The Attorney-General and state and territory ministers have agreed to a single voluntary government-led code of practice to help manage the security risks associated with eleven identified chemicals that can be used to make homemade explosives. These chemicals have a range of legitimate and productive uses in Australia and can be easily accessed by the public. However, security concerns have been identified in the way these chemicals are handled. The Regulation Impact Statement (RIS) examined five options to encourage businesses to adopt a range of measures to address security concerns when handling these chemicals. The options examined included three voluntary take-up options, a mandatory code of practice option and the status quo. Some of the measures identified to address concerns included security awareness training and having theft and diversion procedures. The government-led code of practice option was found to be more practical to manage as one body would be responsible for developing the code of practice. It would also allow the code to be easily changed to adapt to emerging risks. This option was not expected to impose a net cost on industry as businesses would only adopt the measure if they saw a benefit of doing so. However, the code of practice will not eliminate the risk of access to chemicals that can be used to formulate homemade explosives and will instead assist in detecting and deterring these uses. A RIS was prepared by the Attorney-General’s Department. The RIS was assessed as adequate by the Office of Best Practice Regulation.
- Chemical Security Decision RIS [
2.7 MB] - Chemical Security Decision RIS [
2.1 MB]