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How National Laws work in Australia

Written by Raquel Stevens

 

Understanding the types of laws in Australia

 

Australia’s laws come from three sources:

 

  • Commonwealth legislation – the federal government has nation-wide legislation for certain matters

 

  • State and territory legislation – each state and mainland territory has its own legislation for various matters, including provisions that allow councils to make local laws

 

  • Common law – also known as case law, courts use precedents and interpretation of previous court decisions

 

National laws are state and territory legislation that is agreed to by all or a majority of the states and territories (known as jurisdictions). One jurisdiction is considered the ‘host’ jurisdiction and the other participating jurisdictions adopt the host legislation, with or without amendments.

 

This article explains two of the national laws (covered in our online directory SafetyLaw), their host jurisdiction and the participating jurisdictions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Rail Safety National Law

 

South Australia is the host jurisdiction for the Rail Safety National Law (RSNL). The national Regulations are published by New South Wales.

 

Changes to the RSNL are approved by the Infrastructure and Transport Ministers’ Meeting, which is comprised of the transport Minister for each state, territory and the Commonwealth.

 

All jurisdictions except WA adopted the RSNL using an applied law approach, which allows amendments to automatically be adopted. WA currently requires a separate parliamentary process before any amendments apply to the state, due to it using mirror legislation. At the time of writing, WA was progressing a Bill that would see the RSNL be adopted as an applied law.

 

Jurisdiction

National Law

Regulations
SA (host jurisdiction) Rail Safety National Law (South Australia) Act 2012, which contains the RSNL in the Schedule and explains how the RSNL applies in SA. SA’s version of the national Regulations:

 

SA-specific Regulations:
ACT Rail Safety National Law (ACT) Act 2014, which adopts and modifies the RSNL. The national Regulations as published by NSW (below) and ACT-specific Regulation:
NSW Rail Safety (Adoption of National Law) Act 2012 No 82, which adopts and modifies the RSNL.

 

NSW has also published its own version of the Rail Safety National Law (NSW).

 The original national Regulations:

 

NSW-specific Regulations
NT Rail Safety (National Uniform Legislation) Act 2012, which adopts and modifies the RSNL. The national Regulations as published by NSW (above) and NT-specific Regulations:
QLD Rail Safety National Law (Queensland) Act 2017, which adopts and modifies the RSNL.

 

QLD has also published its own version of the Rail Safety National Law (Queensland).

 The national Regulations as published by NSW (above) and QLD-specific Regulation:
TAS Rail Safety National Law (Tasmania) Act 2012, which adopts and modifies the RSNL. The national Regulations as published by NSW (above)
VIC Rail Safety National Law Application Act 2013, which adopts and modifies the RSNL. The national Regulations as published by NSW (above) and VIC-specific Regulations:
WA Rail Safety National Law (WA) Act 2015, which contains WA’s version of the RSNL and explains how the RSNL applies in WA. WA’s version of the national Regulations:

 

WA-specific Regulations:

 

 

 

 

 

The Heavy Vehicle National Law

 

Queensland is the host jurisdiction for the Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL) and the national Regulations. The Northern Territory and Western Australia have not adopted the HVNL.

 

Changes to the HVNL are approved by the Infrastructure and Transport Ministers’ Meeting.

 

Most jurisdictions adopted the HVNL, allowing amendments to automatically be adopted. SA duplicated the HVNL, requiring a separate parliamentary process before any amendments apply to the state.

 

 

Jurisdiction

National Law

Regulations
QLD (host jurisdiction) Heavy Vehicle National Law Act 2012, which contains the HVNL in the Schedule and explains how the HVNL applies and is modified in QLD. The national Regulations as made by QLD:

 

QLD-specific Regulation:
ACT Heavy Vehicle National Law (ACT) Act 2013, which adopts and modifies the HVNL.

 

The ACT has also published its own version of the Heavy Vehicle National Law (ACT).

 The national Regulations as made by QLD (above)
NSW Heavy Vehicle (Adoption of National Law) Act 2013, which adopts and modifies the HVNL.

 

NSW has also published its own version of the Heavy Vehicle National Law (NSW).

 The national Regulations as made by QLD (above). NSW has also published its own versions of the Regulations.

 

NSW-specific Regulation:
SA Heavy Vehicle National Law (South Australia) Act 2013, which contains SA’s version of the HVNL and explains how the HVNL applies in SA. The national Regulations as made by QLD (above) and SA-specific Regulations:
TAS Heavy Vehicle National Law (Tasmania) Act 2013, which adopts and modifies the HVNL. The national Regulations as made by QLD (above) and TAS-specific Regulations:
VIC Heavy Vehicle National Law Application Act 2013, which adopts and modifies the HVNL. The national Regulations as made by QLD (above) and VIC-specific Regulations:

 

 

 

 

 

Complying with National Laws across jurisdictions using SafetyLaw

 

Our online directory, SafetyLaw, alleviates the complexity of these national laws and regulations with easy-to-read summaries of their legal requirements across jurisdictions. With definitions of key terms and links to all references highlighted above, you can identify, understand and comply with Australian law as it applies to your operations.

 

Sign up for a free trial to SafetyLaw or get in touch with our sales team.

 

 

 

 

References