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TRANSPORT (SAFETY SCHEMES COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT) BILL 2014
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20 February 2014
Second Reading
MULDER
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TRANSPORT (SAFETY SCHEMES COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT) BILL 2014 Second reading Mr MULDER (Minister for Public Transport) -- I move: That this bill be now read a second time. Speech as follows incorporated into Hansard in accordance with resolution of house: The main purpose of this bill is to improve compliance and enforcement support for Victoria's local rail, bus and marine safety schemes. The house will recall that 2013 was a year of change in the rail and marine sectors which saw the finalisation of national schemes mandated by the Council of Australian Governments including new governance settings and regulatory changes. The national schemes set the platform for bringing most parts of the rail and marine sectors under national control while leaving remaining areas under state cover. For example, the national rail safety regulation and investigation schemes apply to most Victorian railways including metropolitan and V/Line services, both passenger and freight. However, tram and light rail systems, including the major Melbourne system, and most of the state's tourist and heritage railways, remain locally regulated. Similarly, many small commercial vessel activities are caught nationally, especially licensing and certification functions. But significant activities in the marine sector remain under state and territory cover including regulation of all waterways and pilotage and drug and alcohol standards. As a result of these new arrangements, there are both national and state laws in place for these areas of transport in Victoria. The national rail and marine schemes are headed by South Australian and commonwealth laws respectively. The national laws are then applied by statutes enacted by the Victorian Parliament to provide for the full rollout of the national schemes throughout the state. The national rail and marine schemes largely adopted pre-existing Victorian legislation and underlying policy in those areas, although the national statutes did make improvements in some areas. As a result, differences now exist between the national scheme statutes and local Victorian statutes, including in the important area of compliance and enforcement standards. These provisions give important support to safety schemes as they contain essential aids like inspection and search and seizure powers and also establish sanctions that the regulator Transport Safety Victoria and the courts can use to prevent and deal with breaches of safety standards. It is also important to note that these powers are also used by the chief investigator, Transport Safety when investigating incidents and safety trends which concern the public transport and marine sectors. While Victoria already has separate statutes which set safety standards for the rail, marine and bus industries, the compliance and enforcement provisions which support the standards are contained in a single statute, the Transport (Compliance and Miscellaneous) Act 1983. This step was taken some years ago due to the similarity of the compliance and enforcement issues which arise across all three transport schemes and the need to maintain coordination and consistency. The house will be aware that good compliance and enforcement provisions are essential to the effectiveness of regulatory schemes, particularly those which support public safety. It is plain that there is little point having transport safety standards if the industry regulator and the courts do not have sufficient powers and sanctions to apply them. With this key point in mind, it is critical that Victoria continues to maintain high standards for locally regulated transport on land and water and remains nationally consistent. Taking this common-sense approach, the bill predominantly aligns local compliance and enforcement standards with national provisions drawing mainly on the national rail safety scheme. More particularly, the bill is needed to avoid anomalies. It makes little sense to have different compliance and enforcement standards in rail depending on whether a train or a tram is involved or whether a train is nationally or state regulated. Similarly, material differences in powers and sanctions in marine are not appropriate based on events involving national matters -- like safety duties, the condition of vessels, certification or crewing -- or state matters like waterway management, pilotage, port management, drug and alcohol controls. This is especially when the national and state schemes may be used during the same incident. The answer is to better align state standards with national standards. Accordingly, the bill creates a new and more aligned statute to replace the state's ageing and nationally inconsistent laws.
Page 458
I note that the proposal also adjusts existing director's liability provisions to bring them further into line with national standards. The bill is complex in parts. Accordingly, detailed information about its provisions and their impact and origin is set out in the explanatory memorandum for the benefit of members. This is an important bill. It is needed so that compliance and enforcement standards for Victoria's local rail, marine and bus safety sectors enjoy the same levels of compliance and enforcement support as recent national schemes and to help avoid anomalies between state and national regulation. The bill helps to maintain and improve Victoria's high transport safety standards on land and water and for that reason it deserves to enjoy the strong support of all members. I commend the bill to the house. Debate adjourned on motion of Mr NOONAN (Williamstown). Debate adjourned until Thursday, 6 March.