About the EESS

The EESS is a framework for nationally consistent regulation of household electrical equipment. The EESS is operated under an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) with signatory Ministers responsible for the regulatory and policy oversight of the EESS via a Ministerial Oversight Committee (MOC), a Standing Committee of Officials (SCO) responsible for the operation of the EESS, and an Equipment Working Group (SCO EWG) to address day to day technical inquiries and co-ordination.

The EESS uses a single compliance mark (the regulatory compliance mark – RCM) and has a single national access point for Australian and New Zealand based Responsible Suppliers to register, and to register the electrical equipment they sell. The EESS has a national publicly accessible database of registered Australian and New Zealand based Responsible Suppliers and registered equipment for buyers (wholesalers, retailers public) to check for registration.

Though the EESS jurisdictions in Australia and New Zealand maintain a consistent pre-market approach to requirements for sale of household electrical equipment and co-ordinate educational, compliance and enforcement actions and campaigns (including check testing of equipment and audits). Through the EESS jurisdictions also share information related to incidents, investigations and recalls, and provide information for industry and consumer education, to improve safety of household electrical equipment.

Note: the SCO committee includes representatives of electrical safety regulators from all judications in Australia and New Zealand irrespective of signatory status of the IGA.

BACKGOUND

The Electrical Regulatory Authorities Council (ERAC) is the peak body of electrical safety regulators in Australia and New Zealand, working together to ensure electrical safety regulatory systems are contemporary and harmonised wherever possible.

Members of the Electrical Regulatory Authorities Council (ERAC) can be found here

A number of emerging challenges and problems with the electrical equipment safety systems across Australia led the ERAC to commission an independent consultant to conduct a comprehensive review of electrical equipment safety processes in Australia. The review commenced in 2007.

As the result of significant consultation with stakeholders, a number of recommendations were made out of the review to improve and harmonise electrical equipment safety requirements in Australia, including development of the Electrical Equipment Safety System (EESS).

Development of the EESS resulted in an Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) being signed by participating jurisdictions. The IGA outlines governance and oversight of the EESS by the Minister responsible for electrical equipment safety in each participating jurisdiction. These Ministers form the Ministerial Oversight Committee (MOC) who appoint a representative on the Standing Committee of Officials (SCO) to ensure the further development and day to day operation of the EESS has appropriate governmental oversight.

The IGA can be found here.

With the signing of the IGA the EESS oversight and governance has moved to the MOC and the SCO.

FUNDAMENTALS OF THE EESS

The EESS is a regulatory framework aimed at increasing consumer safety when interacting with household electrical equipment (In-Scope electrical equipment). The EESS outlines the safety requirements for registration of Responsible Suppliers and equipment in a centralised national database (National Register).

The EESS stipulates three levels of equipment types with different registration and certification requirements for each level, based upon the assessed risk of that equipment type. The EESS has a registration database for Responsible Supplier registration and equipment registrations and also has public search facility for certain information relating to household electrical equipment.

The EESS has the following features in relation to “in-scope electrical equipment”:

It is intended to create nationally consistent electrical equipment safety legislation throughout Australia that will increase consumer safety.
Imposes a classification of household, personal and similar electrical equipment into three levels of risk (Level 3, Level 2 and Level 1) with different pre-sale requirements for each level.
Requires registration of Responsible Suppliers who are local manufacturers or importers of in-scope electrical equipment. The Responsible Supplier must be a legal entity in Australia and is responsible ensuring the safety of the electrical equipment sold onto the Australian market.
Supports a publicly accessible database where Responsible Suppliers must be registered prior to equipment being offered for sale. This allows higher risk equipment to be easily traced to its supplier and is intended to act as a gateway to the legal supply of electrical equipment in Australia.
Uses the Regulatory Compliance Mark (RCM) as a single trademark for easily recognition of compliance with the EESS. Use of the RCM also reduces costs to industry.
Outlines documented requirements for evidence of conformity.

The EESS is a self-funding, user-pays system where registration fees fund improved compliance, surveillance and post-market enforcement activities.

The EESS commenced in Queensland on 1 March 2013. By 2019 the IGA on governance of the EESS has been signed by Queensland, Victoria, Western Australia and Tasmania, the EESS moved from oversight by the ERAC to being governed by the MOC and SCO.

The current participating jurisdiction of the EESS can be found here.

While the registration and certification databases were originally accessed on the ERAC website (www.erac.gov.au), all up-to-date information relating to the EESS can now be found on this website (www.eess.gov.au).The EESS is supported by one platform. For Equipment Certification, Responsible Supplier and Equipment Registration click here to access.