Radiation Protection and Control Act 2021

This Act may be cited as the Radiation Protection and Control Act 2021.

In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears—

accreditation means an accreditation issued under this Act;

associate—see subsection (3);

authorisation means a licence or registration issued under this Act;

authorised officer means a person appointed as an authorised officer under Part 7;

carrier means a person who—

carries on the business of transporting goods; and

undertakes to be responsible, or is responsible, for the transport of the goods;

Committee—see section 8;

contravene includes fail to comply with;

corresponding law means a law of the Commonwealth, or of a State or Territory, declared by the regulations to be a corresponding law for the purposes of this Act;

deal with means use, manufacture, store, sell, receive, possess, install, operate, maintain, repair, dispose of or transport;

Department means the administrative unit of the Public Service that is responsible for assisting a Minister in the administration of this Act;

developmental testing operations means operations for the extraction or processing of ores or minerals for the purposes of evaluating future mining or mineral processing operations;

domestic partner means a person who is a domestic partner within the meaning of the Family Relationships Act 1975, whether declared as such under that Act or not;

environment means land, air, water, organisms and ecosystems, and includes—

human‑made or modified structures or areas; and

the amenity values of an area;

ERD Court means the Environment, Resources and Development Court established under the Environment, Resources and Development Court Act 1993;

exemption means an exemption granted under this Act;

exploration means operations of any kind carried out in the course of—

exploring for minerals; or

determining the extent of a mineral deposit, and includes surface drilling and geophysical prospecting;

general duty of care—see section 53;

handle includes manipulate by indirect or remote means;

health practitioner means a person who practises 1 or more of the following:

a health profession (within the meaning of the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (South Australia);

any other profession or practice included in the ambit of this definition by the regulations;

health services—

in the case of a person who practises a health profession—means the provision of services by the health practitioner in the person's particular health profession; or

in any other case—has the meaning assigned by the regulations;

high risk radioactive material means radioactive material of a kind designated by the regulations as high risk radioactive material for the purposes of this Act;

high risk radioactive source means a radiation source of a kind designated by the regulations as a high risk radioactive source for the purposes of this Act;

identity check has the meaning assigned to it by the regulations;

information discovery order means an information discovery order issued under Part 7Division 4;

in situ recovery means a process by which chemical solutions are injected into underground ore deposits to dissolve or leach—

elements that include radioactive elements; or

compounds that include radioactive compounds;

ionising radiation means electromagnetic or particulate radiation capable of producing ions directly or indirectly in passage through matter but does not include electromagnetic radiation of a wavelength greater than 100 nanometres;

ionising radiation apparatus means apparatus capable of producing ionising radiation by accelerating atomic particles;

licence means a radiation management licence or radiation use licence;

mineral processing means operations for the concentration or processing of ores or minerals, or operations for processing fluids from in situ or other recovery operations conducted on ores or minerals, and includes—

incidental operations for the management of radioactive process materials, residues or wastes; and

any other operations included in the ambit of this definition by the regulations;

mining means operations for the recovery, handling or storage of ores or minerals, and includes—

construction activities to establish any mine facilities; and

incidental operations for the recovery, handling or storage of ores or minerals; and

incidental operations for the management or disposal of waste or residues; and

rehabilitation activities to restore land disturbed by mining operations; and

in situ recovery and other operations by means of which minerals are recovered from an ore or a natural body of water; and

any other activities or operations included in the ambit of this definition by the regulations, but does not include—

surface excavating that does not intersect with any such ores or minerals; or

surface drilling for the purposes of exploration; or

geophysical prospecting; or

any other operations excluded from the ambit of this definition by the regulations;

Minister for Health means the Minister responsible for the administration of the South Australian Public Health Act 2011;

non‑ionising radiation means electromagnetic radiation of a wavelength greater than 100 nanometres;

non‑ionising radiation apparatus means apparatus capable of producing non‑ionising radiation but not ionising radiation;

officer, in relation to a body corporate, means—

a director of the body corporate; or

the chief executive officer of the body corporate; or

a receiver or manager of any property of the body corporate or a liquidator of the body corporate, and includes, in relation to a contravention or alleged contravention of this Act by the body corporate, an employee of the body corporate with management responsibilities in respect of the matters to which the contravention or alleged contravention related;

owner, in relation to an apparatus or thing that has been let out on hire, means the person who takes it on hire;

permit means a permit issued under section 48 of this Act;

place includes any premises;

premises means any land, building or structure whether fixed or moveable, or part of any land, building or structure;

principles of ecologically sustainable development—see section 7;

radiation means ionising radiation or non‑ionising radiation;

radiation apparatus means ionising radiation apparatus or non‑ionising radiation apparatus;

radiation facility means a facility of a prescribed class at which a radiation source is used, handled, stored, disposed of or otherwise managed;

radiation management licence means a radiation management licence issued under this Act;

radiation protection cessation order means a radiation protection cessation order issued under section 55;

radiation protection order means a radiation protection order issued under section 54 or 55;

radiation protection principle—see section 6;

radiation source means a sealed radioactive source, unsealed radioactive material or radiation apparatus, or any equipment, object, article or thing that emits or may emit ionising or non‑ionising radiation when energised;

radiation use licence means a radiation use licence issued under this Act;

radioactive material means a material or substance occurring naturally or artificially produced (whether solid, liquid or gaseous) that—

contains more than the prescribed concentration of a radioactive element or compound (whether natural or artificial); or

contains a radioactive element or compound that has an activity exceeding the prescribed amount, (or both) and includes a device or thing that contains such a material or substance;

registration means registration under this Act;

reparation authorisation means a reparation authorisation issued under section 61;

reparation order means a reparation order issued under section 57;

repealed Act means the Radiation Protection and Control Act 1982;

sealed radioactive source means a radioactive material that is sealed in a capsule or associated with a material to which it is closely bonded, being a capsule or bonding material that is strong enough to maintain leak-tightness of the sealed source under the conditions of use and wear for which it was designed;

security background check has the meaning assigned to it by the regulations;

security enhanced radioactive source means a radiation source of a kind designated by the regulations as a security enhanced radioactive source for the purposes of this Act;

seizure order means a seizure order made by an authorised officer under section 71;

spouse—a person is the spouse of another if they are legally married;

Tribunal means the South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal established under the South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2013;

unsealed radioactive material means a radioactive material that is not a sealed radioactive source;

uranium includes a chemical compound of uranium;

vehicle has the same meaning as in the Road Traffic Act 1961;

vessel has the same meaning as in the Harbors and Navigation Act 1993.

In this Act, a reference to a vehicle includes a reference to a train, tram, vessel or aircraft unless it is otherwise expressly stated.

For the purposes of this Act, a person is an associate of another if—

they are partners; or

1 is a spouse, domestic partner, parent or child of another; or

they are both trustees or beneficiaries of the same trust, or 1 is a trustee and the other is a beneficiary of the same trust; or

1 is a body corporate or other entity (whether inside or outside Australia) and the other is a director or member of the governing body of the body corporate or other entity; or

1 is a body corporate or other entity (whether inside or outside Australia) and the other is a person who has a legal or equitable interest in 5% or more of the share capital of the body corporate or other entity; or

they are related bodies corporate within the meaning of the Corporations Act 2001 of the Commonwealth; or

a chain of relationships can be traced between them under any 1 or more of the above paragraphs.

For the purposes of subsection (3), a beneficiary of a trust includes an object of a discretionary trust.

For the purposes of this Act—

the owner of a radiation facility or radiation source, or premises on which a radiation source is stored or used, is the person in whose name the facility, source or premises is, or is required to be, licensed or registered under this Act;

a person has possession of a radiation source if the source is under the person's control (whether or not the source is also in the person's custody), including control of the source for storage or use, or for sale, but not if—

the person is using or handling the radiation source and the overall control of the source is the responsibility of another person; or

the radiation source is a radioactive material that the person is transporting; or

the radiation source is a radioactive material that—

the person or an animal kept by the person has been injected with; or

has been administered to, or implanted in, the person or an animal kept by the person, as part of a diagnostic or therapeutic procedure.

The provisions of this Act—

are in addition to those of any other Act or law; and

do not limit or derogate from the provisions of any other Act or law, or from any civil remedy at law or in equity.

The objects of this Act are—

to protect people and the environment from the harmful effects of radiation by applying the radiation protection principle; and

to ensure that radiation sources are secured against misuse that may result in harm to people or the environment; and

to recognise the benefits of the safe and justified uses of radiation; and

to promote the principles of ecologically sustainable development.

The radiation protection principle is the principle that people and the environment should be protected from unnecessary exposure to radiation through the processes of justification, limitation and optimisation.

Justification involves—

assessing whether the benefits of a practice involving ionising radiation or its use outweigh the detriment; and

only adopting the practice if it produces sufficient benefit to outweigh the detriment.

Limitationinvolves—

setting radiation dose limits or specifying radiation emission or absorption standards and ensuring compliance with those limits or standards; or

imposing other measures and ensuring compliance with those measures, so that the risks to people and the environment from exposure to radiation are below levels considered unacceptable.

Optimisation of protection, in relation to the conduct of a radiation practice, or the use of a radiation source, that may expose people or the environment to ionising radiation, means the following:

keeping the magnitude of individual doses of, or the number of people that may be exposed to, ionising radiation as low as is reasonably achievable, taking into account economic, social and environmental factors;

if the magnitude of individual doses, or the number of people that may be exposed, is uncertain—keeping the likelihood of incurring exposures of ionising radiation as low as is reasonably achievable, taking into account economic, social and environmental factors.

The principles of ecologically sustainable development are the principles set out in section 10(1)(a) of the Environment Protection Act 1993.

The Radiation Protection Committee established by the Radiation Protection and Control Act 1982 continues in existence.

The Committee consists of not more than 9 members appointed by the Governor on the nomination of the Minister.

One of the persons nominated by the Minister must be a person selected by the Minister for Health to represent the interests of the Minister for Health on the Committee.

The Minister must, when nominating persons for appointment as members of the Committee, seek to ensure that, as far as is practicable, the members of the Committee collectively have qualifications, knowledge, expertise and experience in the following areas:

radiology or diagnostic radiography;

nuclear medicine;

radiation oncology or radiotherapy;

industrial or scientific uses of radiation;

health or medical physics;

mining;

environmental science;

public health.

The Governor will appoint 1 member of the Committee (the presiding member) to preside at its meetings and another member (the deputy presiding member) to preside at meetings in the absence of the presiding member.

A member of the Committee will be appointed on conditions determined by the Governor for a term, not exceeding 3 years, specified in the instrument of appointment and, at the expiration of a term of appointment, is eligible for reappointment.

The Governor may appoint a suitable person to be a deputy of a member of the Committee and that person, while acting in the absence of that member, will be taken to be a member of the Committee with all the powers, rights and duties of the member of whom the person is deputy.

The Governor may remove a member of the Committee from office for—

breach of, or non‑compliance with, any conditions of appointment; or

misconduct; or

failure or incapacity to carry out official duties satisfactorily.

The office of a member of the Committee becomes vacant if the member—

dies; or

completes a term of office and is not reappointed; or

resigns by written notice addressed to the Minister; or

is convicted of an indictable offence or is sentenced to imprisonment for an offence; or

becomes bankrupt or applies to take the benefit of a law for the relief of insolvent debtors; or

is removed from office under subsection (3).

On the office of a member of the Committee becoming vacant, a person will be appointed in accordance with this Act to the vacant office, but if the office of a member becomes vacant before the expiration of a term of appointment, the successor will be appointed only for the balance of the term.

The Committee has the following functions:

to advise the Minister in relation to the formulation of regulations under this Act;

to advise the Minister on the formulation of radiation protection codes and standards;

to provide technical advice to the Minister on radiation protection and safety relating to human health and the environment;

to provide technical advice to the Minister for Health on matters related to the application or use of radiation for medical purposes;

to investigate and report on any other matters relevant to the administration of this Act at the request of the Minister or of its own motion;

to perform any other function assigned to the Committee by or under this Act.

An act or proceeding of the Committee is not invalid by reason only of a vacancy in its membership or a defect in the appointment of a member.

Subject to this Act, a quorum at a meeting of the Committee consists of a number ascertained by dividing the total number of members by half, ignoring any fraction resulting from the division, and adding 1.

A meeting of the Committee will be chaired by the presiding member or, in the absence of the presiding member, by the deputy presiding member and, in the absence of both the presiding member and the deputy presiding member, the members present at a meeting of the Committee must choose 1 of their number to preside at the meeting.

A decision carried by a majority of the votes cast by members of the Committee at a meeting is a decision of the Committee.

Each member present at a meeting of the Committee is entitled to 1 vote on any matter arising for decision.

A conference between members constituting a quorum by telephone or audio-visual means is a valid meeting of the Committee if—

notice of the conference is given to all members in the manner determined by the Committee for that purpose; and

the system of communication allows a participating member to communicate with any other participating member during the conference.

A resolution of the Committee—

of which prior notice was given to members in accordance with procedures determined by the Committee; and

in which at least the majority of members of the Committee expressed their concurrence in writing or by electronic communication, will be taken to be a decision of the Committee made at a meeting of the Committee.

The Committee must have accurate minutes kept of its proceedings.

Subject to subsection (9), the Committee must publish the minutes of its meetings on a website determined by the Minister that is accessible by the public free of charge.

The Committee may omit, redact or delete, from minutes published under subsection (8), any information that would make the minutes an exempt document under the Freedom of Information Act 1991.

Subject to this Act, the Committee may determine its own procedures.

The Minister may establish sub‑committees of the Committee to assist the Committee or the Minister in the performance of functions of the Committee or Minister under this Act.

A sub‑committee will consist of such members of the Committee or other persons as may be appointed to the sub‑committee by the Minister.

A sub‑committee must not act of its own motion but only in relation to matters referred to it by the Committee.

Subject to this Act, the procedure for meetings of sub‑committees will be determined by the presiding member of the Committee.