Rail Safety Act

The Rail Safety Act 2006 (the Act) is a law enacted by the Parliament of the State of Victoria, Australia and is the prime statute regulating the safety of rail operations in the State. The Act was developed as part of the Transport Legislation Review conducted by the Department of Transport and is aimed at preventing deaths and injuries arising from rail operations.

The Rail Safety Act was the State's first dedicated statute on the subject having replaced provisions in the former Transport Act 1983. The Act also established Victoria's first independent transport safety regulator, the Director, Public Transport Safety. It was passed in early 2006 and commenced on 1 August of that year.

The Rail Safety Act forms part of the transport policy and legislation framework in Victoria headed by the Transport Integration Act. As a result, the application of the Rail Safety Act is subject to the overarching transport system vision, transport system objectives and decision making principles set out in the Transport Integration Act. The responsible Minister for the Act is the Minister for Public Transport.

The stated purpose of the Rail Safety Act is "...to provide for safe rail operations in Victoria". The objects of the Act center on the safety of rail operations, management of safety risks, continuous improvement in rail safety management, public confidence in the safety of rail transport and appropriate stakeholder involvement. The Act also contains a number of overarching policy principles relating to shared responsibility, accountability for managing safety risks, integrated risk management, enforcement, transparency, consistency and stakeholder involvement.

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