefully or risk holding back driverless car technology, the nation's peak regulatory advisory body said on Tuesday.

Australian authorities are currently trialling driverless technology in a bid to understand the legislative and practical challenges of autonomous vehicles on the road, including who is responsible for automotive crashes and associated insurance claims.

However there needs to be a unified approach to the state and federal regulatory bodies or risk significantly hindering the biggest change to Australia's transport system since cars replaced horses, Australian National Transport Commission chief executive Paul Retter said.

"We have identified 716 potential issues with our current (transport) laws that need to be considered carefully," Retter said in a statement upon releasing the body's discussion paper into autonomous vehicles.

"A failure to act soon will see driverless car technology ready before our laws are - and thats bad news for local communities and our national economy, who stand to benefit greatly."

The development of self driving technology has become the latest battleground in the technology market with global automotive manufacturers snapping up software experts in the race to develop a self-driving car for the consumer market.

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx, on the sidelines of the Frankfurt Auto Show in September last year, said he expected driverless cars to be widespread operation throughout the world within 10 years.

High-end electric automotive manufacturer Tesla has taken the realization of that expectation a step further by releasing a software upgrade for the Model S four-door saloon's autopilot system that was released in October. The upgrade allows its cars to automatically change lanes by the touch of the indicator, managing speed and even hit the breaks, though its not recommended for use in urban areas.

However many of the world's automotive manufacturers are catching up, with suggestions they will have roadworthy autonomous cars before 2020. Mercedes, Audi and Google all have working prototypes.