New Edition of Australian Dangerous Goods Code Can be Used from April 2023

Updates: Edition 7.8 of the Australian Code for the Transport of Dangerous Goods by Road & Rail (a.k.a. ADG Code) can be used from April 1 of 2023 and is mandatory from April 1 of 2024. Compared with Edition 7.7, the most important changes in Edition 7.8 include:

• All identified differences between the ADG Code and the UN Model Regulations were discussed and the provisions were amended accordingly. Where the definition in the ADG Code differed from that in the UN Model Regulations, these have been realigned to the UN Model Regulations.

• Replacing some hyphenated bullet lists with numbered lists, e.g. (a), (b), etc.; minor reformatting of some clauses; global replacement of ‘water resistant’ with ‘water-resistant’. All attempts have been made to identify these changes and incorporate them into the ADG Code.

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The Australian Code for the Transport of Dangerous Goods by Road & Rail (a.k.a. ADG Code) was initially published in 1980 to provide consistent technical requirements for the land transport of dangerous goods within Australia, which adopted the structure, format, definitions and concepts of the United Nations Recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods Model Regulations (hereinafter referred to as the UN Model Regulations) while retaining some Australian specific provisions. It is given legal force in each Australian state and territory by laws that incorporate the code as law.

In July of 2020, the National Transport Commission, which is responsible for maintaining and updating the ADG Code, released the latest version - Edition 7.7 to align with the 21st revised edition of the UN Model Regulations (see CL news for more details). It took effect on October 1, 2020 and became mandatory from October 1, 2021.

The ADG Code is updated every two years, with one-year transition period for each edition. As of October 2022, it will be two years since the implementation of edition 7.7 of the ADG Code. A new round of revision is going to be carried out. The National Transport Commission, which is responsible for maintaining and updating the ADG Code, has now drawn up plans to improve the national implementation of the code. Below is the timeline for revision work.

The revision may cover the followings:

• requirements for Class 1 dangerous goods,

• training requirements, 

• more detailed requirements for employees in different positions, etc.