The Australian Radiation Incident Register

The ARIR is a database of radiation incidents

The Australian Radiation Incident Register (ARIR) is Australia's national database of incidents involving the use of radiation or radioactivity. 

The purpose of the ARIR is to raise awareness about where, how and why incidents occur and how they can be best prevented. 

Reports are provided by Commonwealth, state and territory radiation protection authorities. Owners and users of radiation apparatus and radioactive sources are encouraged to follow best practice for safety at all times.

Objectives of the ARIR

• To highlight, to radiation protection authorities and users of ionising radiation and non-ionising radiation, specific sources, causes or procedures which give rise to a potential hazard
• To act as a national focus for information on ionising radiation incidents and accidents through appropriate publications
• To provide feedback and guidance to users of radiation on preventing or limiting the consequences of radiation accidents
• To provide useful data and reports to regulatory and advisory bodies.

Types of incidents reported to the ARIR

The National Directory for Radiation Protection (NDRP) is a set of standards that is agreed and adopted by all Commonwealth, state and territory radiation regulators. It includes a National Incident Reporting Framework (Schedule 13) to identify the types of incidents to be reported to the ARIR. Each radiation regulator is required to forward incident reports of the types listed in NDRP Schedule 13 to the Register. Note that other incidents that the authority considers warrant reporting such as near-miss situations can also be reported.

The Register currently includes reports of incidents in 31 categories:

Requests for information on the ARIR should be forwarded to radiation.incidents@arpansa.gov.au.