Rail Safety National Law

The NTC has released a Consultation Regulatory Impact Statement (C-RIS) setting out proposed reforms to the RSNL. 

The proposed legislative reforms respond to the findings and recommendations of the 2024 RSNL Review and support the delivery of broader national rail reforms being progressed through the National Rail Action Plan. 

Together, these reforms aim to strengthen safety and improve national consistency, while supporting productivity and innovation across Australia’s rail system. 

The proposed changes are intended to modernise the RSNL, ensuring it can better support national rail interoperability and greater harmonisation across the industry, while maintaining safety as the primary objective of the law.

The NTC is now seeking feedback from across the rail industry, governments, unions and interested stakeholders on the proposed options, their impacts and how they should be implemented.

Consultation on the proposed legislative reform options is now open. You can make a submission via the Have your say button below. All feedback received will be considered as part of the development of the Decision RIS and final recommendations to ministers.

The closing date to provide feedback is Monday, 4 May 2026.

Consultation documents

• RSNL Consultation Regulatory Impact Statement (C-RIS)
• RSNL C-RIS Summary

The NTC is hosting an information session where we’ll step through the C-RIS, provide an overview of the proposed options, explain the consultation process and outline how you can provide feedback. 

The session will take place on Thursday 26 February 2026 at 1pm AEDT. A recording will be uploaded to this webpage. 

You can register to attend the session here. 

If you have any questions, you can contact the team via enquiries@ntc.gov.au. 

In 2024, the NTC completed a targeted review of the RSNL at the request of Australia’s Infrastructure and Transport Ministers. This was the first review of the law since it came into effect in 2012.

The Review found that the RSNL has been operating effectively to support safety across Australia’s rail networks. However, it also identified that the law was not originally designed to address the longstanding challenges of interoperability and harmonisation that are now a priority of governments.

It noted that the many different rules, technologies, processes and skills in place across rail networks are creating barriers to safe and efficient operations, especially as networks become more connected and technology evolves.

The Review also highlighted the need for greater transparency and information sharing across the industry.

Key findings of the Review include the need to:

• better align safety outcomes with national rail interoperability and productivity objectives.
• support greater harmonisation across networks
• improve workforce mobility by recognising worker skills and training nationally
• strengthen transparency and information

It made 24 recommendations to address these issues, including 12 proposed legislative changes to the Law that are now detailed in the C-RIS for feedback.

You can find the report here.  

The Review’s recommendations support broader national rail reforms being progressed through the National Rail Action Plan – a four-year initiative bringing together governments and industry to reduce differences between networks and lift safety, productivity and interoperability across our national rail system. 

Through NRAP, Infrastructure and Transport Ministers have endorsed a series of landmark reforms to drive greater national consistency, including:

• adopting the European Train Control System (ETCS) as the digital signalling standard for the National Network for Interoperability
• agreeing to Australia’s first mandatory national rail standards in areas where interoperability is critical
• progressing harmonised national standards to support productivity across operations, rolling stock, infrastructure, skills and training
• strengthening national rail standards governance by endorsing the Rail Industry Safety and Standards Board (now the Australian Rail Industry Standards Organisation) as the industry-led technical standards setting body
• developing nationally consistent network rules and approaches to workforce skills and qualifications.

The proposed changes to the RSNL are critical to achieving these goals and ensuring the law supports national rail interoperability and a productive, efficient rail system. 

You can learn more about the National Rail Action Plan here. 

If you have any questions, reach out to the team via enquiries@ntc.gov.au.