[1] NICNAS was designed to help protect workers, the public and the environment from the harmful effects of industrial chemicals.
It made risk assessment and safety information on chemicals widely available and providing recommendations for their safe use.
Since then, the Australian government has continued to improve the assessment, regulation and management of industrial chemicals for the protection of human health and safety.
The Rio Earth Summit in 1992 led to the remodelling of chemical assessment regimes under cooperative agreements with New Zealand, Canada and the United States.
The Director is a member of numerous committees and consults and holds discussions with relevant industries, key groups and community representatives to ensure that all are informed and that practices comply with standards and regulations set out by NICNAS.
Each branch has specific responsibilities that focus on its own area but retain a certain level of transparency to ensure that all groups work cohesively.
[5] NICNAS administers the ICNA Act, as well as the Industrial Chemicals (Notification and Assessment) Regulations 1990 and the Cosmetics Standard 2007.
It also includes chemicals used in mineral and petroleum processing, refrigeration, printing, photocopying, household cleaning products, cosmetics and toiletries.
NICNAS ensures that importers, manufacturers and exporters of industrial chemicals are aware of and exercise their obligations under the ICNA Act.
NICNAS aims to maintain an open and transparent system to uphold existing health and safety and environmental standards.
NICNAS works with similar regulatory agencies in other countries by exchanging information, in an effort to speed up processes, cut duplication and to reduce the costs of assessing chemicals.
Review of the regulation of disinfectants has been continually conducted since 1998, the latest of which involved consultation between the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) and NICNAS in 2008 and 2009.
Reforms to the cosmetic-therapeutic boundary took effect on 17 September 2007 with the introduction of the Cosmetic Standard 2007 under the ICNA Act.
In November 2009, NICNAS published its proposed regulatory reforms of industrial nanomaterials and undertook a consultation period with the public.
[14] A number of these proposals were implemented in 2004–05, and are the subject of ongoing evaluation to determine their effectiveness and their impact on stakeholders.
The planned changes and reforms covered: In July 2010 NICNAS published a notice on its website seeking comments on the proposal.
The Convention aims to promote exchange of information relating to these chemicals between countries and a cooperative approach to their importation and exportation.
The Stockholm Convention applies to chemicals characterised by: resistance to degradation in the environment; wide geographical distribution; accumulation in fatty tissues; and toxicity to living organisms.
The former concentrates on control of transboundary hazardous waste movement whilst the latter on regulation of substances, which contribute to the depletion of the ozone layer.