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Australia’s explosives regulatory framework is in transition. The direction is not yet a single national explosives Act, but progress in movement from fragmented legacy rules toward more consistent definitions, licensing, notification processes, authorisations and transport obligations.
Explosives regulation in Australia has long been layered. State and territory legislation generally regulates manufacture, transport, storage, supply, possession and use within each jurisdiction. Commonwealth law regulates Commonwealth explosives storage and transport, particularly in Defence contexts.
Safe Work Australia summarises the present position clearly: each state, territory and the Commonwealth regulate explosives in their individual jurisdictions, although work toward greater national consistency has been underway for more than a decade. In 2012, COAG agreed to pursue national consistency. In 2018, WHS ministers agreed in principle to consider nationally consistent explosives reforms.
The reform work has focused on four practical areas: definitions, licensing, notification processes and explosives authorisation.
A fragmented legal map with common themes
Across Australia, explosives laws tend to regulate the same practical matters. These include the authorisation or classification of explosives, licensing of manufacturers, importers, storers, carriers and users, security controls, incident notification, storage separation distances, magazine requirements, fireworks and pyrotechnics, and the interaction between explosives transport law and dangerous goods law.
The current jurisdictional map is broadly as follows.
Commonwealth: The principal framework is the Explosives Act 1961 and the Explosives Regulations 2024. The Commonwealth remade the former Explosives Transport Regulations 2002 and Explosives Areas Regulations 2003 into the Explosives Regulations 2024, which commenced on 27 September 2024. Defence is also reviewing the Act and the 2024 Regulations to move toward a modern, principles based framework for Commonwealth explosives used for national defence.
New South Wales: The principal framework is the Explosives Act 2003 and the Explosives Regulation 2024. The Act regulates the handling of explosives and explosive precursors. The 2024 regulation replaced earlier regulatory arrangements and supports licensing, authorisation and control of explosives and precursors.
Queensland: The principal framework is the Explosives Act 1999 and the Explosives Regulation 2017. Queensland retains a dedicated explosives regime administered through Resources Safety and Health Queensland. The current regulation expressly interacts with the Australian Explosives Code for Class 1 explosives and the ADG Code for Class 2 to Class 9 dangerous goods, particularly Class 5.
Victoria: The principal framework is the Dangerous Goods Act 1985 and the Dangerous Goods Explosives Regulations 2022. Victoria regulates explosives within its dangerous goods framework. The Current Dangerous Goods Act is, effective 6 August 2025, while the 2022 explosives regulations remain the principal subordinate explosives instrument.
Western Australia: The principal framework is the Dangerous Goods Safety Act 2004 and the Dangerous Goods Safety (Explosives) Regulations 2007. Western Australia regulates explosives through its dangerous goods safety framework.
South Australia: The current framework includes the Explosives Act 1936, the Explosives Regulations 2011, fireworks regulations and security sensitive ammonium nitrate regulations. South Australia has passed a major overhaul through the Explosives Act 2024. SafeWork SA says the 2024 Act will modernise and streamline the state’s explosives legislation, introduce a new licensing framework and replace the 1936 Act. The Act had not yet commenced on the South Australian legislation site as at 11 May 2026, with commencement expected in mid 2026. The 2011 regulations are listed as expiring on 1 September 2026 and are to be repealed by the 2024 Act.
Tasmania: The principal framework is the Explosives Act 2012 and the Explosives Regulations 2022. Tasmania has a dedicated explosives framework. The Act is current from 1 July 2025, and the 2022 regulations were made under that Act.
Australian Capital Territory: The principal framework is the Dangerous Substances Act 2004 and the Dangerous Substances (Explosives) Regulation 2004. ACT explosives controls sit within the dangerous substances framework.
Northern Territory: The principal framework is the Dangerous Goods Act 1998 and the Dangerous Goods Regulations. The Northern Territory regulates explosives through its dangerous goods framework.
Australian jurisdictions are trying to make their separate frameworks more consistent, particularly around definitions, licences, authorisations and transport obligations.
South Australia shows the current direction of legislative modernisation
South Australia’s Explosives Act 2024 is the most prominent recent state level legislative change. SafeWork SA describes it as a major overhaul of legislation first adopted in 1936. The new Act is intended to modernise and streamline the law, improve consistency with other Australian jurisdictions, and introduce a more streamlined licensing framework.
This matters because South Australia’s current explosives regulations remain heavily prescriptive and legacy based. There are three regulations: the Explosives Regulations 2011, the Explosives Fireworks Regulations 2016 and the Explosives Security Sensitive Substances Regulations 2021. The current Explosives Regulations 2011 version was released in 2020 and includes detailed controls on classification, manufacture, ANFO mixing, packing and labelling, carriage, storage, magazines, importation, sale, mining blasters’ licences and fireworks.
The 2024 Act is enacted, but as of May 2026 has not come into operation. Businesses should closely track commencement proclamations, transitional arrangements, new regulations, licence conversion rules and regulator guidance.
Commonwealth reform is also active, especially for Defence explosives
At the Commonwealth level, the Explosives Regulations 2024 commenced on 27 September 2024. Defence says the 2024 Regulations remade the old Explosives Transport Regulations 2002 and Explosives Areas Regulations 2003 into a single modernised instrument, mainly to preserve legislative continuity while broader reform proceeds.
Defence is also undertaking a thematic review of the Explosives Act 1961 and the 2024 Regulations. The objective is a modern, principles based framework for Commonwealth explosives used for national defence, with improved safety and security outcomes and alignment with Australia’s strategic defence environment.
For industry, this matters less for standard commercial explosives operations and more for contractors, logistics providers, ports, storage operators and others who interact with Commonwealth explosives, Commonwealth explosives areas, Defence facilities or visiting foreign forces.
AS 2187.1 revision has practical storage implications
A major technical development for the explosives sector is the revision of AS 2187.1 1998, Explosives, Storage, transport and use, Part 1: Storage. The draft revision has been prepared by Standards Australia Committee CE 005, Explosives. This is a substantial development because AS 2187.1 1998 remains a key technical reference point for explosives storage in Australia.
The current 1998 edition was itself a major revision. It introduced improved security for vents and locks, revised minimum separation distances, duties for the person in charge of a magazine, housekeeping, maintenance, emergency procedures, underground storage, and storage of pyrotechnic substances and propellant powders.
When released, the major changes are likely to include a new section on minor storage of explosives, clarification of design requirements for different types of magazines, updated separation distances, expanded magazine management for access control, maintenance and stock control, updated emergency management requirements, and a new section on underground storage.
Thus far, comment from industry has been cautious. There is a clear concern that the revision may impose significant new obligations when adopted by regulators or referenced in licence conditions. The most common concerns are that the draft is more prescriptive than the 1998 edition, that some new requirements may be costly or difficult to retrofit to existing magazines, and that regulators will need time to align legislation, licence conditions and guidance before the new Standard is adopted in practice.
There is a risk that a substantially revised Standard could make existing storage facilities appear non compliant unless transitional arrangements are managed by regulators through methods such as grandfathering mechanisms.
The biggest national change: folding the Australian Explosives Code into the ADG Code
The most significant impending national change is the proposed incorporation of the Australian Code for the Transport of Explosives by Road and Rail, known as the Australian Explosives Code or AEC, into the Australian Dangerous Goods Code.
The current AEC is the third edition, published in 2009, and provides technical guidance on transporting Class 1 explosives by road and rail in Australia.
The National Transport Commission is conducting the first comprehensive review of the ADG Code in 15 years. After publishing numerous discussion papers through 2023 and 2024, then a draft update and consultation regulatory impact statement in October 2024, the NTC finalised the new ADG Code in late 2025 for consideration by transport ministers.
For explosives, the NTC has gone further. It has worked to review and incorporate the AEC into the ADG Code, with supplementary consultation on Class 1 explosives provisions and draft explosives transport provisions. The supplementary consultation paper is direct about the policy problem. The AEC has not been substantially updated since 2009, many international changes have not been incorporated, and there is no foreseeable prospect of maintaining a standalone explosives code. The ADG Code review provides an opportunity to update explosives transport provisions and bring them into the new ADG Code.
This is a major structural change. Instead of a separate explosives transport code sitting beside the ADG Code, Class 1 explosives transport requirements would become part of the same national code architecture as other dangerous goods. The stated benefits include safer transport through updated safety concepts, easier navigation for duty holders and regulators, better alignment with international standards, reduced intermodal friction and more coherent national administration.
The practical impact for industry will depend on how each jurisdiction adopts the final ADG Code and amends its local explosives legislation. However, several implications are already foreseeable.
Key operational implications
1. Transport compliance systems will need review
Businesses that currently train staff against the AEC will need to map existing obligations against the new ADG Code explosives provisions. This should include classification, documentation, placarding, segregation, vehicle requirements, route and parking controls, emergency information and low hazard explosives concessions.
2. Licensing frameworks may become more consistent, but not identical
Safe Work Australia’s national reform work has aimed at consistent definitions, licensing, notification and authorisation processes. Implementation, however, remains jurisdiction by jurisdiction.
3. Interstate operators will need a change management plan
Operators moving explosives across borders should expect a transitional period where regulator interpretation, commencement timing and local amendments differ.
4. Storage and transport will remain distinct compliance domains
The ADG and AEC integration is primarily about land transport. Storage obligations under state explosives laws, licence conditions, AS 2187.1 and local regulator guidance will still need separate attention.
5. Security remains central
Explosives regulation is not only a safety regime. It is also a security regime. Reforms to definitions, licensing and authorisations should be read alongside security sensitive substances controls, fit and proper person tests, clearance requirements, theft and loss notification, and site security obligations.
Final reflection
Australia’s explosives law is entering a period of practical modernisation, but not complete consolidation. The country will still have separate Commonwealth, state and territory legislation, but the technical rules for transport are moving toward a more unified national dangerous goods framework.
South Australia’s new Act, the Commonwealth’s 2024 Regulations and thematic review, and the NTC’s incorporation of the AEC into the ADG Code all point in the same direction – more modern drafting, more risk-based regulation, stronger alignment with international transport practice, and a gradual move away from legacy standalone instruments.
For duty holders, the message is clear. Do not wait for every reform to commence before acting. Start by mapping current licences, storage approvals, transport procedures, security plans, training materials and emergency documentation against the draft ADG explosives provisions, AS 2187.1 storage obligations and the applicable state or territory legislation.
The businesses best prepared for reform will be those that treat explosives compliance as an integrated system across safety, security, transport and storage, not as a set of isolated licences.