Victorian Numbered Acts

RAIL SAFETY ACT 2006 (NO 9 OF 2006) - SECT 3

    (1)     In this Act—

"accreditation" means an accreditation under Part 5;

"accredited rail operations" means—

        (a)     rail infrastructure operations carried out by a rail infrastructure manager in respect of which the rail infrastructure manager is accredited under Part 5; or

        (b)     rolling stock operations carried out by a rolling stock operator in respect of which the rolling stock operator is accredited under Part 5;

"accredited rail operator" means a rail infrastructure manager or rolling stock operator who is accredited under Part 5;

"ambulance service" has the same meaning as in the Ambulance Services Act 1986 ;

"approved code of practice" means a code of practice approved under Part 8 and includes an approved code of practice revised in accordance with that Part;

"approved health professional" means—

        (a)     a registered nurse, within the meaning of the Nurses Act 1993 , registered in division 1 of the register kept under that Act;

        (b)     a person approved under section 8 to take a blood sample for the purposes of this Act;

"binding access arrangement" has the same meaning as in section 38A of the Rail Corporations Act 1996 ;

"breath analysing instrument" means a breath analysing instrument within the meaning of the Road Safety Act 1986 ;

"business day" means a day other than a Saturday, a Sunday or a public holiday appointed under the Public Holidays Act 1993 ;
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"Chief Investigator" means the Chief Investigator, Transport and Marine Safety Investigations appointed under section 83 of the Transport Act 1983 ;

"competence" , in relation to a rail safety worker, means sufficient education, training, experience, acquired knowledge, and skills to enable the rail safety worker to perform a specified task correctly;

"control" , in relation to a rail infrastructure—see section 5 ;

"corresponding law" means, for the purposes of Part 6, a law of another State or a Territory of the Commonwealth declared under section 9 to be a corresponding law;

"Country Fire Authority" means the Country Fire Authority appointed under the Country Fire Authority Act 1958 ;

"Department" means the Department of Infrastructure;

"dispute resolution decision" has the same meaning as in section 38A of the Rail Corporations Act 1996 ;

"drug" means a substance that is a drug for the purposes of this Act by virtue of a declaration under section 4 or any other substance (other than alcohol) which, when consumed or used by a person, deprives that person (temporarily or permanently) of any of his or her normal mental or physical faculties;

"emergency plan" —see section 52;

"emergency service" means—

        (a)     the Chief Commissioner of Police;

        (b)     an ambulance service;

        (c)     the Country Fire Authority;

        (d)     the Metropolitan Fire and Emergency Services Board;

"Energy Safe Victoria" means Energy Safe Victoria established under section 4 of the Energy Safe Victoria Act 2005 ;

"hazard" means a source of potential harm;

"health and safety representative" has the same meaning as in the Occupational and Health and Safety Act 2004 ;

"interface co-ordination plan" means a plan agreed between two or more parties, at least one of whom is a rail operator, that specifies the responsibilities of each party for the management of any risks associated with the carrying out of the rail operator's rail operations that may be caused or contributed to by—

        (a)     the activities or operations of any other party to the agreement; or

        (b)     by the ownership, occupation or management of any premises by any other party to the agreement;

"major incident" means an incident or natural event that poses a serious and immediate risk to safety and includes a derailment of rolling stock, a collision, a fire or explosion;

"Metropolitan Fire and Emergency Services Board" means the Metropolitan Fire and Emergency Services Board established under the Metropolitan Fire Brigades Act 1958 ;

"officer" of a body corporate, unincorporated body or association or partnership has the meaning given by section 9 of the Corporations Act;

"person" includes a body corporate, unincorporated body or association and a partnership;

"premises" includes any structure, building or place (whether built on or not), and any part of such structure, building or place;

"prescribed concentration of alcohol" means any concentration of alcohol present in the breath or blood of a person;

"private siding" means a siding that is managed by a person other than a person who controls the rail infrastructure that the siding connects with, or has access to, but does not include—

        (a)     a marshalling yard;

        (b)     a siding used mainly to enable rolling stock to pass other rolling stock that is on the same track;

        (c)     a passenger terminal;

        (d)     a siding of a kind that the regulations state is not a private siding;

"public transport safety matter" has the meaning set out in section 82A of the Transport Act 1983 ;

"rail contractor" means a person who—

        (a)     whether or not under an agreement with a rail infrastructure manager or rolling stock operator designs, commissions, constructs, manufactures, supplies, installs, erects, maintains, repairs, modifies or decommissions any thing that may be used as rail infrastructure or rolling stock; or
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        (b)     is engaged directly or indirectly by a rail infrastructure manager or rolling stock operator to supply rail infrastructure operations or rolling stock operations to that rail infrastructure manager or rolling stock operator, and includes a sub-contractor;

"rail infrastructure" means the facilities that are necessary to operate a railway safely and includes, but is not limited to, railway track, associated track structures and works (such as cuttings, tunnels, bridges, stations, platforms, tram stops, excavations, land fill, track support earthworks and drainage works), over-track structures, under-track structures, service roads, signalling systems, rolling stock control systems, communications systems, notices and signs, overhead electrical power supply systems, and associated buildings, workshops, depots, yards, plant, machinery and equipment, but does not include rolling stock;

"rail infrastructure manager" means a person who controls rail infrastructure;

"rail infrastructure operations" means designing, commissioning, constructing, manufacturing, erecting, installing, operating, maintaining, repairing, modifying, decommissioning or managing rail infrastructure;

"rail operations" means rail infrastructure operations or rolling stock operations;

"rail operator" means a rail infrastructure manager or rolling stock operator;

"rail safety work" —see section 7;

"rail safety worker" means a person who has carried out, is carrying out or is about to carry out, rail safety work and includes—

        (a)     a person who is employed or engaged by a rail operator to carry out rail safety work;

        (b)     a person engaged by a person (other than by a rail operator) to carry out rail safety work;

        (c)     a trainee;

        (d)     a volunteer;

"railway" means a guided system designed for the movement of rolling stock that has the capability of transporting passengers or freight or both on a railway track with a railway track gauge of 600 millimetres or more, together with its rail infrastructure, and includes—

        (a)     a heavy railway;

        (b)     a light railway;

        (c)     a monorail railway;

        (d)     an inclined railway;

        (e)     a tramway;

        (f)     a railway within a marshalling yard or passenger or freight terminal;

        (g)     a private siding;

        (h)     a railway that is prescribed by the regulations to be a railway;

    Note:     Section 6 sets out the railways to which this Act does not apply.

"railway premises" means—

        (a)     land (including any premises on the land) on or in which is situated any item or part of an item of rail infrastructure; or

        (b)     land (including any premises on the land) on or in which is situated any over-track structure or part of an over-track structure, or on or in which is situated any under-track structure or part of an under-track structure; or

        (c)     land (including any premises on land) on or in which documents or records required for, or relating to, the accreditation of an accredited rail operator are kept; or

        (d)     freight centres or depots; or

        (e)         maintenance depots; or

        (f)     premises including an office, building or housing used in connection with the carrying out of rail operations; or

        (g)     rolling stock or other vehicles associated with the railway; or

        (h)     workshops; or

              (i)     any railway track, works or other thing that is part of anything mentioned in paragraphs (e) to (h)—

but does not include any residential premises;

"registered employee organisation" means an organisation, of which some or all of the members are employees, that is registered, or taken to be registered, under Schedule 1B to the Workplace Relations Act 1996 of the Commonwealth;

"registered medical practitioner" means a registered medical practitioner within the meaning of the Medical Practice Act 1994 ;

"residential premises" means premises, or a part of premises, that is used for predominantly residential purposes;

"rolling stock" means a vehicle or a part of a vehicle that operates on or uses a railway track, and includes a locomotive, carriage, rail car, rail motor, light rail vehicle, train, tram, light inspection vehicle, road/rail vehicle, trolley, wagon or monorail vehicle but does not include a vehicle or a part of a vehicle designed to operate both on and off a railway track when the vehicle is not operating on a railway track;

"rolling stock operations" means—

        (a)     operating rolling stock; or

        (b)     designing, commissioning, constructing, manufacturing, maintaining, repairing or modifying rolling stock;

"rolling stock operator" means a person who is entitled to operate rolling stock on a railway because the person is—

        (a)     also the rail infrastructure manager who controls the railway on which the rolling stock is operated; or

        (b)     a party to an agreement that allows them to operate rolling stock on that railway; or

        (c)     allowed to operate rolling stock on that railway under a binding access arrangement or dispute resolution decision;

"safety audit" means an inspection of the following to ensure that an accredited rail operator is complying with the requirements of Parts 3 and 5—

        (a)     the rail infrastructure or rolling stock used in carrying out accredited rail operations; and

        (b)     accredited rail operations; and

        (c)     the performance of the employees of the accredited rail operator who are employed in relation to the rail infrastructure or rolling stock;

"Safety Director" means the Director, Public Transport Safety appointed under section 9L of the Transport Act 1983 ;

"safety management system" —see Division 4 of Part 3;

"Secretary" means the Secretary to the Department;
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"substance" means substance in any form (whether gaseous, liquid, solid or other) and includes material, preparation, extract and admixture;

"supply" includes—

        (a)     in relation to goods—supply and resupply by way of sale, exchange, lease, hire or hire purchase, whether as principal or agent;

        (b)     in relation to services—provide, grant or confer, whether as principal or agent;

"transport safety officer" has the same meaning as in the Transport Act 1983 ;

"Tribunal" means Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal established by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 1998 ;

"utility" means—

        (a)     an entity (whether publicly or privately owned) which provides, or intends to provide, water, sewerage, drainage, gas, electricity, telephone, telecommunication or other like services under the authority of an Act of Victoria or the Commonwealth;

        (b)     a road authority within the meaning of the Road Management Act 2004 ;

"Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine Director" means the Director within the meaning of the Coroners Act 1985 ;
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"volunteer" means a person who is acting on a voluntary basis (irrespective of whether the person receives out-of-pocket expenses).

    (2)     For the purposes of this Act, a rail infrastructure manager is deemed to carry out rail infrastructure operations supplied to the rail infrastructure manager by—

        (a)     a rail contractor engaged directly or indirectly by the rail infrastructure manager to supply those operations to the rail infrastructure manager; or

        (b)     a sub-contractor of the rail contractor referred to in paragraph (a).

    (3)     For the purposes of this Act, a rolling stock operator is deemed to carry out rolling stock operations supplied to the rolling stock operator by—

        (a)     a rail contractor engaged directly or indirectly by the rolling stock operator to supply those operations to the rolling stock operator; or

        (b)     a sub-contractor of the rail contractor referred to in paragraph (a).

    (4)     For the purposes of this Act—

        (a)     an accredited rail operator is deemed to carry out rail infrastructure operations or rolling stock operations supplied to the accredited rail operator by—

              (i)     a rail contractor engaged directly or indirectly by the accredited rail operator to supply those operations to the accredited rail operator; or

              (ii)     a sub-contractor of the rail contractor referred to in sub-paragraph (i); and

        (b)     rail infrastructure operations or rolling stock operations referred to in paragraph (a) are deemed to be accredited rail operations.