Australian Capital Territory Current Acts

VETERINARY PRACTICE ACT 2018 - SECT 10

    (1)     A person commits an offence if—

        (a)     the person carries out a restricted act of veterinary science on an animal; and

        (b)     the person is not a registered veterinary practitioner with—

              (i)     general registration; or

              (ii)     specialist registration.

Maximum penalty: 50 penalty units, imprisonment for 6 months or both.

    (2)     Strict liability applies to subsection (1) (b).

    (3)     This section does not apply if—

        (a)     the person—

              (i)     is a student enrolled in a course of education in veterinary surgery or veterinary science offered by an Australian, New Zealand or other foreign institution that is accredited by AVBC or approved by the board; and

Note     AVBC —see the dictionary.

              (ii)     is carrying out the restricted act of veterinary science—

    (A)     as part of the course of education; and

    (B)     under the direct supervision of a registered veterinary practitioner; or

        (b)     the restricted act of veterinary science is necessary because the animal is in urgent need of veterinary treatment and a registered veterinary practitioner holding general registration or specialist registration is unavailable; or

        (c)     the person is a prescribed person or the restricted act of veterinary science is done in a prescribed circumstance.

Note     Other laws apply to a person who is the owner of an animal (for example, the Animal Welfare Act 1992

, s 6B, s 9C and s 19).

    (4)     In this section:

"prescribed circumstance "means a circumstance prescribed by regulation.

"prescribed person "means a person prescribed by regulation.