Rail Safety National Law (Queensland) Bill 2016

Introduced: 13/9/2016By: Hon S Hinchliffe MPStatus: PASSED

Transport & Roads Work & Employment Safety & Emergency

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Plain English Summary

Overview

This bill brings Queensland into Australia's national rail safety regime from 1 July 2017. It applies the Rail Safety National Law as a law of Queensland, repeals the Transport (Rail Safety) Act 2010, and makes the Office of the National Rail Safety Regulator responsible for rail safety here. It also strengthens drug and alcohol rules for rail workers and funds federal investigators to look into rail accidents.

Who it affects

Rail transport operators, rail safety workers, and people who load or unload rail freight face new or stricter national rules. Passengers and communities along rail lines benefit from a single national safety regulator and independent no-blame accident investigations.

Key changes

Queensland joins the national rail safety scheme, with the Office of the National Rail Safety Regulator replacing the state chief executive as rail safety regulator from 1 July 2017
The Transport (Rail Safety) Act 2010 is repealed, with transitional periods of up to three years for operators to gain national accreditation
It becomes an offence for any rail safety worker (not just train drivers) to work with any alcohol in their blood or a prescribed drug in their saliva or blood, with maximum fines of $10,000
ONRSR-appointed officers gain powers to conduct random, targeted and post-incident drug and alcohol testing using procedures modelled on Queensland's roadside tests
People who load or unload freight onto rail rolling stock are given a new legal duty to do so safely, and penalties across the law are generally raised to match Work Health and Safety levels
A separate rail safety investigation fee funds the Commonwealth Australian Transport Safety Bureau to carry out no-blame investigations of rail incidents in Queensland
Tourist and heritage operators keep their activity viable because the Queensland Government has agreed to pay their annual accreditation fees

How this affects you

Transport & Roads

•Rail safety in Queensland will be overseen by a single national regulator, bringing the state into line with the rest of AustraliaClause 4Applies the Rail Safety National Law, as modified by Part 2, as a law of Queensland and establishes the Office of the National Rail Safety Regulator as the rail safety regulator.
•The existing Queensland rail safety Act is scrapped, with operators given up to three years to move across to national accreditationClauses 64, 66-68Repeals the Transport (Rail Safety) Act 2010 and gives operators up to three years from commencement to gain accreditation or an exemption under the new law.
•Independent federal investigators (the Australian Transport Safety Bureau) will look into serious rail accidents in Queensland with no-blame investigationsClauses 58-61Accredited operators pay a rail safety investigation fee that funds the ATSB to carry out its functions under the Transport Safety Investigation Act 2003 in relation to rail in Queensland.
•The new law starts on 1 July 2017 and applies to freight, passenger, light rail and most mining railways, but not monorailsClauses 2, 9The Act commences at the end of 30 June 2017 and does not apply to monorails, consistent with the previous Queensland approach.

Work & Employment

•Any rail safety worker caught working with alcohol in their blood or a prescribed drug in their saliva can be fined up to $10,000Clause 19 (applying national law s 128)It will be an offence for a rail safety worker to carry out rail safety work while there is any alcohol or a prescribed drug in their system, or while so impaired by alcohol or a drug that they cannot effectively do their job.
•Rail workers can be required to give breath, saliva or blood samples for random, targeted or post-incident testing by officers appointed by the national regulatorPart 3, Divisions 3-4An authorised person may require a rail safety worker to submit to a preliminary breath test, preliminary saliva test, breath analysis, saliva analysis or blood test if they are about to do, are doing, or have just done rail safety work.
•For the first time, people who load or unload rail freight have a legal safety duty to do the job safelyNational law (applied) new dutiesThe Rail Safety National Law introduces a duty for persons who load or unload freight on rolling stock to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that such operations are carried out safely.
•Maximum fines for rail safety breaches are generally higher and are aligned with workplace health and safety penaltiesExplanatory notes: PenaltiesPenalties in the Rail Safety National Law have been aligned to penalty amounts in the Work Health and Safety Act 2011, with a five or ten times corporate multiplier for breaches by companies.

Safety & Emergency

•Rail safety officers can enter rail premises at any time without consent or a warrant to check safety, and can seize evidence, take measurements and question peopleNational law ss 143-145 (applied)A rail safety officer may enter railway premises at any time without consent, reasonable suspicion or prior notice, though not a residence, and may inspect, examine, question, seize things and require reasonable help.
•If someone is seriously injured or killed because a rail worker engaged in reckless conduct, that worker can face imprisonmentNational law s 58 (applied)An offence against the Rail Safety National Law carrying more than 3 years imprisonment, being section 58 (failure to comply with safety duty - reckless conduct), is a misdemeanour.
•Police keep their power to breath-test and drug-test train drivers, and take priority over the regulator when they actClause 20If a police officer is exercising a power under section 80 of the Transport Operations (Road Use Management) Act 1995 in relation to a train driver, an authorised person may not exercise testing powers under the Act in relation to that train driver.

Bill Journey

Introduced13 Sept 2016

First Reading

Committee

Committee Report24 Oct 2016

Committee report tabled

Second Reading

In Detail

Third Reading

Royal Assent9 Mar 2017

Referenced Entities

Legislation

Sectors Affected

Public Transport Road Transport Transport Infrastructure

Classified using AGIFT/ANZSIC Australian government standards

Rail Safety National Law (Queensland) Bill 2016

Plain English Summary

Overview

Who it affects

Key changes

Bill Journey

Referenced Entities

Legislation

Organisations

Programs & Schemes

Places

Roles & Offices

Sectors Affected

Source Documents