In a move towards harmonisation with Europe, the Australian Government has recently updated a number of the Australian Design Rules (ADR's) to align their requirements with those of the equivalent United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) Regulations.
To achieve this, the technical requirements contained in the affected ADR's have been replaced by a copy of the technical requirements from the relevant ECE Regulations. The ADR's in question are as follows:
| Australian Design Rule | Subject | Requires compliance with |
| 2/01 | Door latches and hinges | ECE 11.02 |
| 3/03 | Strength of seats and their anchorages | ECE 17.07 |
| 4/04 | Safety belts | ECE 16.04 |
| 5/05 | Safety belt anchorages | ECE 14.06 |
Also, ADR 22/00 on head restraints has been amended to specify that vehicles which are certified to ADR 3/03 (i.e. vehicles which comply with ECE 17.07) do not need to comply with ADR 22/00.
Compliance with these updated ADR's is mandatory for all new types of vehicle from 1st July 2008.