4 November 2026

30 October 2026

Melbourne will host the 7th International Conference on Radioecology and Environmental Radioactivity (ICRER), which will bring together the radioecology and environmental radioactivity field from 21–26 February 2027.

The Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) are co-hosting the conference with international partners.

ARPANSA’s Technical and Scientific Support Services Team Director, Julia Carpenter, is on the conference organising committee.

She is encouraging researchers, practitioners, regulators and students in this field to submit an abstract by 25 September 2026 and register to attend.

‘The annual conference fosters knowledge sharing, which improves research outcomes, regulations, and provides valuable insights into how radiation interacts with, and in the environment,’ Ms Carpenter said.

‘Building connections with experts internationally is an opportunity for ARPANSA to ensure that our radiation protection programs are up-to-date and consistent with other important bodies in this field.

‘Whether you plan to present your work or join colleagues from around the world for a week of scientific exchange, discussion and collaboration, now is the time to make your plans for Melbourne.’

Abstracts for oral and poster presentations across a broad range of topics including environmental radiation protection, emergency preparedness and recovery, radioactive waste and releases, radionuclide mobility, radiation effects, measurement and metrology, and emerging applications of AI and Big Data are being accepted.

Registration to attend the conference is also open, with early bird pricing available until 30 November 2026.

All the information about the conference, including abstract submission and registration, is available here:

• ICRER conference website
• Registration and abstract submission portal.

15 September 2026

Radiotherapy treatments in Australia, New Zealand and several Southeast Asian countries are set to receive even greater assurance as a water calorimeter primary standard will soon replace the existing graphite measurement device. 

Almost five years in the making, the water calorimeter will become Australia’s primary standard for ionising radiation in 2027.

Significant progress has been made in this project.

It started in 2022 with a review of international solutions to identify the appropriate instrument for Australia. The team has now worked for several years installing, calibrating and testing the new instrument says the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency’s (ARPANSA) chief medical radiation scientist, Dr Ivan Williams. 

‘Our most recent test of the water calorimeter resulted in a measurement within 0.3 per cent of the international standard, demonstrating that the device is almost ready to replace the current graphite primary standard,’ Dr Williams said. 

'We’re now establishing verifiable consistency of measurement which is necessary to retire the old instrument and formally transfer the Primary Standard role to the new instrument.

‘Medical physicists in cancer centers use instruments, with a calibration traceable to the Primary Standard, to ensure that the radiation dose being delivered to the patient is correct. So getting this right is vital. 

‘The human body more closely resembles water than graphite, so measuring radiation dose directly in water reduces uncertainties and provides a more accurate picture of the doses patients receive during treatment,’ Dr Williams said.

ARPANSA will continue to benchmark the water calorimeter measurements with the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) in Paris. ARPANSA will do this until Australia’s primary standard and the international one are aligned. 

Our primary standard protects patients who receive radiotherapy treatment by ensuring that doses are not more or less than what the doctor has prescribed. 

Background

The new primary standard, designed and installed by the Canadian National Research Council must be operated at 4°C to accurately measure the very small temperature rises produced by the interaction of ionising radiation beam with the water. For a typical radiation therapy prescription, this is less than 1/1000th of a degree, requiring a very sensitive detection system capable of sub-micro degree measurement. The heart of the calorimeter is a glass vessel filled with hyper-pure water, saturated with hydrogen gas. This provides a very well-controlled medium in which the absorbed dose can be measured accurately.

Learn more about our primary standard dosimetry laboratory on our website: https://www.arpansa.gov.au/our-services/testing-and-calibration/calibration/psdl

For more information about the device and its journey to ARPANSA, go to this website: https://nrc.canada.ca/en/stories/metrology-experts-australia-collaborating-new-radiation-therapy-tool

10 September 2026

The Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) has published the latest national report on radiation safety incidents. 

ARPANSA's chief regulatory officer, Jim Scott, says the agency maintains the report on behalf of all the state and territory radiation regulators. 

‘These reports are useful in identifying opportunities for radiation operators and regulators to improve safety,’ Mr Scott said.

'Radiation is used safely millions of times across Australia each year, but incidents can still occur.  

‘To bring those 905 incidents to life from 2023, the report contains case studies that provide universal lessons such as the need to have robust checks, appropriate storage for radiation sources, and the importance of communication.

‘We are committed to working with state and territory regulators to improve the timeliness and completeness of these reports to support radiation protection and nuclear safety in Australia.’  

Most incidents in 2023 were related to medical imaging, especially computed tomography (CT), plain film X-ray, and nuclear medicine. The estimated doses received by patients or workers because of these incidents was categorised as ‘very low’ in 89% of incidents. ‘Very low’ is considered below 10 mSv.

You can read the report here. 

1 September 2026

CEO of the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) Dr Gillian Hirth AO welcomed new members to the organisation’s peak external advisory council at a meeting held in Melbourne in July. 

The Radiation Health and Safety Advisory Council (RHSAC) is one of ARPANSA’s three external statutory advisory bodies. Members provide guidance and advice to the CEO of ARPANSA on strategic and emerging issues, as well as matters of public concern relating to radiation protection and nuclear safety. 

Dr Gillian Hirth AO says expert advice is key to staying ahead of emerging radiation protection and nuclear safety issues.

‘Council has brought important topics to our agenda,’ Dr Hirth AO said.

‘Council also advances key work such as introducing a National Workforce Competency Framework for the Safe use of Radiation Sources.

‘I look forward to the contributions that these new members will make to radiation protection and nuclear safety in Australia.’

Dr Hirth AO welcomed Pamela Naidoo-Ameglio, Ben Blyth and Michaela Orsmond at the recent council meeting.  

Pamela Naidoo-Ameglio is the Director of Exige and former ANSTO Group Executive. She brings extensive leadership experience in reactor operations, nuclear waste management, and nuclear medicine production to the role.

Associate Professor Benjamin Blyth is Head of Models of Cancer Translational Research Centre at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. His work spans radiation cancer research in Australia and Japan, with a focus on advancing cancer treatment and clinical trials.

Michaela Orsmond is the Client Director for Defence at Mott MacDonald Australia, and a practising lawyer as an Air Force reservist. She provides executive and program management expertise, specialising in Defence, Commercial Law, International Law and Business Development.

Appointment terms are for three years.

View the full Radiation Health and Safety Advisory Council membership: https://www.arpansa.gov.au/about-us/advisory-council-and-committees/radiation-health-and-safety-advisory-council

Article publication date

April 2026

ARPANSA review date

24 August 2026

Summary

This paper describes the development of a public education leaflet with an aim to improve the effectiveness and dissemination of ultraviolet radiation (UVR) protection messages. Recognising that skin cancer incidence remains high and continues to increase in many fair-skinned populations despite longstanding public awareness campaigns, the authors sought to create a clear, scientifically accurate, and internationally adaptable communication resource. The leaflet was developed according to health promotion and public education guidelines and underwent multiple rounds of expert and stakeholder review, including input from patient and non-government organisations as well as specialists in dermato-oncology, epidemiology and public health. The final resource promotes avoiding intentional sun exposure and tanning while positioning the use of shade and protective clothing as highest priority for sun protection. It also includes advice on childhood sun protection, the risks associated with tanning beds, early detection of skin cancer, vitamin D considerations, and sunscreen safety. The article concludes that educational interventions should be complemented by policy and environmental measures, such as increased provision of public shade and regulation of tanning facilities. The article recommends that the leaflet is made available in multiple languages and distributed via professional and online channels. 

Published in

Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology

Link to article:

Messages for ultraviolet-radiation protection to fair-skinned populations

ARPANSA commentary

The article reinforces the importance of sustained, evidence-based communication strategies for UVR protection. Australia provides a strong example of the potential impact of such efforts, with decades of public education and awareness campaigns contributing to the stabilisation and reduction of skin cancer incidence rates in some populations (De Pinto et al., 2024) despite the country continuing to experience one of the highest UV exposure levels globally. Over the past four decades, a number of stakeholders including Cancer Council Australia, the Skin Cancer College Australasia, and Melanoma Institute Australia have led extensive public education and awareness campaigns promoting sun protection behaviours to reduce harmful UV exposure. The findings of this paper should therefore be considered within the context of Australia's well-established skin cancer prevention framework. The paper highlights that sun protection measures should commence when the UV Index is 3 or above, which aligns with ARPANSA’s advice. ARPANSA advises the use of all five sun protection measures to minimise personal UVR exposure: Slip, Slop, Slap, Seek and Slide. ARPANSA also provides real-time UV Index information and estimates of UVR dose to help inform the public on daily UVR exposure and support them in making informed decisions regarding their sun protection. This is important as Australia faces a significant public health burden from UVR-related skin cancer. 

The Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) is looking for two suitably qualified people to join our Audit and Risk Committee as independent members. 

The committee provides independent advice to ARPANSA’s Chief Executive Officer on the agency’s financial and performance reporting, risk management and internal controls.

Convening five times a year, there is some preparation and engagement required between meetings. Members are appointed for a three-year term.

We’d like to hear from people with expertise in financial, audit and assurance, cybersecurity and digital governance, APS and Commonwealth governance, legal, compliance and integrity, or risk and internal control.

You’ll bring sound judgement, strategic thinking and an independent perspective, as well as the confidence to ask constructive questions and provide practical advice. Experience in Australian Government or a similarly regulated environment would be an advantage.

Applications close Thursday 17 September at 11:59PM.

More information about the appointment is available here: Membership of the Audit and Risk Committee

To apply, please send your CV and a cover letter addressing the key selection criteria to the ARC Secretariat at auditandrisk@arpansa.gov.au.
 

Article publication date

20 March 2026

ARPANSA review date

August 2026

Summary

This review discusses the potential impact on pregnancy outcomes of radiofrequency electromagnetic field (RF-EMF) exposure from mobile phone use during pregnancy. The authors report conducting a literature review of studies published between 2015 and 2024, including human epidemiological, animal, in vitro and review articles. The results of the literature search were not presented. Similarly, although the authors stated that study quality was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale and SYRCLE Risk of Bias tool, the outcomes of these assessments were not reported. The authors discuss approximately 22 studies and conclude that the evidence remains limited and inconclusive. However, they further stated that precautionary measures to reduce mobile phone exposure during pregnancy may be warranted. 

Link to article

Impact of mobile phone use during pregnancy on fetal development and birth defects: a review

Published in

Annals of Clinical and Analytical Medicine

ARPANSA commentary

This is a poor narrative review of the evidence into RF-EMF and pregnancy outcomes. Although the authors mention that a systematic search and study quality assessment were conducted, the results of these are not presented. Further, the authors only assessed papers published after 2015, unless papers were highly cited (mentioned in other papers) and there is no justification for the selection of this timeframe nor defined criteria for high citation. Despite the wide inclusion criteria, only 22 studies are cited and discussed in the article. Repeating just one search term on one search engine already returns far more articles that meet the review’s inclusion criteria than are acknowledged in the paper. Also, there are studies cited in an inconsistent referencing format that do not appear in the reference list at all which means it is not possible to evaluate the source of the information the review uses to form its conclusions.

The review places substantial weight on a disparate mixture of animal and in vitro studies while giving limited consideration to the consistency and quality of the human epidemiological evidence. The articles that are cited, are done so in support of statements that are unrelated to the content of the cited article. For example, an article on ionising radiation exposure (Mainprize et al., 2023) is cited in relation to congenital abnormalities and maternal mobile phone use despite mobile phone use never being mentioned by Mainprize et al. 

The evidence on the effects of RF-EMF exposure on pregnancy outcomes has recently been evaluated in World Health Organization-supported systematic reviews and meta-analyses, including one assessing adverse pregnancy outcomes in human epidemiological studies (Johnson et al., 2024) and a second assessing experimental animal study (Cordelli et al., 2023). These reviews applied state-of-the-art systematic review methods to evaluate whether maternal RF-EMF exposure is associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes. The review of human studies concluded that, in both the general and occupational populations, the available evidence generally does not support an association between RF-EMF exposure and adverse pregnancy outcomes; however, the evidence is very uncertain due to variability in the results and methodological limitations. Similarly, the animal systematic review did not identify consistent evidence that RF-EMF exposure adversely affects pregnancy outcomes. It is difficult to understand why one of these reviews was cited in the article but not the other. 

The scientific evidence is in line with the public health messaging of ARPANSA that exposure to RF-EMF below the limits in the ARPANSA RF Standard (RPS-S1) does not impact people’s health.

11 August 2026

The Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) is currently seeking new members for its external Radiation Health Committee and the Nuclear Safety Committee. 

The committees provide advice to ARPANSA’s CEO on radiation protection and nuclear safety matters.

Nominations are sought from suitably qualified people with relevant knowledge or expertise in radiation and nuclear issues, particularly people from high-hazard industries who can bring broader safety, risk or regulatory experience without necessarily having radiation or nuclear knowledge. Current membership is comprised of experts from a range of fields relevant to radiation protection including medicine, mining, regulation, and health research. ARPANSA is also seeking a general member to represent the interests of the public, for whom there are no specific qualification requirements.

All appointees are required to attend committee meetings, usually three times per year, and nominations are now open for the 2027 – 2029 period.

If you are interested in joining one of these committees, you are encouraged to learn more about the functions and current membership:

• Radiation Health Committee
• Nuclear Safety Committee

If you have experience and knowledge of radiation protection and nuclear issues, we encourage you to submit your nomination as soon as possible.

Nominations close Friday 28 August 2026. 

Learn how to apply: https://www.arpansa.gov.au/about-us/advisory-council-and-committees/membership-arpansa-advisory-committees

Appointments are for up to three years starting 1 January 2027. 

ARPANSA’s CEO will also appoint a chairperson for each committee. Applicants with significant experience, qualifications or expertise relevant to a committee's functions are encouraged to nominate for consideration as chair.

Committee membership is part-time. Members contribute through committee meetings and working groups, with meetings typically held three times a year in major Australian cities. Membership is open to residents of all Australian states and territories.

ARPANSA pays sitting fees, travel and accommodation expenses in accordance with the Australian Government Remuneration Tribunal.