General duties of owners or operators of complex electrical installations

What is a complex electrical installation?

A complex electrical installation is an electrical installation that has a generation capacity equal to or greater than 1000 kVA.

Common examples of complex electrical installations are:

• coal-fired power stations
• natural gas-fired power stations
• wind farms
• solar farms
• biogas power stations
• hydro power stations.

Depending on their generation capacity, the following may also be considered a complex electrical installation:

• battery energy storage systems (BESS)
• co-generation systems
• rotating/dynamic grid stabilisers
• yet-to-be-utilised technology that can generate electricity (for example CO2 storage batteries).

An electric line that is on land that is not owned or leased by the owner or operator of the electric line is also a complex electrical installation.

What are the general duties?

Under section 75 of the Electricity Safety Act 1998, owners or operators of complex electrical installations have general duties.

An owner or operator of a complex electrical installation must design, construct, operate, maintain and decommission the installation to minimise as far as practicable:

• the hazards and risks to the safety of any person arising from the installation; and
• the hazards and risks of damage to the property of any person arising from the installation; and
• the bushfire danger arising from the installation.

Minimising hazards and risks

Owners or operators of complex electrical installations must identify:

• all foreseeable hazards and risks, and
• the controls available to eliminate or reduce the risks.

Owners or operators must then implement the most effective control or combination of controls to eliminate each risk where practicable.

Where it is not practicable to eliminate a risk, an owner or operator must implement all practicable controls to minimise the risk.

What is practicable?

To determine what is ‘practicable’, consideration should be given to:

• the severity of the hazard or risk
• the state of knowledge about the hazard or risk and any ways of removing or mitigating the hazard or risk
• the availability and suitability of ways to remove or mitigate the hazard or risk
• the cost of removing or mitigating the hazard or risk.

Further guidance

Energy Safe has detailed guidance available for reducing hazards and risks at:

• solar farms 
• wind farms
• high voltage electrical installations.

Compliance and enforcement

Owners or operators of complex electrical installations also have obligations under the Electricity Safety (General) Regulations 2019.

Safety requirements

Owners or operators of complex electrical installations must ensure that the installation is safe. It must also be operated and maintained safely, in accordance with regulations 501 and 502 of the Electricity Safety (General) Regulations.

Any person operating or maintaining the installation must have appropriate qualifications, experience, training, instructions and supervision to safely perform their function.

More information is available on our Safety standards for high voltage and complex electrical installations page.

Reporting requirements

There are two types of electrical incidents that must be reported to Energy Safe.

A serious electrical incident means an incident involving electricity which causes or has the potential to cause:

• the death or injury to a person, or
• significant damage to property, or
• a serious risk to public safety.

Energy Safe considers that any incident involving fire originating from any part of the electrical installation or equipment is a serious electrical incident and must be reported. Fire includes any event with evidence of charring, smouldering or melting.

All reports of serious electrical incidents must be:

• reported as soon as practicable by calling 1800 000 922.
• followed up by a written report within 20 business days of the initial report.

A reportable electrical incident means an incident involving electricity in which a person:

• has made accidental contact with any electrical installation, or
• has received an electric shock as the result of direct or indirect contact with any electrical installation.

Reportable electrical incident details must be provided in writing to Energy Safe within 20 business days of any person becoming aware of that incident.

More information is available on our Lodge an incident report page.

Penalties for non-compliance

Failure to comply with the general duties of the Electricity Safety Act can lead to maximum penalties of:

• 1,800 penalty units in the case of a natural person ($376,380 as at July 2026)
• 9,000 penalty units in the case of a body corporate ($1,881,900 as at July 2026).

The Victorian Government adjusts penalty units annually. You can find the current penalty rates on the Department of Treasury and Finance website.

More information about Energy Safe’s compliance and enforcement approach is available in our Compliance and Enforcement Policy.