The Regulation defines several key terms. A corrosion protection system is not defined explicitly in clause 3 but is inferred from the context as a system installed to protect a primary structure from corrosion by applying an electrical current. It includes both impressed current systems and galvanic anode systems. A galvanic anode system is defined as a system that operates by an electrochemical reaction where a metallic anode corrodes (i.e. it sacrifices itself to protect the primary structure). This distinction matters because the exemptions in clause 4 are limited to galvanic anode systems; impressed current systems of any size are never exempt. A foreign structure means any metallic structure (including pipes, cables, tanks, building steel) other than the primary structure itself, situated near the system. This is the entity the Regulation aims to protect: stray current from the cathodic protection system can accelerate corrosion on nearby metallic assets not part of the intended circuit. The primary structure is the structure the system is installed to protect. The interference test is an electrical test that measures the impact of the corrosion protection system on a foreign structure, indicating the risk of corrosion to that foreign structure. Appropriate qualifications are qualifications required by Australian Standard AS 2832, but the Regulation goes further in clause 16 by requiring that persons performing work on an approved system hold qualifications issued by the Australasian Corrosion Association Inc or a qualification approved by the Minister. This effectively creates a private certification requirement: the Australasian Corrosion Association is a specific industry body, not a government regulator, so control over who may work on these systems rests partly with that body. The testing period defaults to seven years for interference tests, but the Secretary may approve a longer period in individual cases. The register of approvals is a public record kept by the Secretary containing application outcomes, owner details, system descriptions and locations, conditions, and cancellations. It must be available for free inspection at the Department’s head office and may also be published online. This register serves a dual purpose: to allow owners of foreign structures to discover whether nearby corrosion protection systems exist and to enable the Secretary to contact system owners. The concept of operation is defined broadly in clause 3(2): a person is taken to operate the system if they have control over it and current flows between the system and the structure. This means that simply owning a system that is not energised is not operation, but the moment current flows (for example, during testing or normal operation), the person with control becomes an operator and must have an approval.

The Regulation directly affects any person or entity that operates, owns, or works on a corrosion protection system in New South Wales that does not fall within the exemptions in clause 4. This includes utilities (electricity, gas, water) that operate cathodic protection on buried pipelines, petroleum companies with storage tanks, telecommunications carriers with underground cables, councils with water or sewerage infrastructure, mining and resources companies with pipelines or processing plant assets, port authorities with jetty and marine structures that are not exempt, and building owners with impressed current systems on building steel or foundations. It also affects contractors who install, test, maintain, or commission cathodic protection systems. The definition of “operate” catches not only the system owner but also anyone who exercises control over the system while current flows, which could include a tenant, a facility manager, or a contractor managing operations on site. Foreign structure owners are affected indirectly: they benefit from the regime that requires operators to identify them and allow them to object before an approval is granted. However, they bear the burden of monitoring the public register and may need to respond to interference test results if they own structures that are at risk. The Crown is bound by the Regulation, so government agencies such as Transport for NSW, Sydney Water, and public hospitals must comply with the same approval and operational duties as private entities. However, clause 18(2) provides that the Crown cannot be prosecuted for an offence; enforcement against Crown entities must rely on other mechanisms such as directions or administrative remedies. This creates an uneven enforcement landscape where private operators risk fines while public agencies are immune from criminal liability for the same conduct. The Secretary (delegated to Department of Planning and Environment officers) is the approval authority and can set fees, impose conditions, conduct reviews, issue show cause notices, and cancel approvals. Application fees and annual fees are at the Secretary’s discretion with no statutory cap, creating uncertainty for applicants about total regulatory cost. The small business sector is particularly affected because compliance costs including application fees, annual fees, interference testing every seven years, and employing only qualified workers (who hold Australasian Corrosion Association certification) may represent a higher proportion of revenue compared to large operators with dedicated corrosion engineers. The owner of a system that is sold or disposed of must notify the Secretary within 28 days with the new owner’s name and address; failure to do so incurs a penalty of 25 penalty units. This obligation continues indefinitely while the approval is in force.

The Regulation imposes several positive duties on operators and owners. The primary duty is in clause 5(1): a person must not operate a corrosion protection system unless it has an approval and is operated in accordance with that approval. This duty applies continuously; operating in a manner inconsistent with the approved conditions or standards is an offence. The operator must ensure the system is operated in accordance with the cathodic protection standard within Australian Standard AS 2832 series (clause 13). The operator must arrange for an interference test to be conducted by a person with appropriate qualifications, in accordance with the testing schedule set out in the application or any subsequent annual report, and at least once every testing period (default 7 years, secretary can approve longer). The operator must submit reports on the operation and testing of the system each financial year, no later than 30 days after the end of the financial year, following the Secretary’s written requirements (clause 15). The operator must ensure that any person performing work on the system holds an appropriate qualification from the Australasian Corrosion Association Inc or a qualification approved by the Minister (clause 16). The owner (not necessarily the operator) must give written notice to the Secretary within 28 days if the system is sold or disposed of (specifying the new owner’s name and address) or if the system permanently ceases to operate (clause 17). An operator may operate a system for up to 24 hours after installation, extension, maintenance, or repairs for testing purposes without an approval; the Secretary may also give written consent to operate without an approval (clause 5(2)). An applicant for approval has the right to make submissions if served with a show cause notice (minimum 14 days). They may make oral or written submissions on why enforcement action should not be taken and what corrective action they propose (clause 9). If approval is refused, the Secretary must provide reasons (clause 7(2)). The operator has the right to have the approval remain in force indefinitely until cancelled, but the Secretary may cancel only if the system has permanently ceased to operate (clause 10). The operator has no right to request cancellation for other reasons, which could be problematic if a system is fully decommissioned and the operator wants to end their obligation to submit annual reports. The applicant has a duty to declare foreign structures: the application must be accompanied by a declaration specifying either that there are no foreign structures near the system, or identifying all foreign structures that appear to be near the system as far as reasonably practicable, and stating that each owner of an identified foreign structure was given an opportunity to object and did not object (clause 6). This places a due diligence burden on the applicant to identify potentially all buried metallic infrastructure in the vicinity, which may require contacting local councils, utility locators, and other asset owners. Failure to adequately identify foreign structures could result in the approval being based on incomplete information, and if a foreign structure is later damaged, the operator may face liability beyond the Regulation.

Penalties under the Regulation are tiered by offence provision and entity type. For corporations, the maximum penalty for operating without approval (clause 5(1)), operating not in accordance with AS 2832 (clause 13), failing to conduct interference tests (clause 14(1)), failing to submit annual reports (clause 15), and failing to use qualified workers (clause 16) is 200 penalty units. For an individual, the maximum for those same offences is 50 penalty units. At the current penalty unit rate ($110 under the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999), this equates to $22,000 for a corporation and $5,500 for an individual per offence. Failure to notify the Secretary of a sale or cessation (clause 17) carries a maximum of 25 penalty units ($2,750). In addition to court‑imposed penalties, Schedule 1 creates a penalty notice regime for these same offences, allowing the Secretary to issue on‑the‑spot fines of $550 for individuals and $2,200 for corporations for most offences (clause 17 has a lower notice amount of $275 for both individuals and corporations). This enforcement mechanism reduces the burden on the state to prove the matter in court for minor or first offences and encourages settlement. The Secretary may issue a show cause notice before taking enforcement action, but is not required to do so in all cases; clause 9(2) gives the Secretary power to serve a show cause notice when there is reasonable cause to believe the operator has failed to comply with operational requirements, testing, reporting, or worker qualification duties. The show cause procedure is a procedural safeguard that gives the operator at least 14 days to make submissions and propose corrective action. However, the Secretary retains discretion to proceed with enforcement action after considering submissions. The Crown is bound by the Regulation but cannot be prosecuted for an offence (clause 18). This means that if a government agency operates a non‑approved system or fails to test or report, there is no criminal penalty. The only remedy would be administrative: the Secretary could cancel the approval (if the agency holds one) or take other action, but without the threat of fine or prosecution, the incentive for compliance is weaker. This asymmetry may raise competitive neutrality issues where a private operator competing with a public utility faces fines that the public body does not. The Regulation also creates potential for vicarious liability: a corporate operator is liable for the actions of its employees and contractors, including workers who perform work without appropriate qualifications. There is no defence that the operator took reasonable precautions, so strict liability likely applies to the offence of operation without a qualified worker. The register of approvals is a public document; failure to comply with approval conditions is an offence but the Regulation does not specify a separate penalty for breach of conditions beyond the general operating duty in clause 5(1). The penalty notice amounts are fixed by regulation and are not indexed automatically, so their real value erodes over time until amended.

The Regulation is made under the Electricity Supply Act 1995 (the Act) and sits within that legislative framework. The Act itself contains enforcement mechanisms, including section 187 which authorises penalty notices. The note in clause 3 refers to definitions and interpretation provisions in the Act and the Interpretation Act 1987. The Regulation does not displace any other legislation that may apply to corrosion protection systems, such as the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 (which may regulate pollution from corrosion control chemicals or soil contamination), the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (duties to ensure safety of workers performing electrical work), the Pipelines Act 1967 or the Gas Supply Act 1996 (which contain their own licensing regimes for pipelines that may incorporate cathodic protection standards). Compliance with this Regulation does not relieve a person from complying with other laws; for example, a cathodic protection system that uses impressed current could also require electrical installation certification under the Electricity (Consumer Safety) Act 2004 or work covered by the Home Building Act 1989 if on residential land. The Australian Standard AS 2832 is incorporated by reference into clauses 13, 14, and 16. AS 2832 is a series of standards for cathodic protection of metals; it is published by Standards Australia and is not reproduced in the Regulation. This means that the legal duties are determined by a standard that is not set out in the legislation, may be updated without parliamentary oversight, and which operators must purchase or access separately. Any amendment to AS 2832 automatically changes the legal obligations under clause 13, though the Secretary could impose conditions that modify the standard. The Regulation also interacts with private law rights: a foreign structure owner whose structure is damaged by stray current from an approved system operated in accordance with the approval may still have rights in tort (negligence, nuisance, trespass) or under statutory nuisance provisions. The approval does not immunise the operator from civil liability. The requirement in clause 6 that foreign structure owners be given an opportunity to object and did not object does not constitute a waiver of rights; it only satisfies a precondition for the application to be granted. The savings provision in clause 20 preserves acts, matters, and things under the repealed 2014 Regulation, meaning that approvals, testing schedules, and other existing arrangements continue as if made under the new Regulation. This avoids the need for immediate reapplication but locks in historical conditions that may have been less stringent. The Regulation does not interact with Commonwealth laws such as the Competition and Consumer Act 2010, but the requirement to use qualifications from the Australasian Corrosion Association Inc raises potential competition concerns about restricting the pool of qualified workers to a single private body, though the Minister can approve alternative qualifications by order published on the NSW legislation website.

The Regulation commenced on 1 September 2020 and replaced the Electricity Supply (Corrosion Protection) Regulation 2014, which was repealed on the same date under section 10(2) of the Subordinate Legislation Act 1989. The version provided is the original text as made; there is no indication in the source of any amendments since commencement. The Regulation has a statutory lifespan under the Subordinate Legislation Act 1989; it will be repealed automatically on 1 September 2025 unless earlier repealed or remade. Note that the 2014 Regulation was itself a remake of earlier versions, so the regulatory scheme has been in place for decades. The savings clause means that the substantive changes between the 2014 and 2020 versions are limited; the text does not show what was different. The note in clause 2 states that the Regulation was required to be published on the NSW legislation website. The fee‑determination power in clause 11 is new in the sense that it is discretionary and subject to waiver; the previous Regulation may have had fixed fees or a different mechanism. The power for the Secretary to approve a longer testing period under clause 14(2)(b) was likely also present in the 2014 version. The qualification requirement in clause 16 referring to the Australasian Corrosion Association Inc appears to be a continuation of a similar requirement from the 2014 Regulation. The penalty notice amounts in Schedule 1 are specific to this Regulation and may have been changed from the 2014 schedule.

The Regulation itself does not reference any litigation, and no case law is cited in the source. There is no public record of significant judicial consideration of this specific Regulation or its predecessor in freely available databases. However, the area of cathodic protection and stray current damage has given rise to common law claims in nuisance, negligence, and trespass, particularly where unapproved or improperly operated systems cause accelerated corrosion to unrelated infrastructure such as gas pipes, water mains, or building steel. Any such litigation would involve factual issues about compliance with AS 2832, interference testing, and the adequacy of foreign structure identification. The penalty notice regime in Schedule 1 may have been challenged as invalid on procedural grounds, but no such cases are identified in the source. The show cause procedure in clause 9 may be subject to judicial review if the Secretary fails to afford procedural fairness. However, the Regulation is a relatively narrow instrument and does not generate the volume of disputes seen in broader planning or environmental legislation. The lack of litigation history may reflect the effectiveness of the pre‑approval process and the private settlement of foreign structure disputes, or it may indicate that the regime imposes costs on operators that are not challenged in court because the operator would rather comply than risk a penalty.

Several features of the Regulation may catch practitioners off guard. The definition of “operate” in clause 3(2) is triggered by control plus current flow. A person who simply owns a system that is switched off is not operating it, but the moment the system is energised (e.g., for commissioning, testing, or repair), the person with control becomes an operator and must have an approval or fall within the 24‑hour test exemption. This creates liability for contractors who energise a system temporarily without checking whether the approval covers the specific testing scenario. The 24‑hour testing exemption in clause 5(2)(a) is only for post‑installation, extension, maintenance, or repair, and only for up to 24 hours total. Once 24 hours are exhausted, an approval is required, even for further testing. The exemption does not apply to routine interference testing; that must be done by a qualified person on an approved system. The foreign structure declaration in clause 6(2) requires the applicant to specify, as far as is reasonably practicable, all foreign structures that appear to be near the system. This is a due diligence obligation that may require contacting multiple asset owners, using “dial before you dig” services, and conducting surveys. If a foreign structure is missed and later damaged, the operator may be in breach of the approval conditions (since the declaration was inaccurate) and may face prosecution or civil liability. The declaration also requires that each identified foreign structure owner was given an opportunity to object and did not object. If an owner objects and the application proceeds anyway, the Secretary cannot grant approval (because the condition that the owner did not object is unsatisfied). However, the Regulation does not give the Secretary power to override an objection; the applicant must resolve the objection or alter the system design. The qualification requirement in clause 16 is tied specifically to the Australasian Corrosion Association Inc unless the Minister approves an alternative. This creates a monopoly on certification unless the Minister exercises the power to approve other qualifications, which is discretionary and may not be exercised quickly. An operator who uses a worker with an equivalent qualification from another jurisdiction or a different but relevant engineering qualification may be in breach. The annual report requirement in clause 15 is due 30 days after the end of each financial year, and the operator must follow the Secretary’s written requirements. There is no default reporting standard; the Secretary can change the requirements at any time, and failure to adapt promptly could lead to a penalty. The approval remains in force until cancelled (clause 8), which sounds convenient, but the Secretary may cancel only if the system has permanently ceased to operate. If the system is not permanently ceased but the operator wants to stop operating (e.g., decommissioned but not demolished), the operator cannot unilaterally surrender the approval. They must ensure the system permanently ceases to operate and then notify the Secretary under clause 17, but the Secretary may still not cancel if there is some doubt about permanence. The operator remains liable for all ongoing duties (testing, reporting, qualified workers) while the approval is in force. The Secretary can waive or remit fees (clause 11(2)), but the exercise of this discretion is not reviewable on its merits, only on administrative law grounds.

Compliance under the Regulation can be broken into six phases: determine applicability, obtain approval, operate and maintain, test, report, and update.

Step 1 - Determine if the system is exempt. Apply the tests in clause 4. If the system is a galvanic anode system with current ≤250 mA on a compact structure (greatest dimension ≤5 times smallest), or a larger galvanic anode system where current per 500m is ≤250 mA, it may be exempt. Also check whether the system protects internal surfaces of a water tank with isolated current, marine vessels not permanently moored, fixed offshore structures not connected to land, or anodes permanently fixed and submerged below low water mark. If exempt, no approval or ongoing duties apply, but keep records to justify the exemption in case of an audit.

Step 2 - Obtain approval. If not exempt, submit an application in the form approved by the Secretary (clause 6). Include the required fee. Crucial step: prepare a foreign structure declaration. Conduct a reasonable search for nearby metallic structures (e.g., from 8112 Before You Dig, through council asset registers, contacting utility owners, conducting electromagnetic surveys). For each identified foreign structure, contact the owner, give them an opportunity to object, and confirm they did not object. Document all communications. If any owner objects, resolve the objection (e.g., by redesigning the system, adding shielding, or agreeing to indemnity) before submitting the application. Alternatively, if there are truly no foreign structures, specify that. Also prepare the testing schedule for interference tests as part of the application materials (clause 14(1)(b) refers to the application for the testing schedule). Submit the application and pay the application fee. The Secretary may impose conditions. Ensure these conditions are understood and recorded.

Step 3 - Operate the system in accordance with the approval and AS 2832. The operator must follow the relevant AS 2832 standard for cathodic protection. Engage only workers who hold an appropriate qualification from the Australasian Corrosion Association Inc (or Minister‑approved alternative) that is relevant to the work they perform. Keep copies of all qualifications on file. Ensure that any time the system is operated, the current flows only as approved.

Step 4 - Conduct interference tests. The operator must arrange for interference tests to be carried out by a tester with appropriate qualifications (again, per AS 2832). The tests must be performed at least once per testing period (7 years or longer if Secretary approved). The testing schedule from the application (or from the most recent annual report) determines the specific intervals. If the Secretary approves a longer period, keep written evidence of that approval. Document all test results, including the impact on foreign structures. If tests reveal unacceptable interference, the operator must take corrective action; the Regulation does not specify what action, but failure to address may breach clause 5(1) (operating not in accordance with approval) if the approval conditions require protection of foreign structures.

Step 5 - Submit annual reports. By 30 June each year (end of financial year), the operator must prepare and submit a report on the operation and testing during that financial year. The Secretary may issue written requirements on content and format. The report must be lodged no later than 30 days after the end of the financial year (i.e., 30 July). The operator should proactively request the Secretary’s annual reporting template to avoid non‑compliance. Reports must be accurate; false or misleading information may be an offence.

Step 6 - Update the Secretary on changes. If the system is sold or disposed of, notify the Secretary within 28 days with the new owner’s name and address. If the system permanently ceases to operate, also notify within 28 days. If the system is modified (e.g., extended, relocated), check whether the existing approval covers the modification; if not, a new application may be needed (or the Secretary may consent). Keep the contact details and ownership records current for the register.

Additional compliance steps: Monitor the public register to confirm that your system is listed correctly. Review any show cause notices received and respond within the specified period. Retain all records: applications, approvals, declarations, testing reports, annual reports, qualifications of workers, notifications, and any correspondence with the Secretary, for at least 7 years (or as long as the system operates). Given the 7‑year testing period, records may be needed to prove testing was conducted within that window. Consider obtaining the Australian Standard AS 2832 and any amendments. Engage a corrosion professional to ensure the system design and operation meet the relevant standard. If multiple systems are operated, ensure each has its own approval and separate compliance schedule.