UNE Compliance Register

Return to TopP (View Documents A-Z)

• Personal Property Securities Act 2009 (Cth) - Level 4The PPSA establishes a national framework for securing obligations using personal property. It is a highly procedural Act that affects a wide range of the University's activities. The University can be both a grantor (when it gives a security interest over its assets, for example, under a finance lease for equipment) and a secured party (when it takes a security interest over another party's assets, for example, taking security over intellectual property it licenses out, or over debts owed to it).
  
  For example:
  s151(1) Registration - belief about security interest - Imprisonment for 1 year for an individual. For a corporation, a court may impose a significant fine under the Crimes Act 1914 (Cth).
  s151(2) Registration - belief about security interest - Civil Penalty: 50 penalty units for an individual. For a corporation, the maximum penalty is 250 penalty units.
  s271 A person who suffers loss or damage because the University (as a secured party) fails to discharge an obligation under the Act may recover the amount of the loss or damage from the University.
• Plant Breeder's Rights Act 1994 (Cth) - Level 4The Act establishes a framework of intellectual property rights for new plant varieties and contains both civil and criminal consequences for non-compliance.
  
  e.g. s74(1) Infringement offences - 500 penalty units. A court may grant an injunction to prevent further infringement (s56(3)).This is a criminal offence of strict liability. The grantee may bring a civil action for infringement, seeking damages or an account of profits (s54, s56).
  
• Poisons and Therapeutic Goods Act 1966 (NSW) - Level 3The Poisons and Therapeutic Goods Act 1966 and its associated Regulation sets out the regulation, control and prohibition of the supply and use of poisons, restricted substances, drugs of addiction, certain dangerous drugs and certain therapeutic goods in NSW. This legislation is designed to protect the health and welfare of members of the community. It imposes limitations on the use of many potent drugs by restricting the distribution, prescription and administration of these drugs to appropriately qualified and authorised persons.
  
  The NSW Poisons List, which is proclaimed under Section 8 of the Act, is based on the Standard for the Uniform Scheduling of Medicines and Poisons (SUSMP) as in force at any time (except for a small number of variations).The Poisons List comprises eight schedules which categorise substances according to their classification (e.g. S4, S8). The classification system is based upon managing availability of substances eg- substances that may be dangerous if carelessly managed or misused and substances that may produce an addiction will have differing classification, supply, handling and storage requirements to those whose availability may be required more quickly for therapeutic purposes.
  
  The Act impacts on the University in a variety of ways including but not limited to the University's research activities, teaching activities, delivery of health services and in the storage of chemicals throughout the University.
• Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 (NSW) - Level 1As a NSW public sector agency responsible for the holding of personal information, the University must comply with the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 (NSW) and the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002 (NSW). In addition, the University must comply with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) in relation to:
  a. Personal information the University collects and holds regarding student assistance provided by the Commonwealth (which is an obligation under Section 19-60 of the Higher Education Support Act 2003 (Cth)); and
  b. Tax file number information (in accordance with the Tax File Number Guidelines, a legislative instrument under the Privacy Act, 1988(Cth))
• Property and Development NSW Act 2006 (NSW) - Level 3Section 21A of the Act requires the University to furnish a land register to Government Property NSW.
• Protection from Harmful Radiation Act 1990 (NSW) - Level 3The objectives of this Act are to:
  1. secure the protection of persons and the environment from exposure to ionising and harmful non-ionising radiation to the maximum extent that is reasonably practicable, taking into account social and economic factors and recognising the need for the use of radiation for beneficial purposes
  2. to protect security-enhanced sources from misuse that may result in harm to people or the environment
  3. to promote the radiation protection principles.
  
  A person is to take the radiation protection principles into consideration when exercising functions under this Act or under a licence. The radiation protection principles are as follows:
  a. justification of a practice - by assessing that the benefits of the practice involving exposure to ionising radiation outweigh any detriment.
  b. optimisation of protection - by ensuring that each of the following is kept as low as reasonably achievable taking into account economic and social factors:
  - the magnitude of individual doses of ionising radiation
  - the number of people exposed to ionising radiation
  - the likelihood of exposure to ionising radiation.
  c. dose and risk limitation - by setting dose limits or imposing other measures so that the health risks to any person exposed to ionising radiation is kept below levels that are generally considered to be unacceptable.
• Public Interest Disclosures Act 2022 (NSW) - Level 1This Act seeks to provide protection for public officials who make reports/disclosures concerning corrupt conduct, maladministration and waste in the public sector. The University is a "public authority" under the Act, and is required to take every reasonable measure to ensure the confidentiality of the identity of a person who makes a protected disclosure. This Act prescribes a number of requirements that are to be followed by the University in the event that a protected disclosure is made.
  
  Staff who make a public interest disclosure (PID) in accordance with the PID Rule and Procedure will be protected in accordance with the Act.