What you said

What we heard so far

Following assent of the Radiation Protection and Control Act 2021 on 11 February 2021, the Australasian Radiation Protection Society (ARPS), South Australia Medical Imaging (SAMI), and the South Australia Chamber of Mines and Energy (SACOME) raised issues of interest to be considered in the development of new regulations with the EPA. Submissions received from ARPS and SAMI are available under the ‘documents’ Tab.

Key issues identified were:

1. National uniformity

The draft regulations adopt and align with the definitions, thresholds, exemptions, standards, and other provisions in the National Directory for Radiation Protection (NDRP). The new RPC Act allows for future changes or additions to the NDRP to be adopted more easily by Ministerial Notice.

Recent changes to the Mutual Recognition Act 1992 to introduce automatic deemed registration for some occupations across jurisdictions and work by ARPANSA’s Radiation Health Committee through the Radiation Health Expert Reference Panel on common competencies for radiation occupations promote common national standards for practitioners.

2. Flexibility

The draft regulations avoid the detailed technical requirements of the current regulations and instead reference activity-specific codes and standards that can be amended more easily to reflect changes in technology and practices. The draft Code of Compliance for Radiation Management Plans places the onus on employers and owners to put in place plans, systems and processes for radiation safety based on the nature, complexity and risks associated with the activities and sources at their facility.

3. Graded approach

The draft regulations support a graded approach through the exclusion of prescribed classes of persons, operations, circumstances, material, apparatus, and premises; and through the adoption of risk-based codes and standards. The draft Code of Compliance for Radiation Management Plans promotes alignment of protection and safety requirements at a facility with the complexity and radiation risks associated with the facility in a graded manner. There will also be opportunities for applying the graded approach outside of the regulations through risk-based licence fees, application requirements, conditions of licence, and compliance approach.

4. Adoption of standards

The draft regulations move away from many of the current prescriptive requirements and adopt the NDRP and the related ARPANSA standards, supplemented by EPA codes. The new RPC Act allows for any new standards, guidance, or codes of practice forming part of the NDRP to be adopted by notice in the Gazette. The EPA will also consider the adoption of standards, codes, guidelines, protocols, etc. developed by professional bodies.

5. Licensing requirements

The new RPC Act and draft regulations do not specify qualifications for a licence other than that the applicant must be a fit and proper person and have appropriate knowledge to carry out the activities proposed to be undertaken under the licence. New guidance will be published on how applications for a license or accreditation will be assessed, which will consider opportunities for national uniformity, including professional registration and other industry-based standards. The code for radiation management plans requires plans to include organisational and worker competencies to meet radiation safety obligations including competency assessment, qualifications, induction, training, and continuing development and reassessment

6. Exemptions

All existing exemptions will expire on the first anniversary of the commencement of the new RPC Act. Any not provided for in the new regulations will need to be re-applied for. The draft regulations adopt the nationally agreed exemptions in the NDRP and provide for further classes of exemptions to be determined by the Minister. This should minimise the need for individually determined exemptions.

7. Risk assessment

The new RPC Act adopts the Radiation Protection Principle that requires planned exposures to radiation to be justified, optimised and limited based on standards and limits of risk. The NDRP defines radiation risk and specifies dose limits, reference levels and dose coefficients with reference to national and international codes and standards. These codes and standards are also specified in the draft code for radiation management plans.

8. Quality assurance of apparatus

The EPA has existing guidelines for compliance testing of diagnostic X-ray apparatus, which have been included in new draft codes. The final versions of the codes will consider feedback from stakeholders, including the detailed submission by SA Medical Imaging (SAMI) – see under ‘Documents,’ and the outcome of the current consultation on draft Multijurisdictional Apparatus Testing Requirements by the Radiation Health Committee of ARPANSA.

9. Engagement

Issues with the current regulations identified by various sectors have helped to inform the draft regulations and codes of compliance. (See submissions by ARPS and SAMI under the documents Tab).

10. Miscellaneous

In addition to the above themes, stakeholders raised several other issues including definitions, authorisation of exposures, shielding requirements, incident reporting, and radioactive waste management that have been addressed in the draft regulations and codes. Any further feedback is welcome.