11 years after the Rail Safety National Law (RSNL) commenced, the National Transport Commission (NTC) and rail industry expert Tom Sargant were tasked to undertake a targeted independent review of the RSNL.
The final report, released on 24 June and available here, focussed on matters including whether the RSNL:
1. adequately positioned the Office of the National Rail Safety Regulator (ONRSR) to deliver its regulatory functions efficiently; and
2. is sufficiently flexible to support the safety concerns around rail reform while maximising interoperability and harmonisation (as part of the National Rail Action Plan).
The review concluded (amongst other matters) that the RSNL be amended to: support the rail industry in Australia to achieve safety and productivity benefits without detriment to safety; evolve ONRSR’s relationships beyond individual accredited parties to allow it to perform industry wide safety promotion and education more effectively; include additional provisions to embed interoperability outcomes in the RSNL; and strengthen and improve requirements to identifying and managing interface risks, and the respective duties of railway entities as well as interfacing organisations appropriately reflect the existing railway environment.
The review included 25 recommendations. Recommendations regarding the interface agreement regime included that:
1. ONRSR develop an approved interface agreement code of practice, in conjunction with the NTC and in consultation with relevant road and rail industry stakeholders, outlining:
a. Responsible parties (i.e. RTOs and / or infrastructure owners and managers);
b. Interventions to be implemented by road and rail managers for uncooperative parties;
c. Requirements for inclusion across all types of railway and interfacing operations (i.e. tunnelling, loading, and integration with broader rail infrastructure such as stations);
d. Scope and format of how an interface agreement should be delivered, including mechanisms for regular review and updates.
This will be a project reform (non-legislative but with legislative dependency).
2. ONRSR to be given the power to review and direct amendments to interface agreements to ensure that they are suitable for the effective management of safety interface risks, and the power to direct improvements where no interface agreement is in place. This will be a legislative reform.
These proposed amendments to the interface agreement regime will affect RTO’s, infrastructure owners and managers. The review proposes that legislative reforms occur in approximately 24 months and that project reforms (non-legislative but with legislative dependency) occur in 12 – 24 months.
KWM advises its clients on the development and operation of rail infrastructure and rolling stock, the duties of rail industry participants under the RSNL and all other aspects of the rail sector.
We will continue to monitor, and keep our clients updated on, future developments of the RNSL and the rail sector generally.
