Kim O’KEEFFE (Shepparton) (18:43): I rise to speak on the Dangerous Goods Transport Bill 2026 and the Occupational Health and Safety Amendment (Dangerous Goods) Bill 2026. These bills seek to modernise Victoria’s dangerous goods regulatory framework, strengthen safety protections and provide greater clarity for businesses, workers, emergency services and the broader community. The legislation follows recommendations arising from the independent review of the Dangerous Goods Act 1985 and represents a significant overhaul of laws that are now more than four decades old. Dangerous goods are a necessary part of modern life. They include substances that are flammable, explosive, corrosive, oxidising or otherwise hazardous. They are used every day across agriculture, manufacturing, construction, transport, health care and many other sectors. While essential, they also carry significant risks if not handled, stored or transported appropriately.
The Dangerous Goods Transport Bill establishes a dedicated legislative framework governing the transport of dangerous goods by road, rail and inland waterways. It replaces outdated provisions and aligns Victoria more closely with national approaches, providing greater consistency for industry while enhancing public safety. Both of these bills seek to enact the recommendations that were put forward in the final report of the independent review of the Dangerous Goods Act 1985 by Andrew Palmer – at the time QC and now judge – back in October 2022. Importantly, the bill introduces a general duty requiring those involved in transporting dangerous goods to ensure those goods are transported safely and without risk to public safety, property and the environment. This places the focus where it belongs – on identifying and managing risks before accidents and incidents occur.
The bills that we are debating concurrently today aim to modernise the overall regulation of the transport of dangerous goods across Victoria as well as strengthen WorkSafe’s overall ability to enforce compliance with current dangerous goods transport laws. Dangerous goods are an important part of the state’s economy, and in particular dangerous goods are used across a variety of different industries, especially agriculture, construction, manufacturing and health care, in order to provide services and produce essential goods. We know that dangerous goods present significant risks to the community that need to be controlled. Ultimately every Victorian expects dangerous goods to be handled and transported safely. They expect workers to return home safely, communities to be protected from avoidable risks and regulators to have the tools necessary to enforce the law when serious breaches occur.
These bills recognise that prevention is always better than response. By strengthening duties, improving accountability and ensuring clear safety obligations the legislation seeks to reduce the likelihood of serious incidents occurring in the first place. It is also important to acknowledge the vital role played by emergency services personnel who respond to dangerous goods incidents. Strong regulatory frameworks assist not only workers and businesses but also those who place themselves in harm’s way to protect the community. Importantly, stronger penalties for reckless or negligent conduct send a clear message that safety cannot be treated as an afterthought. Where individuals or organisations fail to meet their obligations and place others at risk there must be appropriate consequences. The community expects that those responsible for managing dangerous goods do so with the highest regard for safety and responsibility.
My electorate is one of the largest and most successful agriculture, manufacturing and industry suppliers, with both national and global success, and we have an enormous amount of transport movement. My region is home to close to 25 per cent of the state’s trucks, and that number continues to grow. It is incredibly busy when it comes to the transport of dangerous goods, whether that is down the Goulburn Valley Highway, onto the Hume Freeway, down to Melbourne, interstate or, as I said, globally. We need to ensure that the truck drivers and everyone involved in handling dangerous goods are protected with safe legislation so that their lives are not put at risk, and everyone deserves to get home safely.
There have been incidents over time that have raised the need for these reforms. We saw the two chemical fires back in 2018 and 2019. At the time they were both linked to illegal stockpiling, which as a result released toxic smoke and hazardous substances into surrounding communities. There was the West Footscray fire that burnt for almost two weeks back in August 2018, and then following that the major fire at a Campbellfield chemical waste facility in April 2019, which took several days before being brought under control by our first responders. Both these incidents impacted the health of not only individuals and our first responders but also neighbouring communities surrounding the fires. We also saw waterways contaminated and substances being released from these blazes, as well as the overall environment being severely damaged as a result.
These illicit activities had been occurring in the lead-up to the independent review being commissioned, which later highlighted the weakness in the system that needed to be acted upon, including the interstate movement and transport of hazardous waste. In the final report handed down by Andrew Palmer QC back in 2022 it included a total of 49 recommendations made to the government, with 37 of them since having been fully supported by the government today. Change is needed to make people more responsible and more accountable. The report specifically recommended that the state’s dangerous goods legislation be incorporated within the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 and such regulations, as well as that dangerous goods transport be regulated by its own act and regulations, with explosives and high-consequence dangerous goods regulated under separate legislation.
There are a number of key amendments the bill contains, such as the creation of a new Dangerous Goods Transport Act that seeks to cover road, rail, boat and inland waterways, makes it an offence to risk serious injury or death involving dangerous goods and strengthens WorkSafe’s powers and overall ability to enforce compliance. It gives the courts broader sentencing options and also aligns dangerous goods laws with other regulatory frameworks and facilitates better coordination and information sharing between jurisdictions in addressing the weaknesses in interstate transport of dangerous goods. The adoption of a duties-based approach means that a person involved in the transport of dangerous goods must ensure that they are transported in a manner that is firstly safe and secondly without risks to public safety, property and the environment. That is incredibly important when we consider the nature of such goods being transported across the state but also interstate, whether that be on our roads or via rail.
Pending the bill’s passage the regulations to come are expected to align Victoria with other jurisdictions across the country by adopting the Australian Code for the Transport of Dangerous Goods by Road and Rail, with the commencement of these changes not anticipated until April 2028 in order to allow for sufficient time for the industry and duty holders to prepare for and comply with the changes as the bill sets out.
As the member for Eildon touched on as well in her lead contribution, the Victorian Transport Association, the VTA, have raised concerns regarding the bill’s new powers relating to entry. In particular the VTA has expressed that these new powers are too broad and that they do not direct the inspector to focus solely on dangerous goods, instead allowing all parts of the vehicle and vessel to be searched and seized as a result. When you consider the practicality of all of this, many of the real risks sit in the surrounding conditions such as, for example, the vehicle’s condition, load restraint, maintenance, documentation and competence of operators. Most of the changes that are contained in the bill are with already existing OH&S legislation. The member for Eildon also raised that the VTA holds concerns around the seizure of vehicles without some degree of formal notice that can be communicated to the owner of the vehicle or freight.
The Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) also raised concerns about the reforms in the bill – that they do not impose disproportionate regulatory burdens. Farmers are not transport operators by trade, yet under these bills they will be directly captured by these provisions through normal farming activities. As a result of this, there is a need for meaningful consultation and input into the development of the regulations. It is essential that farmers are not unfairly exposed by the amendments contained in these bills.
Whilst we do not oppose these bills, it should be noted that these bills are significant. We need to monitor how well they play out on the ground. Moving away from the Dangerous Goods Act to a more modern, transport-focused framework is timely and necessary, as it is clear that there need to be more protections and safety in place. That is critically important, especially when you take into account such goods that are being transported across Victoria and interstate. The overall structure and intent of these bills also reflects a shift to a more contemporary and risk-based approach that is closely aligned with the principles that we see also in the current Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004, which completely bans the transport of extremely dangerous goods. It not only improves compliance, it also reduces compliance costs for industry by supporting national productivity.
The Australian Institute of Health & Safety recognises that these changes are positive and timely, yet the concerns they have outlined, particularly around the ambiguity and potential risks, are real. Similar to the VFF, their concerns about their members being caught up in the new reforms are also fair and need to be considered by the government when developing future regulations pending the passage of these bills. That is why we, the Nationals and Liberals, are calling on the government for consultation around the development of the regulations and, where feedback has been provided by key industry stakeholders, that it be taken into account.
Whilst we do not oppose this bill, we do note that these bills are significant and also complex in nature. Moving to a more modern and transport-focused framework is welcomed and necessary. It is important that it is there to protect the safety of all Victorians, something which is incredibly important. As I have mentioned, the government must take into account the feedback that has been provided by industry stakeholders when developing future regulations pending this bill so that most people are not severely impacted.