Rail Safety Act 2006

[19] Part 3 of the Act sets out a number of performance based safety duties which are required to be observed by designated rail industry participants including: "Rail contractor" is defined broadly by the Act to include a range of persons including those involved in design, construction, manufacture, supply, installation, maintenance, repair and modification who knows or ought reasonably to know that things were to be used as rail infrastructure or rolling stock.

[26] Penalties for breach of the safety duties are substantial and vary among natural person and body corporate offenders.

[27] That concept seeks to identify the parties who are in a sufficient position of control over risks, in this case to safety, and to allocate responsibility by law accordingly.

[33] In essence, the SMS is the key safety plan for those parties who have ground level operational responsibilities in the rail sector.

[34] The compliance support scheme centres on provisions enabling the appointment of authorised officers, conferral of coercive powers and a range of administrative and court-based sanctions.

[6] The development of the proposal for the Act was managed by the former Department of Infrastructure in Victoria[42] as part of its Transport Legislation Review project.

[47] The review examined governance arrangements for safety regulation in the public transport sector drawing on Australian and overseas models.

[49] Ultimately, the review recommended the creation of an independent statutory office with a clearer charter and accountability arrangements.

[55] Mulder stated: In response, the Minister observed that: The Government moved a series of amendments to the Bill during the latter stages of its passage in the Legislative Assembly largely to give effect to national alignment matters agreed between the Department of Infrastructure and the National Transport Commission.

In June 2006, the Australian Transport Council approved a model Rail Safety Bill for adoption in law by the States and the Northern Territory.

Once it was clear that a majority of other jurisdictions had implemented the new framework, the Victorian Rail Safety Act was amended to acknowledge that the Victorian statute forms part of the nationally consistent rail safety scheme[62] A further national proposal emerged in 2008 at the instigation of the Rudd Government.

The proposal envisages the establishment of an applied laws scheme and a central rail safety regulation bureaucracy for Australia located in Adelaide in South Australia and the abolition of the current rail safety regulators in the States and the Northern Territory.

The original centralisation concept has been supported by interstate rail interests and jurisdictions such as Tasmania, Queensland, South Australia, the Commonwealth and the Northern Territory.

[69] In addition, smaller jurisdictions generally see the rail safety regulation function as expensive and wish to shift costs to the Commonwealth Government.

Concerns have also been expressed about the progress of harmonisation across Australia, including since the approval of the national model Rail Safety Bill.

The centralised regulator proposal has been opposed at times by New South Wales, Victoria and the Western Australian rail safety regulator who have pointed to a lack of quantitative or qualitative evidence of impacts of the current jurisdiction-based national system on operator costs, particularly in light of the predominance of intrastate urban rail movements in Australia over interstate movements.

Agreement has already been reached to excise the Melbourne tram system from the national proposal; however Victoria and New South Wales in particular have indicated ongoing difficulties with ceding safety control over the large Melbourne and Sydney suburban rail systems to an entity located in Adelaide.

Some jurisdictions and stakeholders have contrasted the more decentralised regulatory position in other large rail federations, particularly the European Union and Canada, where countries and provinces retain strong local control of rail safety regulation and administration, especially in relation to urban and metro systems.

Critics argue that the national proposal militates against the contemporary integrated transport directions evident in these larger jurisdictions in recent years.

Recent developments suggest that a centralised regulator will be established to take over the rail safety regulation functions of a majority of jurisdictions but that the most populous jurisdictions such as New South Wales and Victoria and potentially other large rail States such as Queensland and Western Australia may retain a local regulatory presence under service level agreements.

The Xtrapolis trains operated by Metro Trains on the suburban train network in Melbourne provide an example of the types of rail operations regulated by the Rail Safety Act. Melbourne's suburban railway network consists of 16 electrified lines, the central City Loop subway, and 200 stations , with a total length of 372 km of electrified lines. The network is primarily at ground level, with a number of level crossings, and tracks shared with freight trains and V/Line regional services .
Tram operations are also covered by the Rail Safety Act. Trams are a major form of public transport in Melbourne which is home to the largest tram network in the world, [ 1 ] (following the dismantling of much of Saint Petersburg 's tramway tracks early in the 21st century). Melbourne's network consists of 245 km (152.2 mi ) of track, 500 trams, [ 2 ] 28 routes, and 1,813 tram stops . [ 3 ]
Trains operated by V/Line Corporation in regional Victoria such as this Vlocity train captured operating near Lara are also regulated by the Rail Safety Act.
Safety regulation of railways involves requirements affecting a wide range of rail operations including the design and operation of stations. Colac is a railway station in the town of Colac in regional Victoria . The station is serviced by V/Line passenger trains on the Warrnambool railway line . V/Line has responsibilities under the Rail Safety Act for the safety of its rail operations on this line and the other lines which form parts of its operation.
Safety regulation of railways includes oversight of the condition and operation of rails and signals. The picture shows a section of quadruple track near Caulfield station in Melbourne, showing signalling and overhead wiring .
The Rail Safety Act requires certain rail industry workers to have a zero blood alcohol content and to be unimpaired by particular drugs when they undertake rail safety-sensitive tasks such as driving trains or trams, operating signals, etc. Workers are subject to testing for these substances including by breath analysis equipment. Severe penalties apply if workers breach the requirements of the Act.
The tram Stop outside Federation Square in Melbourne . The regulatory scheme in the Rail Safety Act applies to the activities of rail operators and other parties in relation to these facilities as well as to the safety of rails, rolling stock, signals etc.
The Bill which became the Rail Safety Act was considered by the Victorian Parliament between early October 2005 and late March 2006. The Rail Safety Act policy framework was later adopted nationally and has now been replicated in laws passed by the legislatures in all Australian States and the Northern Territory.
This Pacific National cement train operating at Geelong in regional Victoria provides an example of a rail activity conducted by a national operator in Victoria which is regulated by the Rail Safety Act.
"The Overland" operating at Moorabool near Geelong in Victoria.
Tourist and heritage railway operations in Victoria are also regulated by the Rail Safety Act. This picture shows locomotive 12A on the Monbulk Creek trestle bridge near Belgrave just outside Melbourne . The train is operating as part of the famous Puffing Billy tourist railway .