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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2025-10-30 Daily Xml
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Radiation Protection and Control (Commencement of Proceedings) Amendment Bill

Second Reading

Adjourned debate on second reading.

(Continued from 4 September 2025.)

The Hon. H.M. GIROLAMO (Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (11:33): I rise today to speak in support of this bill. The proposed amendments are brief but make the bill more workable and remove unintended ambiguity in the original draft. The use of radioactive sources has many beneficial applications in our lives, including in medical technology, mining, research, agriculture and other positive uses.

However, the risks associated with prolonged or heavy exposure led to the formation of the principles of application. This includes a requirement that there must be more benefit than harm, keeping the potential exposure as low as reasonably achievable and ensuring potential radiation doses are as low as possible.

The objects of this act are to ensure that people and the environment are protected from excessive and unnecessary exposure. The original legislation specified two different timeframes for the commencement of proceedings, being six months from expiation of offences and three years after the date of the alleged offences for all other offences.

The requirement to commence proceedings within six months may be too onerous on alleged offences that require time-consuming investigation. There is also the possibility that alleged offences are not discovered until after the expiry of the six-month period. The proposed amendment to section 82 to specify a set three-year period for commencement of proceedings and the transitional provision in schedule 1 provide clarity in the application of this legislation. With that, the opposition indicates its support of the bill.

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY (11:34): I rise to speak on the Radiation Protection and Control (Commencement of Proceedings) Amendment Bill 2025. The Radiation Protection and Control Act 2021 controls activities involving radiation sources through authorisations to operate facilities and apparatus and to possess, handle or use radioactive sources. It provides for the beneficial use of radiation and sets standards to ensure that radiation sources are secured against misuse that may result in harm to people or the environment.

Section 82(1)(a) of the Radiation Protection and Control Act 2021 requires that proceedings for an expiable offence must commence within six months. Several offences in the act are open to both expiation and prosecution. There is a significant monetary difference between the expiations and the penalties prescribed, which reflects the intent for more serious cases to be prosecuted rather than expiated.

However, the fact that these offences are also potentially expiable means that the six-month time limit applies to them. The time taken to investigate and build a brief of evidence for such cases makes the six-month time limit unworkable. The investigative process to develop a brief of evidence typically includes site inspections, interviews, review of documents, technical analysis (including by experts) and obtaining legal advice. The more complex the case, the longer each of these steps tend to take. The alleged offence may also only come to the EPA's attention more than six months after it was committed.

To overcome the risk of offences against the Radiation Protection and Control Act 2021 and the Radiation Protection and Control Regulations 2022 not being adequately prosecuted due to the time limit for the commencement of proceedings, it is proposed that the act be amended to allow for proceedings for expiable offences to commence any time within three years after the date of the alleged offence. This is consistent with similar provisions in the Environment Protection Act 1993.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Deputy Premier, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector, Special Minister of State) (11:37): I thank honourable members for their contributions on what is a reasonably straightforward piece of legislation before us and I look forward to the committee stage.

Bill read a second time.

Committee Stage

Bill taken through committee without amendment.

Third Reading

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Deputy Premier, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector, Special Minister of State) (11:39): I move:

That this bill be now read a third time.

Bill read a third time and passed.

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