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FACT SHEET
Rail Safety National Law (Tasmania) Bill 2012
The purpose of the Bill is to implement in Tasmania a single National Law for the
safety regulation of railways across the country. It also establishes a single National
Rail Safety Regulator to oversee the safety of Australia's railway industry, replacing
seven State based regulators.
The Bill is introduced pursuant to the Intergovernmental Agreement on Rail Safety
Regulation and Investigation Reform signed by the Council of Australian
Governments on 19 August 2011. This reform represents a key component of the
National Partnership Agreement to deliver a Seamless National Economy.
The Rail Safety National Law (South Australia) Act 2012 passed the South Australia
Parliament without amendment and received Royal Ascent on 10 May 2012. In
accordance with the Intergovernmental Agreement, this Bill seeks to adopt that
legislation as legislation of the Tasmanian Parliament (as will all other States and
Territories).
Rail safety is currently regulated in Tasmania under the Rail Safety Act 2009 which
is based on a National Model Bill developed by the National Transport Commission.
Because the Rail Safety Act 2009 is closely aligned to the National Law, it does not
alter the existing approach to rail safety regulation in Tasmania. Rail operators in
Tasmania will see little change in the way safety is regulated in this State. There will
continue to be a small regulatory presence based in Tasmania.
The major elements of the Rail Safety National Law (Tasmania) Bill 2012 include:
Establishes the Office of the National Rail Safety Regulator, the national office
of which will be based in Adelaide with a regional office in Hobart.
Adopts the Rail Safety National Law (South Australia) Act 2012 as a law of
this jurisdiction. In doing so it maintains the major elements of the Rail Safety
Act 2009:
o General duties to require all rail industry participants to ensure the
safety of their railway operations.
o A system of accreditation to provide assurance that rail organisations
have the competence and capacity to operate safely before they are
permitted to do so.
o Audit and inspection powers necessary to enable the Rail Safety
Regulator to monitor the compliance of duty holders with statutory
duties and related accreditation requirements.
o A hierarchy of compliance and enforcement powers and sanctions to
facilitate an effective and proportionate regulatory response to detected
forms of non-compliance.
o An array of checks and balances on regulator behaviour to ensure that
regulatory decision making is timely, transparent and nationally
consistent.
o An obligation on road authorities to develop and implement an interface
co-ordination plan with the rail organisation with which the road
authority interfaces (i.e. road and rail intersections).
o An obligation for rail organisations to have and implement security and
emergency management plans as part of their safety management
system.
o An obligation on rail organisation to assess, and maintain records of,
the competence of rail safety workers with reference to recognised
units of competence or qualifications.
o Mandatory reporting requirements.