Bill
Industrial Chemicals Bill 2017
passed, as at 2019-03-12. Health portfolio.
- Sponsor
- Not recorded
- Portfolio
- Health
Recorded stages
- introduced — 2017-06-01
- second reading — 2017-06-01
- second reading — 2017-10-17
- second reading — 2017-10-17
- committee — 2017-10-17
- third reading — 2017-10-17
- introduced — 2017-10-18
- second reading — 2017-10-18
- second reading — 2019-02-14
- third reading — 2019-02-14
- other — 2019-02-18
- passed — 2019-02-18
- royal assent — 2019-03-12
Divisions
Plain-language summary
Written by a model from the explanatory memorandum; not the record, as at 2017-06-01.
This bill creates the legal foundation for a new regulatory system, overseen by the Commonwealth, to manage how industrial chemicals are brought into Australia.
Under the new Australian Industrial Chemicals Introduction Scheme (AICIS), which replaces the old National Industrial Chemicals Notification and Assessment Scheme (NICNAS), the level of oversight will match the danger posed by each chemical, with fewer checks before lower-risk substances enter the market and more monitoring after they do.
The scheme also puts in place a 2016 election pledge to stop animal testing for new cosmetic ingredients, by disallowing fresh animal test results from being used to back such introductions.
- It cuts the number of introduction categories to six, mostly relying on companies to classify their own chemicals.
- It replaces the rigid post-market review process with a more adaptable evaluation method.
- It requires those who bring in chemicals to register, and sets up a risk-based categorisation system.
- It gives the Executive Director the authority to refuse a chemical's entry when dangers to people or the environment cannot be handled.
- It allows businesses to request that their confidential commercial information be protected, while releasing more useful data to the public.
- It bans reliance on new animal test data for cosmetic-only chemicals, pushing firms toward alternative testing.
The people and groups directly touched are industrial chemical importers, the new AICIS agency, its Executive Director, and the broader community, including consumers, workers, and the environment.
Sources
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