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This is a Bill, not an Act. For current law, see the Acts databases.
2002
The Parliament of
the
Commonwealth of
Australia
HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES
Presented and read a first
time
Quarantine
Amendment Bill 2002
No. ,
2002
(Agriculture, Fisheries and
Forestry)
A Bill for an Act to amend the
Quarantine Act 1908, and for related purposes
Contents
Part 1—Authorisation of officers to act in exceptional
circumstances 3
Part 2—Commercial smuggling and associated
offences 10
A Bill for an Act to amend the Quarantine Act
1908, and for related purposes
The Parliament of Australia enacts:
This Act may be cited as the Quarantine Amendment Act
2002.
(1) Each provision of this Act specified in column 1 of the table
commences, or is taken to have commenced, on the day or at the time specified in
column 2 of the table.
|
Commencement information |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Column 1 |
Column 2 |
Column 3 |
|
Provision(s) |
Commencement |
Date/Details |
|
1. Sections 1 to 3 and anything in this Act not elsewhere covered by
this table |
The day on which this Act receives the Royal Assent |
|
|
2. Schedule 1, Part 1 |
A single day to be fixed by Proclamation, subject to
subsection (3) |
|
|
3. Schedule 1, Part 2 |
The 28th day after the day on which this Act receives the Royal
Assent |
|
Note: This table relates only to the provisions of this Act
as originally passed by the Parliament and assented to. It will not be expanded
to deal with provisions inserted in this Act after assent.
(2) Column 3 of the table is for additional information that is not part
of this Act. This information may be included in any published version of this
Act.
(3) If the provisions covered by item 2 of the table do not commence
within the period of 6 months beginning on the day on which this Act receives
the Royal Assent, they commence on the first day after the end of that
period.
Each Act that is specified in a Schedule to this Act is amended or
repealed as set out in the applicable items in the Schedule concerned, and any
other item in a Schedule to this Act has effect according to its
terms.
Part 1—Authorisation
of officers to act in exceptional circumstances
1 After subsection 2B(2)
Insert:
Note: Under section 149.1 of the Criminal Code,
it is an offence to obstruct a person who is taking any action that the person
is authorised to take under this subsection.
(2A) If the Governor-General is satisfied that the epidemic or danger of
an epidemic to which a proclamation issued under subsection (1) relates has
the potential so to affect an industry of national significance that it calls
for the exercise of coordinated response powers in accordance with
section 3, the Governor-General may, in the proclamation issued under
subsection (1), declare it to be a proclamation to which section 3
applies.
(2B) A direction may be given, or an action taken, by the Minister under
subsection (2) despite the provisions of any other Commonwealth law, or of
any law of a State or Territory.
2 At the end of
section 2B
Add:
(4) In paragraph (3)(a), strict liability applies to the physical
element of circumstance, that the direction given to the person was under
subsection (2).
Note: For strict liability, see section 6.1 of the
Criminal Code.
3 After section 2B
Insert:
(1) If a proclamation under subsection 2B(1) is declared to be a
proclamation to which this section applies, the Minister may, during the period
the proclamation remains in force, by instrument in writing:
(a) authorise persons who are the executive heads of national response
agencies:
(i) to give such directions; and
(ii) to take such action;
as the persons think necessary, subject to any conditions or limitations
specified under subsection (4):
(iii) to control and eradicate the epidemic; or
(iv) to remove the danger of the epidemic;
by quarantine measures or measures incidental to quarantine; or
(b) revoke any authorisation so given.
(2) If the Minister, under subsection (1), authorises the executive
head of a national response agency to give directions, and to take action, in
accordance with that subsection, the executive head of that agency may, while
that authorisation remains in force, by instrument in writing:
(a) authorise a person performing duties in that agency:
(i) to give such directions of a kind that the executive head of the
agency could give and that are specified in the instrument; or
(ii) to take such action of a kind that the executive head of the agency
could take and that is specified in the instrument;
as the person considers necessary, subject to any conditions or
limitations specified under subsection (4):
(iii) to control and eradicate the epidemic; or
(iv) to remove the danger of the epidemic;
by quarantine measures or measures incidental to quarantine; or
(b) revoke any authorisation so given.
(3) If an authorisation is given under subsection (1) or (2) to the
holder of a specified office or position, the authorisation is to be taken to be
an authorisation of any person from time to time holding, occupying, or
performing the duties of, that office or position.
(4) An authorisation given to a person under subsection (1) or (2)
may be expressed to be subject to such conditions or other limitations (if any)
as are specified in the authorisation.
(5) If a person ceases to be the executive head of a national response
agency, any authorisation of other persons in force under subsection (2)
immediately before the cessation:
(a) is taken, on and after that cessation, to have been given by the
person’s successor and, subject to paragraph (b), continues to have
effect according to its tenor; and
(b) may, by writing, be varied or revoked by that successor.
(6) An authorisation given to a person under subsection (1) or (2)
does not affect any power that the person may be authorised to exercise apart
from this section.
(7) An authorisation given under subsection (1) or (2) in respect of
a particular epidemic or danger of an epidemic is taken to be revoked when the
proclamation issued under subsection 2B(1) in respect of that epidemic or danger
of an epidemic is revoked.
(8) A direction may be given, or an action taken, by a person under this
section despite the provisions of any other Commonwealth law, or of any law of a
State or Territory.
(9) A person is guilty of an offence if:
(a) a direction is given to the person under this section; and
(b) the person fails to comply with the direction.
Maximum penalty: Imprisonment for 10 years.
(10) In paragraph (9)(a), strict liability applies to the physical
element of circumstance, that the giving of the direction was under this
section.
Note: For strict liability, see section 6.1 of the
Criminal Code.
(11) For the avoidance of doubt, a person (including the Director of
Animal and Plant Quarantine, a Chief Quarantine Officer (Animals), a Chief
Quarantine Officer (Plants) or a quarantine officer) is not to be taken, when
acting under this Act by virtue of:
(a) an authorisation given by the Minister under subsection 3(1);
or
(b) an authorisation given by the executive head of a national response
agency under subsection 3(2);
to be acting as, exercising the powers of, or performing the functions of,
a quarantine officer.
(12) In this section, a reference to a person performing duties in an
agency includes, but is not limited to:
(a) a person performing duties in the agency under a contract;
and
(b) a person performing duties in the agency as a result of an arrangement
for the temporary provision to that agency of the services of persons ordinarily
performing other duties in the same or in another jurisdiction; and
(c) a person performing duties in the agency on a voluntary
basis.
Note: Under section 149.1 of the Criminal Code,
it is an offence to obstruct a person who is taking any action that the person
is authorised to take under this section.
4 Paragraph 4(a)
Repeal the paragraph, substitute:
(a) for, or in relation to:
(i) the examination, exclusion, detention, observation, segregation,
isolation, protection, treatment and regulation of vessels, installations, human
beings, animals, plants or other goods or things; or
(ii) the seizure and destruction of animals, plants, or other goods or
things; or
(iii) the destruction of premises comprising buildings or other structures
when treatment of these premises is not practicable; and
5 At the end of
section 4
Add:
(2) Without otherwise limiting the nature of any quarantine measure, or
measure incidental to quarantine:
(a) by way of a direction that a person may be authorised to give;
or
(b) by way of an action that a person may be authorised to take;
either as a result of a Ministerial authorisation under subsection 3(1) or
as a result of an authorisation by the executive head of a national response
agency under subsection 3(2), that direction or action must be no more than is
reasonably appropriate and adapted:
(c) to the control and eradication of the epidemic; or
(d) to the removal of the danger of the epidemic;
in respect of which the authorisation was given.
6 Subsection 5(1)
Insert:
industry of national significance means any primary industry
the disruption of which would be a matter of national significance, whether or
not the industry is involved in the export trade.
7 Subsection 5(1)
Insert:
national response agency means:
(a) the Australian Federal Police and the police force of each of the
States and the Northern Territory; and
(b) if it is declared by the Minister, by notice published in the
Gazette, to be a national response agency for the purposes of subsection
3(1):
(i) any arm or unit of the Australian Defence Force; or
(ii) any department, or part of a department, of the Commonwealth, or of a
State or Territory; or
(iii) any other agency or authority, whether incorporated or not, that is
established for a public purpose by or under a law of the Commonwealth, or of a
State or Territory.
8 After subsection 5(1)
Insert:
(1AA) Before declaring any arm or unit of the Australian Defence Force to
be a national response agency for the purposes of subsection 3(1), the Minister
must consult with the Minister having responsibility for the Defence
Force.
(1AB) Before declaring any department or part of a department of the
Commonwealth, a State or a Territory, or any other agency or authority
established by or under a law of the Commonwealth, a State or a Territory, to be
a national response agency for the purposes of subsection 3(1), the Minister
must consult with the Minister of the Commonwealth, that State or that Territory
having responsibility for the department, agency or other authority
concerned.
9 At the end of subsection
11(1)
Add:
; (c) if the Commonwealth is a party to any international agreement
requiring the certification of export products—any matters necessary or
convenient to be arranged to assist authorities of that State or Territory in
the implementation and monitoring, in that State or Territory, of arrangements
to enable that certification, and in providing reports to the Commonwealth
concerning such arrangements.
10 At the end of subsection
11(2)
Add:
; (c) if the Commonwealth is a party to any international agreement
requiring the certification of export products—any matters necessary or
convenient to be arranged to assist authorities of the Australian Capital
Territory in the implementation and monitoring, in the Australian Capital
Territory, of arrangements to enable that certification, and in providing
reports to the Commonwealth concerning such arrangements.
11 Subsection 69A(1)
Repeal the subsection, substitute:
(1) Subject to this section, where any goods (including any animal or
plant) or any premises comprising buildings or other structures are destroyed
under or in accordance with this Act, the Minister may, if he or she considers
it appropriate to do so, approve the payment of compensation under this section
in respect of those goods or premises.
12 Subsections 69A(3) and
(5)
After “goods” (wherever occurring), insert “or
premises”.
13 Subsection 69A(6)
Repeal the subsection, substitute:
(6) If a quarantine officer or other person who causes goods or premises
to be destroyed under this Act knows, at the time of the destruction of the
goods or premises, the name and address of the owner or any of the owners of the
goods or premises, the quarantine officer or other person must give written
notice of the destruction of the goods or other premises to that owner or each
of those owners, either personally or by post.
14 Subsections 69A(7), (9), (10) and
(11)
After “goods” (wherever occurring), insert “or
premises”.
15 Subsection 69A(14)
After “goods” (first, second and third occurring), insert
“or premises”.
16 Subsection 69A(14)
After “goods” (last occurring), insert “or occupying, or
otherwise in control of, the premises,”.
17 After subsection 82(1)
Insert:
(1A) A person authorised under subsection 3(1) or (2) to give such
directions, and to take such action, as the person considers necessary to
control and eradicate an epidemic or to remove the danger of an epidemic, is not
liable to any action, suit or other civil proceedings for or in relation to
anything done or omitted to be done in good faith (whether negligently or not)
by the person:
(a) in the performance or purported performance of any function or duty;
or
(b) in the exercise or purported exercise of any power;
conferred on the person under that authorisation.
Part 2—Commercial
smuggling and associated offences
18 Subsections 67(1), (2), (3) and
(4)
Repeal the subsections, substitute:
Basic illegal importation offence
(1) A person is guilty of an offence against this subsection if:
(a) the person imports, introduces, or brings into any port or other place
in Australia or the Cocos Islands any thing; and
(b) the person knows that the thing is:
(i) a disease or pest; or
(ii) a substance or article containing a disease or pest; or
(iii) an animal, plant or other goods; and
(c) the importation, introduction or bringing in of the thing is in
contravention of this Act.
Maximum penalty: Imprisonment for 10 years.
Strict liability applies to paragraph (1)(c)
(2) For the purposes of an offence against subsection (1), strict
liability applies to paragraph (1)(c).
Aggravated illegal importation offence
(3) A person is guilty of aggravated illegal importation if:
(a) the person imports, introduces, or brings into any port or other place
in Australia or the Cocos Islands any thing; and
(b) the person knows that the thing is:
(i) a disease or pest; or
(ii) a substance or article containing a disease or pest; or
(iii) an animal, plant or other goods; and
(c) the importation, introduction or bringing in of the thing is in
contravention of this Act; and
(d) the person obtains, or is likely to obtain, a commercial advantage
over the person’s competitors or potential competitors.
Maximum penalty:
(a) if the offender is an individual—imprisonment for 10 years or a
fine of 2,000 penalty units, or both; and
(b) if the offender is a body corporate—a fine of 10,000 penalty
units.
Examples of commercial advantage
(4) The following are examples of a commercial advantage as referred to in
subsection (3):
(a) the avoidance of business costs associated with obtaining an import
permit or meeting quarantine requirements; or
(b) the avoidance of delays necessarily involved in compliance with
applicable quarantine measures.
Strict liability applies to paragraph (3)(c)
(4A) For the purposes of an offence against subsection (3), strict
liability applies to paragraph (3)(c).
Illegal removal offence
(4B) A person is guilty of an offence against this subsection
if:
(a) the person removes any thing:
(i) from a part of Australia to another part of Australia; or
(ii) from a part of the Cocos Islands to another part of the Cocos
Islands; or
(iii) from Australia to the Cocos Islands; or
(iv) from the Cocos Islands to Australia; and
(b) the person knows that the thing is an animal, plant or other goods;
and
(c) the removal of the thing is in contravention of this Act.
Maximum penalty: Imprisonment for 10 years.
Strict liability applies to paragraph (4B)(c)
(4C) For the purposes of an offence against subsection (4B), strict
liability applies to paragraph (4B)(c).