Department of Health

Radiation Act 2005

Key messages

  • The Radiation Act 2005 commenced on 1 September 2007.
  • Victoria is committed to a common approach towards the management of radiation protection.

The Radiation Act 2005 (the Act) commenced on 1 September 2007. The Act gives effect to Victoria's commitment to the National Directory for Radiation Protection (NDRP), which outlines a common approach to be undertaken by federal, state and territory governments towards the management of radiation protection.

A copy of the Act can be downloaded from the Victoria Legislation and Parliamentary Documents websiteExternal Link .

The purpose of the legislation is 'to protect the health and safety of all persons and the environment from the harmful effects of radiation'. The Act incorporates:

  • the Radiation Protection Principle
  • a requirement for the Secretary of the department to have regard to both the Radiation Protection Principle and the NDRP
  • the concept of licensed activities; in particular, the licensing framework includes:
    • a management licence to authorise the conduct of a radiation practice
    • a radiation facility construction licence
    • use licences to authorise a natural person to use a radiation source
  • the concept of approved testers and the testing of prescribed radiation sources against declared radiation safety standards
  • the concept of approved assessors and the assessment of source security plans and transport security plans against security standards
  • an offence to conduct a commercial tanning practice for fee or reward.

Legislative instruments

The Act provides the Secretary of the department powers to prepare guidelines, specify security standards, and specify any additional matters for the content of security plans prepared under the Act.

Under the provisions of the Act, the Secretary of the department has specified the following documents in relation to the security of high consequence radioactive material:

Annual report

Section 134 of the Act requires that the Secretary must publish a report for each financial year.

Reviewed 16 January 2019

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Contact details

Our phone service is available Monday to Friday, from 9.00am to 1.00pm or we can be contacted via email. 

Radiation Safety Department of Health GPO Box 4057, Melbourne, VIC 3000

Department of Health, GPO Box 4057, Melbourne VIC 3001, Melbourne, VIC
Phone 1300 767 469
Radiation.safety@health.vic.gov.au
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