LAWS requiring sprinklers in nursing homes, scrapping registration stickers on car windscreens and setting minimum standards for boarding houses are now in force in NSW.
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In a January 1 law change, NSW nursing homes must have sprinkler systems installed, and if they have not done so by April, they will have to say as much in signs and on their websites.
The changes follow the deaths of three elderly residents in a fire at the Quakers Hill nursing home in Sydney's west in November 2011, and the deaths afterwards of another eight from their injuries.
Planning Minister Brad Hazzard said the new laws would help to save lives.
"Sprinklers minimise a fire's intensity and give more time to respond or evacuate," Mr Hazzard said in a statement.
Under a timetable, nursing homes that install automatic sprinklers before September 2014 will be able to do so without having to lodge an implementation plan.
Facilities that need longer will have until September 2013 to develop a plan, and must put their sprinkler system in by March 2016.
A one-year extension may be granted under exceptional circumstances.
Also from January 1, the often tricky yearly ritual of scraping a rego sticker off the windscreen is consigned to the dustbin, with the NSW government deciding the stickers are outdated and unnecessary.
The move brings the state into line with Western Australia and South Australia, which got rid of the stickers in 2010 and 2011 respectively.
Roads Minister Duncan Gay last year dismissed fears that scrapping the stickers would cause a surge in unregistered cars and motorbikes, saying drivers would get plenty of reminders in the post.
NSW Police will identify unregistered cars using number-plate-recognition technology.
Under another law, boarding houses will have to meet minimum living standards and residents will have greater occupancy rights.
The measures will be phased in over the coming year but a compulsory register with NSW Fair Trading will be in effect from January 1 with a six-month grace period for landlords to comply.
New occupancy rights will include the right to live in clean and secure accommodation that is in a reasonable state of repair and to have quiet enjoyment of the premises.
In another legislative change, new laws opening up 78 national parks across NSW came into effect last Thursday, although shooters will not be allowed to use their weapons until March.