Tasmanian Bills Fact Sheets Tasmanian Bills Fact Sheets[Index] [Search] [Download] [Bill] [Help]
FACT SHEET
Litter Amendment Bill 2018
This Bill provides new and updated measures for the control and management of illegal
dumping of litter and amends the current Litter Act 2007.
The amendments will assist in implementing aspects of the Government’s 2018 election
campaign document Safeguarding Tasmania’s Unique Natural Environment; in particular
the commitment to introduce a new category for illegal dumping of waste, with stricter
penalties commensurate with the offence and waste disposal costs.
The Bill has been assessed under the Legislation Review Program and has been found
not to restrict competition or have a significant negative impact on business.
The current Litter Act prohibits the deposit of litter in the environment and provides a
legal basis for the Litter Hotline run by EPA Tasmania. The Act’s focus is on ‘low-level’
offences such as discarding wrappers and cigarette butts in the street or from vehicles,
unlawfully affixing documents to vehicles or structures and insecure delivery of
unsolicited documents.
Current penalties typically do not exceed 50 penalty units and are mostly for individual
rather than corporate offenders. These penalties are unlikely to deter more serious or
large scale dumping of material such as tyres, asbestos and other building waste.
The Litter Amendment Bill 2018 deals with these limitations by:
1. Introducing new offences of:
Dumping litter with a volume of between 55 litres (~one large bag) and 2
cubic metres (~1 large trailer load);
Dumping litter with a volume of between 2 and 10 cubic metres (~ one
large truckload);
Dumping litter with a volume exceeding 10 cubic metres; and
Destroying, damaging, removing or otherwise interfering with relevant
recording cameras being used for the detection and investigation of
unauthorised or unlawful depositing of litter.
2. Setting court penalties for individuals and bodies corporate that reflect the
seriousness of the offence, including:
Fines of up to 200 penalty units ($32,600) for an individual and up to 500
penalty units ($81,500) for a body corporate.
Potential forfeit of any vehicle, vessel and trailer used in illegal dumping;
and
A potential special penalty repayment of any monetary benefit obtained as
a result of the offence, as an additional penalty.
Page 1 of 2
Commencement of the Litter Amendment Bill 2018 is upon Proclamation, allowing
time for the development of appropriate Regulations relating to Infringement Notices
for the new offences.
Page 2 of 2