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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2020-06-18 Daily Xml
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Radiation Protection and Control Bill

Second Reading

Adjourned debate on second reading.

(Continued from 16 June 2020.)

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Leader of the Opposition) (15:59): I rise to speak today on the bill. I can indicate that the bill has the general support of the opposition. It is a relatively straightforward modernisation of the current act, regulating the management of radiation products and processes. Radioactive substances are widely used and handled across a number of industries, including industrial processing, mining and petroleum operations, medical and health care, and research and educational facilities.

Parties that are regulated under the legislation include hospitals, dentists, veterinarians, soil analysis companies, mining companies, radiographers, radiologists and ports. South Australia is one of only two jurisdictions in Australia where uranium mining takes place, and uranium is an essential contributor to the state's economy. It is therefore essential that modern, effective legislation covers both mining and all other aspects of radiation use.

As we all know, radiation also has the power to cause long-term harm, and as such it is paramount that there is legislation that regulates its use. In a broad sense, I agree that it is therefore necessary for the government to renew this legislation in a timely manner and in doing so to also review to ensure the legislation is sufficiently up to date with the requirements and our knowledge of radiation.

The opposition was pleased and somewhat reassured that an extensive consultation process was undertaken in the process of introducing this bill. However, we understand that the Hon. Mark Parnell does have some amendments, and I can flag that some of those amendments are likely to find favour with the opposition, especially those relating to increasing transparency and increasing parliamentary scrutiny.

It is absolutely vital that we ensure the ongoing security of our radioactive sources and as such modernise its regulatory framework in order to minimise the risk to the health and safety of our community. With that, I reiterate that we are largely supportive of this bill, but we are inclined to support a number of the Hon. Mark Parnell's amendments.

The Hon. F. PANGALLO (16:01): I rise to briefly speak in support of the government's Radiation Protection and Control Bill 2020. I commend the Minister for Environment for initiating a review of this legislation to update and modernise the act, for the first time since 1982, I believe. We have a special responsibility to carefully regulate the handling of radioactive material in South Australia to ensure the safety of all South Australians, including those workers who handle those materials in their everyday working lives, and indeed to protect all South Australians from radiation exposure.

Radioactive materials are commonly used and disposed of in a wide range of modern medicine, science and technology industries. A variety of medical imaging technologies use radiation, such as X-rays, CT scans and PET scans, which are all important tools used to diagnose and treat serious medical conditions. These technologies and nuclear medicine therapies have contributed to incredible advancements in the treatment of cancers and other illnesses.

South Australia has a particularly acute appreciation of the need to safely manage radiation, in part because of our history of the British atomic testing conducted at Emu Field in 1953 and Maralinga in 1956 and 1957, and the subsequent inadequate clean-up of the most exposed areas at a cost of more than $100 million.

It is actually some comfort to see how far we have come in building protections for industry and the community around radioactive substances. Radioactivity remains a relatively new field of science pioneered 125 years ago. In August, it will be 75 years since atomic bombs were dropped on humans in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, an horrific and cruel act of war we hope will never be repeated. What it did do was hasten an arms race of the superpowers like the US, the Soviet Union and the UK to develop weapons of mass destruction.

Radioactivity then became something of an international curiosity, surrounded with secrecy and intrigue in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. Australia was the testing ground for nuclear bombs by Britain at Maralinga and Emu Field in South Australia and the Montebello Islands, while the French used Mururoa atoll in Polynesia for its tests, some of them done underground, from 1964 to 1996.

My first recollection of radioactive waste was as a child growing up in Thebarton in the late 1950s. Some mates and I one day found ourselves inside the grounds of the Amdel facility near the old pughole next to Thebarton Oval. There was little or no security in those days and I recall coming across a couple of drums with skulls and crossbones painted on them. I yelled out to my friends that I had come across some pirate treasure and we jumped on them, playing swordfights with some bamboo sticks we had found. We hightailed out of there when someone turned up. I later discovered those drums had contained contaminated soil that had been gathered from Maralinga. Luckily, we did not try to open them.

Then, back in the early days of Today Tonight, a retired science lab assistant at the Adelaide University told me of the cover-up in the late 1950s when radioactive contaminated material was detected in their testing equipment and on the rooves of university buildings and houses in the metropolitan area following a big dust storm from the north. She told me orders had gone out from worried government health officials at the time to keep their discovery a secret, while milk from several dairies had to be dumped. There was no freedom of information available at the time I was researching her account, nor could I locate any records of the incident; however, she was adamant the contamination incident happened.

We never again want to see people exposed to the radiation spread thousands of kilometres from the Maralinga bomb tests or the ongoing physical, mental and health trauma this caused Aboriginal people, military personnel and other support staff. More recently, we have seen the establishment and development of the massive Olympic Dam mine, where uranium, gold and silver are produced and transported via Adelaide to be sent all over the world. We are soon to see a major expansion of this mine, which will drive a significant contribution to the South Australian economy.

An outstanding example of a world-leading development that this bill ensures will continue to be safely operated is the cyclotron at SAHMRI, which was constructed in 2013. The cyclotron develops radioactive tracers that are supplied to South Australian and interstate medical imaging facilities to identify and treat cancers, heart disease, Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia.

This legislation also supports the safe construction and operation of Australia's first and only proton therapy unit at SAHMRI. The Australian Bragg Centre for Proton Therapy and Research will be in a bunker in the planned $300 million SAHMRI 2 building, next to the cheese grater building. It will be the only proton therapy unit in the Southern Hemisphere. This exciting development, which will be operational in 2020, will treat about 800 patients a year, destroying cancer cells with radiation, thereby avoiding damage to healthy tissue by delivering powerful proton beams precisely where needed.

This means South Australians and indeed other Australians accessing our facility will no longer need to travel overseas to receive such treatments. These moments in history and exciting developments on our horizon have made South Australians very aware of the need to protect, secure, safely transport and store radioactive materials and to ensure the safety of those who handle them or may be exposed to them.

Nuclear technology has provided us with world-class discoveries and treatments, but with it come risks that need to be carefully managed by modern and agile legislation that can respond to all these technologies. I am pleased to see the bill has been informed by the consultation report and comments received from the EPA, an important agency that has some independence from the minister and a strong track record in environmental protection and compliance in this state.

My colleague in this chamber the Hon. Mark Parnell has filed a number of amendments to the bill, which seek to improve the accountability and transparency of the government's provisions. It is my intention to support these amendments. We have nothing to fear and everything to gain from increased monitoring and reporting of something so dangerous but so essential as the handling of radioactive material.

Of course, this bill has nothing to do with the selection or establishment of a potential low-level radioactive waste storage facility in South Australia, radiation associated with telecommunications infrastructure, including the rollout of the 5G network, or nuclear power. I will point out here that I did ask a question of SA Health regarding where they are currently storing the low-level radioactive waste from hospitals and other establishments, and I am still waiting to receive a reply.

At present, commonwealth law prevails over regulation of these technologies and projects, but as and where these impact on South Australians—for example, the potential establishment of the new radioactive waste storage facility in the state—we will of course take a very healthy interest in the actions of the commonwealth. These are all discussions for another day, so with those comments I commend the bill before us today to the Legislative Council.

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD (16:11): I rise to speak on the Radiation Protection and Control Bill. This important bill is for an act to control activities involving radiation sources and to provide for the protection of people and the environment from the effects of radiation. The bill makes related amendments to the Environment Protection Act of 1993 and repeals the Radiation Protection and Control Act of 1982.

Industries relating to medical and health care, mining and petroleum, industrial processing, and research and educational facilities all handle radioactive substances. South Australia and the Northern Territory are the only two jurisdictions in Australia where uranium mining takes place, which is an essential contributor to the state and national economies. It is therefore essential that current and effective legislation covers uranium mining and all other aspects of radiation use.

The Radiation Protection and Control Act of 1982 regulates activities involving radiation sources and provides for the protection of people and the environment from the harmful effects of radiation. Specifically, it controls the licensing of activities and registration of items and premises involving radiation sources. Hospitals, dentists, veterinarians, soil analysis companies, mining companies, radiographers, radiologists and ports are all regulated under the legislation.

Despite the importance of this legislation, it has not undergone substantial revision since its commencement some time ago, back in 1982. Many of the standard administrative and enforcement provisions are therefore outdated. There is a clear need to modernise radiation protection regulation in South Australia. This bill will implement a progressive risk-based approach that will improve the current system by reducing administrative burdens on small business. The existing seven separate licence categories will be streamlined down to two categories: a radiation user licence and a radiation management licence.

The act currently does not contain expiable offences and requires a provision to provide expiation fees for enforcement in the regulation. As a result, only the courts can prosecute the enforcement of the act and regulations. This inefficiency becomes time consuming and expensive when dealing with less serious offences under the current act. It does not provide an effective deterrent for recalcitrant licence holders who act in the knowledge that no expiation fee can be applied to them.

The bill includes expiations for several offences and for further expiable offences to be established via regulation. We currently have an appropriate avenue for review of administrative decisions through the South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (SACAT). However, under the current act the review of administrative decisions is upon application to the Supreme Court. This is unnecessarily burdensome, in my view. This bill allocates jurisdiction for administrative appeals to the South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

As things currently stand, the offences referred to in the existing act are largely administrative in nature and are not linked to the harm or risk of harm that a breach of the act might present. They are set within the licensing and registration requirements and relate to the unauthorised use or handling. The penalty framework proposed in the bill draws on the approach taken in the Work Health and Safety Act 2012 and the Environment Protection Act 1993. Radiation harm offences will provide a significant penalty in circumstances where an individual, a group of persons or the environment is harmed or likely to be harmed by exposure to quantities of radiation beyond those lawfully permitted by the remainder of this bill.

The maximum penalties for the radiation harm offences have been set with consideration to the nature of the legislation, the offences they relate to and the precedents set by other comparable legislation. The maximum penalty proposed for recklessly or intentionally causing serious radiation harm is $5 million for a body corporate and $1 million or 15 years imprisonment for an individual, the highest penalty that can be imposed by a sentencing court and must reflect the worst possible offences that could occur.

It is important to note that national commitments have previously been made through the Australian Health Ministers' Conference and the Council of Australian Governments to implement a uniform national framework for radiation protection. This bill contains key provisions to implement these national commitments.

The National Directory for Radiation Protection, agreed to in 2004 by the Australian health ministers, aims to provide nationally agreed and uniform requirements for the protection of people and the environment that meet international best practice and ensure the safety of radiation use. These relate to radiation protection principles, management requirements for radiation sources and provisions for the future adoption of documents forming part of the national directory.

In 2006, the Council of Australian Governments also agreed to a national chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear security strategy to provide a framework to strengthen and enhance Australia's existing arrangements. This included the establishment of a national regulatory scheme for the storage, possession, use and transportation of certain radiological materials to minimise the risk of such materials being misused.

In my view, this bill is vital to ensuring the ongoing security of our radioactive sources and modernising the regulatory framework in order to minimise the risk to the health and safety of our community. Accordingly, I support the bill and commend its passing to the council.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. I.K. Hunter.

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