This Regulation applies to multiple distinct groups and allocates duties and decision-making power among them. The principal affected groups are:
Members of the public and passengers. The prohibition and conduct provisions directly regulate passengers and others on railway property. Persons travelling on rolling stock or present on railway premises must observe behavioural prohibitions such as not consuming food where signs forbid it (s 4), not bringing sizeable objects without permission and not obstructing aisles (s 5), not playing musical instruments or operating sound equipment without earphones or permission (s 6), not smoking or spitting in specified places (s 7), and not riding on the outside of rolling stock or putting bodily parts out of windows (s 13). They are subject to penalties measured in penalty units for contraventions of these provisions (for example, s 4 and s 5 carry a maximum penalty of 20 penalty units). Vehicle drivers on or crossing rail infrastructure must comply with vehicle-specific limits on speed, parking, axle mass, height, length and width (ss 26-30).
Railway managers and railway operators. These operational actors gain powers to grant permissions for otherwise-prohibited acts (ss 31-33), to move property left or abandoned (ss 18-19), to recover moving and storage expenses (s 22), and to dispose of unclaimed property after statutory timeframes with a specified order of application of sale proceeds (s 23). They can direct persons to remove or screen interfering coloured lights if they reasonably believe the lights interfere with safety (s 10), and they may direct persons about driving or parking on railways by sign or by employees (s 26). Railway managers must consider disruption, cost, damage and other effects when deciding permissions (s 31(3)), and may impose reasonable conditions including financial contributions limited to reasonable costs (s 32).
The Authority. The instrument repeatedly references "the Authority" as an entity capable of giving directions and moving property alongside railway managers and operators (ss 18-19, 21). The Authority participates in enforcement and in property-moving powers.
Rail government entities and their activities. Section 35 declares activities of rail government entities for the purpose of section 486 of the Act. Activities performed under community service obligations are taken not to be commercial, while all other activities are taken to be commercial (s 35). This classification affects whether certain decisions are treated as commercial for judicial review and related legal processes.
Authorised persons and employees. The Regulation recognises "authorised persons" as having the power to direct people at railway crossings to maintain safety (s 16(2)), and it treats directions on signage as directions of the authority or railway manager for some purposes (ss 18-19, 34). The definition of "employee" in s 26 identifies employees of the railway manager or the Authority as having capacity to give directions about driving or parking.
Owners, persons in charge of property, and secured creditors. The moving entity can recover moving expenses from the person who was in charge of the property immediately before removal, or from the owner if the person in charge cannot be identified, unless the property was being used on the railway without the owner’s consent (s 22). In disposal, the Regulation recognises security interests registered under the Personal Property Securities Act 2009 in payment priority (s 23(3)).
Vehicle operators subject to other laws. Heavy vehicle operators are affected directly by axle mass, axle group, length and height limits when using railway crossings (ss 27-30). Road trains driven under Heavy Vehicle National Law (Queensland) requirements are exempt from the length prohibition in s 29(1) if driven in accordance with those requirements.
People with disabilities. The Regulation creates an express exception for assistance animals under the control of a person with a disability (s 9(1)(a)), excluding these animals from the general prohibition on taking animals onto a railway. This identifies a class of persons for whom otherwise-prohibitory rules do not apply.
Businesses and third parties seeking to trade or survey on rail property. Section 14 prohibits public and personal selling, seeking business or conducting surveys on railways or rolling stock without permission, directly affecting vendors, canvassers, market researchers and similar actors.
Litigation and judicial-review stakeholders. By declaring commercial or non-commercial status for rail government entity activities for the purposes of section 486 of the Act (s 35), the Regulation affects which decisions may attract judicial review under the Judicial Review Act 1991. Parties who might seek review of rail government entity decisions should note this declaratory provision.
Overall, the Regulation affects both private behaviour (passengers, pedestrians, motorists, traders, owners of property found on railways) and public-sector actors (railway managers, operators, the Authority, authorised persons and employees) by allocating enforcement powers, recovery remedies and discretionary permissions across them.