Hansard debates

Melissa HORNE (Williamstown – Minister for Ports and Freight, Minister for Health Infrastructure, Minister for Prevention of Family Violence) (10:51): I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I ask that my second-reading speech be incorporated into Hansard.

Incorporated speech as follows:

The Bill will make amendments to regulatory frameworks in three Acts to streamline and strengthen registration and licence requirements, and to prevent or minimise the risk of harm to the health or safety of Victorians.

The reforms outlined in this Bill will be administered and enforced by the Health Regulator, a branch of the Department established in early 2024 to consolidate regulatory functions and enable the Department to adopt a more consistent, risk-based regulatory approach.

Health regulation plays a key role in minimising or preventing risk of harm to the health or safety of Victorians and contributes to the vision of a Victoria free of the avoidable burden of disease and injury, so that all Victorians can enjoy the highest attainable standards of health.

The key priorities addressed by this Bill are:

• To amend the Assisted Reproductive Treatment Act 2008 to require registered ART providers to comply with the requirements of an approved accreditation scheme; amend provisions relating to the registration of registered ART providers to enable the Secretary to grant and refuse registration and to issue a certificate of registration; and provide the Secretary with further inspection powers

• To amend the Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008 to ensure the person responsible for a cooling tower, whether owner, manager or operator, takes on key obligations and responsibility for any breaches; and

• To amend the Radiation Act 2005 to introduce a financial surety scheme to cover the cost of the disposal of radiation sources and create an offence related to the disposal of radiation sources.

The Bill also amends the Non-Emergency Patient Transport and First Aid Services Act 2003, to enable documents, such as clinical protocols, to be incorporated into the Regulations as in force from time to time.

Assisted reproductive treatment accreditation, registration and inspection powers

The Bill also makes amendments to the Assisted Reproductive Treatment Act 2008 (ART Act), to support implementation of reforms recommended by the Rapid Review of Assisted Reproductive Technology and In Vitro Fertilisation Regulation and Accreditation in Australia (the Rapid Review).

The Rapid Review was commissioned by the HMM in June 2025 following two prominent mistaken embryo transfers and related public discussion about safety and quality in the sector. Ministers agreed to its recommendations in September 2025.

The first phase of reform identified by the Rapid Review is centred on establishing a new national accreditation scheme for assisted reproductive treatment (ART) providers, administered by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (the Commission).

The amendments to the ART Act in this Bill will ensure that the Victorian legislative and regulatory framework is ready to align with the national accreditation framework and standards, which are being developed by the Commission.

Currently, the Act effectively requires ART providers to be accredited by the Reproductive Technology Accreditation Committee (RTAC) in order to be registered and operate lawfully in Victoria. The Bill will replace those provisions with a requirement for registered providers to comply with an accreditation scheme approved by the Secretary to the Department of Health. It is intended that the scheme administered by the Commission will be approved by the Secretary for this purpose.

The Bill will also strengthen Victoria’s regulatory scheme by ensuring that the registration framework operates independently from the accreditation scheme.

Under the current registration provisions, the Secretary has no discretion to refuse an application from a provider that has been accredited by RTAC. Further, while there is power to suspend registration of an accredited provider, there is no power to cancel that registration.

The Bill will give the Secretary a full suite of discretionary powers to grant, renew, vary, or refuse ART provider registration applications based on specified assessment criteria. This ensures that the decision about whether a provider has legal authority to operate in Victoria rests clearly with the regulator, as appropriate. The Bill also introduces a power for the Minister to cancel registration on specified grounds.

The Bill defers commencement of the offence for failure to comply with Conditions on Registration, to allow the current Conditions on Registration to be reviewed and updated in alignment with upcoming new national accreditation standards before the offence applies. In the interim, the current Conditions on Registration continue to apply and a range of enforcement actions are available for non-compliance.

The existing provisions concerning suspension of registration and imposition of conditions on registration will be slightly altered, to align to the other registration powers and ensure that the Secretary has the full suite of powers necessary to effectively manage the registration of ART providers.

These registration powers will be supported by enhanced inspection powers for the Secretary or their delegate. Current provisions allow inspection only for the purposes of considering compliance by providers already registered and are limited to inspection of documents during business hours.

The updated powers in the Bill provide for inspections of the premises of a registered ART provider or an applicant for registration, to inform registration decisions or compliance monitoring and enforcement. They also allow inspection of the premises beyond documentation where relevant. In addition, the Bill introduces a process for application to the Magistrate’s Court for a warrant in relation to other premises (not belonging to a registered provider or applicant for registration) where there is reason to believe ART is being carried out.

The Rapid Review found that the current industry-led accreditation scheme is inadequate and lacks the transparency and rigour that governments and the community expect. Ministers agreed that the reforms offer a pathway to restore confidence, independence, and transparency in the ART sector. The Gorton Review of ART in Victoria similarly highlighted the importance for clearer separation between accreditation and regulatory oversight. The amendments to the ART Act in this Bill will put Victoria in a position to effectively enable the agreed reforms and strengthen Victoria’s ability to uphold community expectations of the ART sector.

In developing the Bill, the Department of Health has liaised with ART providers and sector stakeholders, as well as the Commission and other jurisdictions. Victoria is committed to successful implementation of this first phase of reform and will continue to actively engage in the recommended program of national improvements in regulation of this sector.

Responsibility for cooling tower systems

This Bill also proposes important reforms to Victoria’s public health framework by clarifying responsibility for the registration, management and maintenance of cooling tower systems.

Cooling towers are often used for evaporative cooling in large buildings, including residential towers and big industrial or commercial sites. They are a recognised source of risk for the transmission of Legionella bacteria, which can cause Legionnaire’s disease, a potentially fatal form of pneumonia. Victoria regulates cooling tower systems to manage this public health risk. All cooling towers must be registered under the Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008.

Currently the owner of the land on which there is a cooling tower system is required to prepare and implement a risk management plan and to ensure the plan is audited annually by an approved auditor. This obligation does not always match the operational reality, which is that the entity with effective control and management of the cooling tower system may be a property or facilities management company, a lessee, occupier or owners corporation that is separate from the landowner.

The proposed amendments will require the responsible person, defined as the person who owns, manages or controls a cooling tower system, to assume obligations such as registration, development and review of a risk management plan and annual audits.

This approach ensures that primary responsibility for cooling tower safety is clearly identified, enforceable and aligned with practical control of cooling towers, taking into account contemporary building ownership and management practices. This change will attribute responsibility appropriately and enable effective compliance oversight, targeting the person whose acts or omissions create a public health risk.

These reforms are designed to improve regulatory clarity, not to impose unnecessary new burdens. The Bill complements existing regulatory requirements for cooling towers, including ongoing obligations relating to inspection, cleaning, disinfection and record-keeping, as set out in Public Health and Wellbeing Regulations 2017.

By making responsibility explicit, the Bill reduces uncertainty for industry, improves compliance, and supports timely regulatory intervention where risks arise. Ultimately, this reform will contribute to safer buildings and better protection for Victorians from preventable disease.

Financial surety and obligations in relation to disposal of disused radiation sources

This Bill also makes targeted amendments to the Radiation Act 2005 to strengthen Victoria’s radiation safety framework.

Radioactive sources are used safely across Victoria in healthcare, research and industry and deliver significant public benefit. However, once a source becomes disused, there is no ongoing justification for its continued possession, and unmanaged or abandoned sources pose risks to human health and the environment.

While existing licence conditions require disposal, experience has shown that disposal does not always occur in a timely manner. In some cases, the government is required to intervene to manage or store disused sources, with the associated risks and costs borne by the community.

These amendments introduce a financial surety regime for the management of disused radioactive sources. The purpose of the reform is to ensure that licence holders make adequate provision for the safe and lawful disposal of radioactive sources when they are no longer fit for an authorised purpose.

The amendments enable the Secretary of the Department of Health to require a financial surety, where appropriate, when granting or renewing a radiation management licence. The framework is risk-based and proportionate and ensures that funds are available to support safe disposal if a licence holder fails to meet their obligations.

The Bill also provides for disposal protocols to be issued by the Secretary and introduces offences for noncompliance, ensuring the framework is effective and enforceable.

These reforms align Victoria’s legislation with nationally agreed radiation protection standards and apply a well-established regulatory principle used elsewhere in Victoria’s health and environmental laws: that those who create or control risk should be responsible for managing and funding that risk.

This Bill will enable the Health Regulator to more effectively minimise risks to the health and safety of Victorians.

I commend the Bill to the house.