Re: FW: Australia x-ray standards

[azapantis@mgdestmx01.erin.gov.au]

Each state in Australia has it's own radiation control legislation. However, all
state legislation is very similar in that your client will need a licence to
sell (the particular model of irradiating apparatus), possess and possibly,
depending on the state and whether or not he intends to install and use it
himself, a licence to use and install the unit. Note that having a licence in
one state doesn't automatically qualify him for a licence in other states.

All states ( as far as I know) have a radiological or radiation advisory council
to which all new applications for licences must be referred. They typically meet
once every two months so applications for licences can take months to be
approved (or rejected).

Each individual irradiating apparatus also has to be registered. As you intend
to sell the units, the registration requirements may vary from state to state.

To get a new model approved for use here, you will have to demonstrate that it
meets all the relevant standards. There are two Australian Standards which
relate specifically to medical irradiating apparatus. Australian Standard 2398
on fixed diagnostic x-ray equipment and AS 3205 on dental and mobile x-ray
equipment. AS3205 was repealed a couple of years back however some states may
still be using it. As with licencing, approval in one state does not
automatically mean approval in others.

The states vary in their requirements (at least they used to!!) for approval of
new units. Some may also reqire you to demonstrate compliance with ISO or IEEE
standards. 

As far as qualifications go, we have no certification regime here for HPs,
although we are working on one!! I think that each state will be more interested
in the scope and contents of the report rather than the letters which follow the
name of it's author. I know that in NSW there are "approved consultants"
(approved by the NSW EPA) with respect to radiation protection. 

It's been a couple of years since I worked in a state regulatory authority so
the above should be taken as a first approximation of Australian requirements.
You will need to talk to each individual state authority. 

As a start, why don't you email Simon Critchley. He is the Director of Radiation
Health (state regulatory authority) in Queensland and would be able to tell you
exactly what you need to do. His email address is critchleys@health.qld.gov.au

Regards


Alex Zapantis                                  
Environmental Radiation Officer     
Office of the Supervising Scientist		
40 Blackall Street 														
Barton ACT 2600 AUSTRALIA 
            
Email: azapantis@dest.gov.au
Fax : (int+) 61 6 274 1519
Phone: (int+) 61 6 274 1642

The Office of the Supervising Scientist is a Branch of the 
         Federal Environment Protection Group