Committee Details

Committee’s report

The committee tabled its report on 2 August 2024. The Electrical Safety and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024 was passed in the Legislative Assembly on 22 August 2024 without amendment.

View: Report No. 9, 57th Parliament - Electrical Safety and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024. 
 

About the Bill 

On 22 May 2024 the Hon Grace Grace MP, Minister for State Development and Infrastructure, Minister for Industrial Relations and Minister for Racing introduced the Electrical Safety and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024 into the Queensland Parliament. The Bill was referred to the Clean Economy Jobs, Resources and Transport Committee for detailed consideration.   

View: Explanatory speech 
View: Bill 
View: Explanatory notes 
View: Statement of compatibility 

The Bill amends the Electrical Safety Act 2002, the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (WHS Act), the Safety in Recreational Water Activities Act 2011 and the Electrical Safety Regulation 2013. The purpose of the Bill is to give effect to recommendations from the following reviews of Queensland’s safety frameworks:

• Review of Queensland’s Electrical Safety Act 2002
• 2022 Review of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011
• 2024 Review to examine the scope and application of the industrial manslaughter provisions in the WHS Act
• 2018 Review of the Model Work Health and Safety Laws
• 2017 Best Practice Review of Workplace Health and Safety Queensland.

The Bill proposes to amend the Electrical Safety Act 2002 to:

• amend the definition of ‘electrical equipment’ to capture prescribed extra low voltage equipment where the item is placing or may place persons or property at an electrical risk
• clarify the definition of ‘electrical installation’ captures energy generation and storage systems
• clarify the ability of the Electrical Licensing Committee to include a condition or restriction in a licence as a form of disciplinary action
• clarify the ability of the Electrical Licensing Committee to change or remove a condition or restriction in a licence
• amend inspector powers to require the production of documents and answers to questions over longer timeframes in line with the WHS Act
• reflect the Work Health and Safety Prosecutor’s role under the Electrical Safety Act
• amend the definition of ‘in-scope electrical equipment’ to prescribe by regulation the voltage range of the equipment and items that are not ‘in-scope electrical equipment’
• clarify the definition of ‘corresponding law’ for application in the ‘in-scope electrical equipment’ framework by creating a head of power to prescribe corresponding laws
• clarify that the replacement of similar appliances in particular circumstances is not electrical installation work.

The Bill also proposes to amend the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 and Safety in Recreational Water Activities Act 2011 to:

• allow health and safety representatives and entry permit holders to take photos, videos, measurements and conduct tests at the workplace to assist in fulfilling their roles under the WHS Act
• include negligence as a fault element of the Category 1 offence in the WHS Act
• expand the scope of the industrial manslaughter offence in the WHS Act, beyond the death of workers, to capture the deaths of bystanders (‘other persons’) to whom a health and safety duty is owed
• remove ambiguity around the culpability of multiple parties in a contractual chain in relation to the industrial manslaughter offence
• introduce alternative verdicts for the industrial manslaughter offence of either a Category 1 offence or a Category 2 offence
• provide that a regulation-making power allows regulations to be made to provide the Work Health and Safety regulator with the ability to regulate the quality of authorisation training delivered by Registered Training Organisations in Queensland
• clarify the interaction of provisions in the WHS Act and Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 with the Commonwealth National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Act 2011 in relation to their respective purposes.

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.

Timeline