The National Transport Commission conducted an independent review into the Rail Safety National Law in 2024. ONRSR is now responding to the project reform recommendations that fall within our area of responsibility as we work to optimise safety and productivity.
Starting in 2023, the National Transport Commission (NTC) and independent consultant and subject matter expert Tom Sargant led a Review of the Rail Safety National Law. After over 10 years in operation, it was timely to assess whether the law remained fit for purpose to serve the Australian rail industry well for the next decade and beyond. The review also signalled new functions and objectives for ONRSR that will arise from the gradual rollout of the National Rail Action Plan.
In 2024, Infrastructure and Transport Ministers supported the Review’s 24 recommendations, including:
Since the 2024 review, ONRSR has been advancing work in response to the project reform recommendations with no legislative dependency. Our progress is summarised below.
*The NTC’s RSNL Consultation Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement advised that there is potential to resolve recommendation 10, which relates to the treatment and classification of non-operational rail lines, through non-legislative methods rather than legislative reform. In response, ONRSR has developed an administrative process for removing non-operational lines from the notice of accreditation.
The Regulator should regularly review its consultation mechanisms and approach, including how it seeks and responds to feedback from different stakeholder groups (i.e. workers and unions, RTOs, and jurisdictions) to ensure it remains effective and responsive.
ONRSR has published an Engagement and Education Strategy that is delivered through a range of external communications channels, educational resources and stakeholder engagement activities. The strategy will be reviewed at regular intervals, informed by feedback from the triennial ONRSR Stakeholder Survey.
ONRSR has also developed a Partnership Framework to guide collaborative initiatives and strengthen its ability to deliver on business objectives and achieve positive outcomes for partners and rail safety.
The Regulator should attend ITMM at least annually to present on its strategic direction and progress against its annual business plan in order to foster more open communication with ministers, and:
a. A better understanding of ONRSR’s performance as an effective and efficient regulator, including the opportunity for questions and answers; and
b. A better understanding of the rail industry’s safety performance, including to identify or understand opportunities for safety improvements where there are also productivity benefits.
ONRSR will report to ITMM annually with the last presentation being on 21 November 2025, where the Regulator presented on how ONRSR is improving safety including industry implementation of the Code of Practice: Train Visibility at Level Crossings, interoperability and productivity in the rail sector: Communique for Infrastructure and Transport Minister's Meeting - Friday 21 November 2025
That ONRSR and other safety investigatory bodies such as ATSB, OTSI, and OCI develop and publicise industry-wide information to clearly articulate the respective roles of each organisation in the conduct of investigations, including the different purposes of those investigations and how the agencies interface.
ONRSR, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, Office of Transport Safety Investigations (NSW), and Office of the Chief Investigator (VIC) have been working together to clarify and define the roles of each organisation when they are engaging with stakeholders. Information has now been included by each agency on its website, and other public material, and work is progressing on the production of a supporting video.
An existing ONRSR animation has been revised with new content on the role of no-blame investigations and the Investigations page on ONRSR’s website has been updated to include information and links to each investigatory agency.
The Regulator to proactively engage in safety promotion and education opportunities across the rail industry.
ONRSR’s Engagement and Education Strategy was published in April 2025 and provides a framework for an annual program of activity including regular communications with the rail industry, the promotion of a range of educational resources, and renewed stakeholder engagement activities.
Examples of ONRSR’s safety promotion and education activities include a monthly industry e-newsletter ONRSR Engauge which is distributed to over 4,000 subscribers, publication of regular safety alerts, safety messages and safety case studies, and hosting state-based ONRSR forums designed to provide rail transport operators operating in specific states the opportunity to hear and discuss oversight of local safety issues and information. ONRSR also has a high level of engagement and interaction with stakeholders on LinkedIn (9000+ followers) which extends the reach of its messaging and drives audiences back to the website to access the various educational resources available.
Additional website content is being developed, including information (as appropriate) on current investigations and prosecutions.
ONRSR is also contributing to the development of a new national education campaign aimed at encouraging safe driving near level crossings, particularly in regional areas.
It be clarified that the scope of the RSNL focuses on matters pertaining to the movement of a train and railway operations, while matters pertaining to workstation ergonomics, worker health and safety unrelated to railway operations, and similar adjacent issues should be managed under WHS legislation.
ONRSR is seeking additional detail and scoping on this project before project activities are planned.
For ONRSR to review all MOUs (or similar mechanisms) in partnership with the relevant safety regulators and affected parties to:
a. Make MOUs (or similar mechanisms) nationally consistent where possible;
b. Respond to any feedback provided by stakeholders; and
c. Ensure the resulting arrangements are publicly available.
ONRSR has MoUs in place with several bodies including other safety regulators such as workplace safety authorities, dangerous goods regulators and electrical safety regulators.
ONRSR periodically reviews and renegotiates the MOUs in line with the term of each MOU. As part of this process, ONRSR seeks feedback from participating parties and incorporates changes where agreement is reached. ONRSR also reviews which documents can be made available to the public to enable greater transparency. With the agreement from participating parties, when these documents are created or updated, they will be considered for publication on ONRSR’s website.
While it is expected that most of the recommendations with legislative dependency will be advanced once the legislative reforms are closer to finalisation, there are three recommendations that ONRSR has been able to respond to in the interim, as detailed below:
The Regulator to develop a code of practice or guidance material outlining the minimum expectations of meaningful consultation, including that a rail transport operator (RTO) is required to provide positive evidence that:
a. Meaningful consultation with relevant rail safety workers and unions has occurred;
b. How meaningful consultation has provided a genuine opportunity for input into decision-making processes.
ONRSR has published a guideline on the consultation requirements of the Rail Safety National Law (RSNL) which outlines minimum expectations when rail transport operators are undertaking consultation regarding the development, review and variation of safety management systems.
The guideline provides information on what is so far as is reasonably practicable (SFAIRP), who to consult, how to provide reasonable opportunity for input and managing the outcomes of consultation. It also includes information on consultation before establishing and amending network rules, and emergency management plans.
For the NTC, ONRSR, and the Australian Rail Industry Standards Organisation (ARISO) to lead the development of an interoperability guideline or approved code of practice. This would highlight that interoperability is best achieved via broad consultation and objective analysis, and help identify and adopt systems and processes that effectively and efficiently achieve interoperability requirements and outcomes at the national level, instead of automatically adopting the most simple or readily available systems and processes that best suit an individual network or rail operation.
Following commencement of the new interoperability of railway operation requirements under the Rail Safety National Law National Regulations 2012 (National Regulations) on 1 November 2025, ONRSR developed the Interoperability of Railway Operations Guideline in collaboration with the NTC and ARISO. ONRSR consulted with the rail industry on the guideline before finalising and publishing it.
The guideline supports rail transport operators in complying with regulation 16 and 20A of Schedule 1 of the National Regulations which require operators whose railway operations are undertaken on, or form part of, the National Network for Interoperability (NNI) to:
Subject to the legislative reforms relating to this recommendation, the guideline will be updated if needed.
For the NTC to work with ONRSR and the NHVR to explore options to improve interface agreements in more detail. This will include conducting impact analyses in conjunction with key stakeholders to identify additional means by which safety interface agreements between road managers and RIMs could be made more effective. This would also need to be accompanied by education and capacity assistance to local road managers in particular, to improve their ability to undertake risk assessments and fund suitable controls for road and rail interfaces.
ONRSR and the NHVR have established a Safety Partnership with a shared goal of reducing the risk of heavy vehicle collisions at level crossings.
The National Transport Commission (NTC) released the Rail Safety National Law – Consultation Regulatory Impact Analysis (C-RIS) for consultation on 10 February 2026 until 4 May 2026.
The C-RIS evaluates a range of options for implementing the recommendations of the NTC’s 2024 Review of RSNL that were identified as requiring legislative reform.
ONRSR’s submission details its position in relation to the recommendations covering interoperability, productivity, and transparency and accountability – including consideration of the existing confidentiality provisions within the RSNL.
It also flags the importance of considering ONRSR’s funding model when contemplating proposed changes to RSNL.
Read the full ONRSR submission: ONRSR Response to RSNL Review C-RIS