Department of Health

Radiation Regulations 2017

Key messages

  • The Radiation Regulations 2017 support the Radiation Act 2005.
  • The regulations are made under section 139 of the Act.

Regulations are required to give effect to the Radiation Act 2005 (the Act).

Many requirements in the Radiation Regulations 2017 have been drawn directly from national codes and standards that are required to be implemented by all jurisdictions in Australia pursuant to national agreements.

Under the Radiation Regulations 2017, the security of high consequence sealed sources and high consequence groups of sealed sources have been strengthened, and the occupational dose limits to the lens of the eye have been lowered to reflect recent international developments.

The Radiation Regulations 2017 prescribe:

  • the activity concentration and activity of material that spontaneously emits ionising radiation and the prescribed circumstances for the purposes of the definition in the Act of the term 'radioactive material'
  • radiation dose limits
  • the radiation sources that require a current certificate of compliance before use of the source
  • the date of expiry for certificates of compliance issued in respect of prescribed radiation sources
  • fees
  • radionuclides and D values for prescribed radionuclides
  • identification documents
  • other matters required to give effect to the Act.

Eye dose limits for workers

It has been nationally agreed that the equivalent dose limit for the lens of the eye for occupational exposure be reduced from 150 mSv per year to 20 mSv per year, averaged over 5 years, with no dose in a single year to exceed 50 mSv.

In Victoria, this change to the dose limit for the lens of the eye is implemented by the prescribed dose limit in Schedule 4 of the Radiation Regulations 2017. The dose limits in the regulations are consistent with the limits specified in the Code for Radiation Protection in Planned Exposure SituationsExternal Link , published by the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA).

A copy of the Radiation Regulations 2017 can be downloaded from the Victorian Legislation and Parliamentary Documents websiteExternal Link .

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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