Australian Capital Territory Current Acts

NATURE CONSERVATION ACT 2014 - SECT 145

    (1)     A person commits an offence if—

        (a)     the person damages a tree; and

        (b)     the tree is—

              (i)     a native tree; and

              (ii)     on leased land outside a built-up urban area.

Maximum penalty: 200 penalty units, imprisonment for 2 years or both.

Note     Built-up urban area —see s 139.
"Damage", a tree includes fell the tree—see s 139.
"Native tree"—see s 139.

    (2)     This section does not apply to a person if—

        (a)     the tree was planted by an occupier of the land and damaged by an occupier of the land; or

        (b)     the tree was damaged by an occupier of the land with the intention of using it on the land for a purpose other than sale; or

Note     Sell includes offer for sale (see s 126).

        (c)     the person has a reasonable excuse; or

        (d)     the person is authorised to engage in the conduct constituting the offence under a development approval under the Planning Act 2023

, chapter 7; or

        (e)     an exception under the Urban Forest Act 2023

, section 18 (Exceptions—tree damaging and prohibited groundwork offences) applies.

Note     The defendant has an evidential burden in relation to the matters mentioned in s (2) (see Criminal Code

, s 58).

    (3)     A person also has the benefit of the chapter 6 exceptions for an offence against this section.

Note     The chapter 6 exceptions are set out in s 153.