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FACT SHEET
Radiation Protection Amendment Bill 2012
The regulatory framework for radiation
The Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA)
maintains the National Directory for Radiation Protection which has been endorsed by
the Australian Health Minister's Conference as the uniform national framework for
radiation protection in Australia. It is implemented via legislative arrangements in
each jurisdiction.
In Tasmania, the Radiation Protection Act 2005 provides the framework for
protecting people and the environment from harmful radiation, while recognising
and enabling access to its beneficial uses.
Radiation sources include equipment such as x-ray units, high powered lasers and
intense pulse lights, and radioactive material used in medicine, research, industry
and mining.
The Act sets out a licensing scheme for all dealings with radiation sources, and a
registration scheme for places where radiation sources are primarily used or
stored. Where appropriate, licence conditions require compliance with guidelines
and codes of practice issued by the Director of Public Health, which incorporate
safety standards issued by ARPANSA.
All persons dealing with a radiation source must take all reasonable and practicable
measures to ensure there is no resulting harm to the health or safety of persons
or to the environment.
Some radiation sources pose no more than a negligible risk to health and safety
(such as domestic smoke detectors) and the Radiation Protection Regulations 2006
exempts these sources from various provisions of the Act. The Regulations also
set out the safety standards applicable to particular activities (for example,
transport).
The amendments in the Bill
The Director of Public Health and the Radiation Protection Unit monitor closely,
not only relevant policy discussions at the national and international level, but also
the practical day-to-day application of the Act.
The Bill is the result of the latter, in which amendments have been identified to
provide greater clarity and certainty in the administration of the Act. The changes
are intended to:
o reduce the regulatory burden in circumstances where there is no net safety
gain from additional or duplicate regulation;
o correct legislative provisions with unintended and impractical consequences;
and
o provide certainty where there is current ambiguity.
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In particular, the Bill:
o clarifies the meaning of the terms `possess' and `dispose of', to provide
certainty as to the circumstances in which these licences are required;
o ensures it is clear that prescribed occupational and public dose limits for
radiation exposure apply at all times, even during diagnostic and therapeutic
procedures (`medical exposure' continues to be permitted for those subject
to the diagnostic and therapeutic procedures and their carers);
o enables the Director of Public Health, when seeking reports to assist in
determining an application for a licence, to release the names of all persons
applying to deal with a radiation source (and not simply the names of
directors and managers);
o enables the Director of Public Health, when determining an application for a
licence, to have regard to existing prescribed criteria when assessing
whether each person likely to deal with the radiation source is a fit and
proper person to hold a licence (and not simply directors and managers);
o ensures it is clear that the processes and criteria for considering an
application to amend a licence are the same as those for an initial licence
application;
o amends the exemption head of power to permit exemptions for radiation
sources and practices to be made where there is no net safety benefit from
regulating under the Act; and
o introduces a new offence provision, whereby a person must not publicly
represent that a licence issued under the Act constitutes an endorsement of
the efficacy of the procedure for which the radiation source is used.
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