91 Functions of Director-General
The functions of the Director-General under this Act include the following:(a) accreditation of owners and operators under Division 1 of Part 2 and the amendment, variation, suspension and cancellation or cancellation of accreditation granted under that Division,(b) certification of railway employees under Division 2 of Part 2 and the amendment, variation, suspension and cancellation or cancellation of certification granted under that Division,(c) development of safety performance standards for the safe construction, operation and maintenance of railways,(d) monitoring the effectiveness of safety performance standards and revising, replacing or repealing those standards and developing new standards, as necessary,(e) arranging for the conduct of inspections to monitor compliance of owners, operators and railway employees with the requirements of this Act, the regulations and credentials,(f) issuing directions for the purposes of Part 3,(g) considering reports of notifiable occurrences under Part 3,(h) arranging for the investigation of possible breaches of this Act and the regulations,(i) arranging for the conduct of inquiries into railway accidents and incidents affecting the safe operation of railways,(j) arranging for the provision of advice to intending applicants for accreditation on such matters as safety performance standards and the criteria for the grant of credentials and concerning railway safety generally,(k) making recommendations to the Minister concerning railway safety generally.
The Director-General may, for the purposes of this Act, on such terms and conditions as may be arranged with the Authority concerned, make use of the services of any person employed by an Authority under the Transport Administration Act 1988.
The Director-General may engage such consultants as the Director-General requires for the exercise of functions under this Act.
93 Delegation by Minister and Director-General
(1) The Minister may delegate any function under this Act (except this power of delegation) to any officer of the Department.(2) The Director-General may delegate any function under this Act (except this power of delegation or any function delegated to the Director-General by the Minister) to any officer of the Department or any person prescribed by the regulations.(3) A reference in this section to a function under this Act includes a reference to a function under a condition of an accreditation or certification.
94 Exclusion of personal liability
No matter or thing done, or omitted to be done, by the Minister, the Director-General, an officer of the Department, an authorised officer or a person acting under the direction of the Minister, the Director-General or any such officer subjects the Minister, the Director-General or any such officer or person personally to any action, liability, claim or demand if the matter or thing was done, or omitted to be done, in good faith for the purposes of this or any other Act.
95 Exclusion of liability of the State
No act or omission of the Minister, the Director-General or any other officer of the Department in the course of exercising functions under this Act gives rise to any civil liability (including, for example, liability in negligence or for breach of statutory duty) against the State or any authority of the State.
This Act does not affect the operation of the Road and Rail Transport (Dangerous Goods) Act 1997 or regulations made under that Act or of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2000, associated occupational health and safety legislation within the meaning of that Act or regulations made under that Act or legislation or the functions of the WorkCover Authority under that Act or legislation.
An application under this Act must be in the approved form.
(1) A document that is authorised or required under this Act to be served on any person may be served:(a) personally or by post, or(b) by leaving it with a person apparently of or above the age of 16 years at, or by posting it to, the person’s place of business or, in the case of a corporation, the registered office of the corporation.(2) If a person on whom a document is authorised or required under this Act to be served is absent from the State or cannot, after diligent inquiry, be found, and that person’s place of residence or business cannot, after diligent inquiry, be ascertained, the document may be served by affixing it on some conspicuous part of the land on which the railway owned or operated by the person is located.(3) If, under this Act, a document is authorised or required to be served on the holder of an accreditation and there is more than one such holder, service on any one such holder of the document, together with copies of the document addressed to the other holders, is taken to be service on all of the holders.(4) If a person has more than one place of business, service may be effected under this section at any of those places.(5) Nothing in this section prevents service of a document from being effected by facsimile transmission or other electronic means, or by the use of the facilities of a document exchange, but the burden of establishing that service has been so effected lies on the person asserting that fact.
(1) The Governor may make regulations, not inconsistent with this Act, for or with respect to any matter that by this Act is required or permitted to be prescribed or that is necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to this Act.(2) In particular, the regulations may make provision for or with respect to the following:(a) the safe operation and maintenance of historic or preserved rolling stock,(b) the safe construction, operation and maintenance of sidings,(c) the functions, training, health and fitness of railway employees,(d) the regulation of the conduct of passengers and other persons on railways,(e) the exclusion of persons, animals or freight from railways,(f) tampering with, or damaging, railways,(g) the unauthorised use of railways and rolling stock,(h) trespass on railways,(i) the opening and closing of railway gates,(j) the regulation of vehicles, animals and pedestrians crossing railway tracks,(k) the regulation of level-crossings,(l) the loading and unloading of freight on railways.(3) The regulations may exempt, or provide for the exemption (either absolutely or subject to conditions) of, any person, railway, part of a railway or operation from all or any of the provisions of this Act.(4) In the event of an inconsistency between a by-law or regulation made, or taken to be made, under the Transport Administration Act 1988 and a regulation made under this Act, the regulation made under this Act prevails to the extent of the inconsistency.(5) A regulation made under this Act does not limit the operation of a by-law or regulation made, or taken to be made, under the Transport Administration Act 1988 so far as it can operate concurrently with a regulation made under this Act.(6) The regulations may create offences punishable by a penalty not exceeding 20 penalty units.
102 Savings and transitional provisions
Schedule 4 has effect.
(1) The Minister is to review this Act to determine whether the policy objectives of the Act remain valid and whether the terms of the Act remain appropriate for securing those objectives.(2) The review is to be undertaken as soon as possible after the period of 5 years from the date of assent to this Act.(3) A report of the outcome of the review is to be tabled in each House of Parliament within 12 months after the end of the period of 5 years.