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About the Bill 

On 18 April 2024 the Minister Scott Stewart MP, Minister for Resources and Critical Minerals, introduced the Resources Safety and Health Legislation Amendment Bill 2024 into the Queensland Parliament. The Bill was referred to the Clean Economy Jobs, Resources and Transport Committee for detailed consideration.

The principal policy objectives of the Bill are to improve the sector’s safety and health performance to reduce the occurrence of fatalities and serious accidents. It facilitates growth in high-reliability organisation (HRO) behaviours within the resources sector, modernises regulatory enforcement powers and ensures resources safety and health legislation is contemporary and effective.

The reforms have been informed by: a review of all fatal accidents in Queensland mines and quarries from 2000 to 2019 (Brady Review); the Queensland Coal Mining Board of Inquiry (Coal Mining Board of Inquiry) finalised in May 2021; and the Queensland Government’s mining industry-wide safety resets in 2019 and 2021.

The Bill contains a package of preventative and proactive reforms that amend the Resources Safety and Health Queensland Act 2020 (RSHQ Act), the Coal Mining Safety and Health Act 1999 (CMSHA), the Explosives Act 1999 (Explosives Act), the Mining and Quarrying Safety and Health Act 1999 (MQSHA), and the Petroleum and Gas (Production and Safety) Act 2004 (P&G Act), collectively referred to as the Resources Safety Acts, to:

• facilitate the growth in HRO behaviours within the resources sector - these amendments place emphasis on reforms that improve the implementation of critical controls by industry, increased competency requirements for critical roles, improved training, continual professional development requirements, information sharing and incident notification and reporting, and strengthening protections for workers against reprisals
• modernise regulatory enforcement powers - these amendments will enhance existing compliance and enforcement tools under the Resources Safety Acts, such as the directives framework, as well as introduce enforceable undertakings and further court orders
• provide for more contemporary legislation and
• enhance the operation and administration of the legislation through a range of minor operational amendments.

View: Explanatory speech (pages 1218 - 1221)
View: Bill 
View: Explanatory Notes 
View: Statement of compatibility 

Further information

Further information including written briefings, correspondence, response to submissions, transcripts and answers to questions taken on notice will be published under the Related Publications tab as they become available.

Call for submissions

The committee invites submissions on any aspect of the Bill, from all interested parties.  

Guidelines for making a submission to a parliamentary committee are available here:  Guide to making a submission. 

Please ensure your submission meets these requirements. 

Click here to make an online submission to the Bill/inquiry.  

The closing date for written submissions is 12 pm, 10 May 2024. 

Submissions made by email or post

Please note: Your name and submission may be published on the committee’s inquiry webpage, which will mean it can be viewed on the internet. You can request for your name to be withheld from your published submission, or for both your name and your submission to be kept confidential (i.e. not published). Decisions about whether and how submissions are published are at the discretion of the committee.

PUBLIC PROCEEDINGS

The committee has scheduled a public briefing on the Bill by officers from Resources Safety & Health Queensland on Monday, 29 April 2024.

Information about public hearing/s will be published here once details are finalised.

Committee’s report

The committee is due to table its report on 7 June 024. The report will be published here.

Timeline

To register your expression of interest to attend any of the above public hearings, please fill out and submit the snapform here.