Energy Technical and Safety
State governments have committed to work with the energy sector to improve the consistency of state based regulations – such as occupational health and safety requirements – that apply to the energy sector.
Energy Technical and Safety
| Work Stream: Energy Market Reform |
| Council Priority Issue: | - Promoting efficiency through the development of consistent national frameworks where appropriate, including the implementation of the National Energy Customer Framework, Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) on Energy Supply Industry Safety and the National Mine Safety Framework.
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| Project: | Energy Technical and Safety Regulation Harmonisation |
| Timeline: | January 2012 to January 2017 |
| Key Documents: | Terms of Reference (Word / PDF)
Intergovernmental Agreement (PDF)
Safety and Technical Harmonisation Paper (PDF)
Technical and Safety Harmonisation Enhancement Plan (PDF)
Energy Technical and Safety RIS (PDF) |
| Overview: | In January 2012, the Commonwealth and State and Territory governments entered an Intergovernmental Agreement on Energy Supply Industry Safety (PDF). Under this agreement, the governments committed to work with the energy sector to improve the consistency of state based regulations – such as occupational health and safety requirements – that apply to the energy sector. To progress this initiative, the Energy Supply Industry Safety Committee (ESISC) has been formed under the IGA to guide the harmonisation of energy technical and safety regulations. The ESISC is a non-statutory policy and regulatory advisory body reporting to SCER.
The key functions of the ESISC are to: - Advise SCER on the development and implementation of a nationally harmonised safety framework for the energy supply industry.
- Develop an implementation plan for the full implementation of the nationally harmonised safety framework for the energy supply industry.
- Work on specific tasks and deliverables relating to the harmonisation of work practices and training competencies; operating safety rules; and the development of an Australian Standard for Energy Network Supply Safety.
Details of the ESISC’s functions and scope are contained in the ESISC Terms of Reference (Word / PDF). |
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| Background: | Electricity and gas utility businesses provide energy supply services to the Australian community and the economy. Increasingly, electricity and gas businesses are operating across state and territory borders, and this increases administrative complexity for the businesses and an increasingly mobile workforce. Energy specific technical and safety regulations are the responsibility of each state and territory government and are implemented through different legislative instruments in each jurisdiction. Energy technical and safety regulation is important for public safety and to ensure workers operate within a safe environment and enable the provision of safe energy services, taking into account that energy supply industry assets reside in public places. While recognising that technical and safety regulation is important for public safety, ensuring workers operate within a safe environment, and for the efficient provision of safe energy services, harmonisation of such regulation is also important to enable the efficient and effective delivery of energy services. A harmonised approach to technical and safety regulation lowers the compliance and training burden for cross-jurisdictional energy utility businesses and facilitates greater labour mobility and swifter emergency response, especially in the context of skilled labour shortages. The Council of Australian Governments has also announced reforms for reducing the costs of regulation and enhancing workforce mobility in areas of shared Commonwealth and State and Territory responsibility. This includes an inter-governmental agreement to harmonise general occupational health and safety laws. |
| Terms of Reference: | (Word / PDF) |
| Contact: | ESISCsecretariat@ret.gov.au |