Western Australian Current Acts Western Australian Current Acts (1) In this Act,
unless the contrary intention appears —
activity licence has the meaning given in section
64;
appropriate enforcement agency , in relation to
the provision in which the term is used, means the enforcement agency
prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of that provision;
approved form means a form approved by the Chief
Health Officer;
authorised officer has the meaning given in
subsection (2);
CEO has the meaning given in the
Health Legislation Administration Act 1984 section 3;
certificate of registration has the meaning given
in section 64;
Chief Health Officer means the person designated
as the Chief Health Officer under section 11;
child care service —
(a)
means —
(i)
an education and care service as defined in the Education
and Care Services National Law (Western Australia) section 5(1); or
(ii)
a child care service as defined in the
Child Care Services Act 2007 section 4;
but
(b) does
not include a child care service prescribed for the purposes of this
definition;
Commissioner of Police means the person holding or
acting in the office of Commissioner of Police under the Police Act 1892 ;
community kindergarten means a kindergarten
registered under the School Education Act 1999 Part 5;
compulsory education period has the meaning given
in the School Education Act 1999 section 6;
COVID-19 declaration has the meaning given in the
Emergency Management Act 2005 section 77C(1);
COVID-19 management has the meaning given in the
Emergency Management Act 2005 section 77B;
Department means the department of the Public
Service principally assisting in the administration of this Act;
departmental officer —
(a)
means a public service officer employed in the Department; and
(b)
includes a public service officer appointed for the purposes of, or to assist
in the administration of, an Act to which the Health Legislation
Administration Act 1984 applies under section 4 of that Act;
emergency area means the area or areas to which a
public health state of emergency declaration applies;
emergency management means the management of the
adverse effects of a public health emergency, including —
(a)
prevention — the mitigation or prevention of the probability of the
occurrence of a public health emergency, and of the potential adverse effects
of a public health emergency; and
(b)
preparedness — the preparation for the response to a public health
emergency; and
(c)
response — the combating of the effects of a public health emergency,
provision of emergency assistance for casualties, reduction of further damage
and help to speed recovery; and
(d)
recovery — the support of communities affected by a public health
emergency in the reconstruction and restoration of physical infrastructure,
the environment and community, psychosocial and economic wellbeing;
emergency officer means —
(a) the
Chief Health Officer; or
(b) an
authorised officer or other person who is authorised by the Chief Health
Officer under section 174(2);
emergency power means a power provided for in Part
12 Division 5;
employed in the Department includes seconded to
perform functions or services for, or duties in the service of, the
Department;
enforcement agency means —
(a) the
Chief Health Officer; or
(b) a
local government; or
(c) a
person or body, or a person or body within a class of persons or bodies,
prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this definition;
enforcement order means an enforcement order
issued under Part 14 Division 3;
environmental health officer means an
environmental health officer appointed under section 17;
general public health duty means the requirement
imposed by section 34(1);
harm includes physical or psychological harm to
individuals, whether of long-term or immediate impact or effect;
health profession has the meaning given in the
Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (Western Australia) section 5;
IDEC declaration has the meaning given in
section 202A(1);
improvement notice means an improvement notice
issued under Part 14 Division 2;
judicial officer means a JP or a magistrate;
material public health risk —
(a)
means a public health risk involving potential harm to public health that is
neither trivial nor negligible; and
(b)
includes a public health risk declared by the regulations to be a material
public health risk; but
(c) does
not include a public health risk declared by the regulations not to be a
material public health risk;
medical examination includes —
(a) the
taking of a sample of blood, urine, tissue or hair, or another biological
specimen; and
(b) the
performance of any diagnostic examination or diagnostic procedure;
medical practitioner means a person registered
under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (Western Australia) in
the medical profession (other than as a student);
midwife means a person registered under the Health
Practitioner Regulation National Law (Western Australia) in the midwifery
profession (other than as a student);
needle and syringe programme means a programme to
do one or more of the following principally for the purpose of preventing the
spread of infectious diseases that are carried in the blood —
(a) to
supply people with any of the following —
(i)
sterile hypodermic syringes;
(ii)
sterile hypodermic needles;
(iii)
things that may be used in connection with the
administration, by injection, of prohibited drugs (as defined in the
Misuse of Drugs Act 1981 section 3(1)), for example, swabs and spoons;
(b) to
facilitate the safe disposal, after use, of any of the things mentioned in
paragraph (a);
(c) to
advise, counsel or disseminate information to people;
notifiable infectious disease means an infectious
disease declared under section 90 to be a notifiable infectious disease;
notifiable infectious disease-related condition
means a medical condition declared under section 91 to be a notifiable
infectious disease-related condition;
nurse means a person registered under the Health
Practitioner Regulation National Law (Western Australia) in the nursing
profession (other than as a student);
nurse practitioner means a person registered under
the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (Western Australia) in the
nursing profession (other than as a student) whose registration under that Law
is endorsed as nurse practitioner;
personal details , in relation to a person, means
—
(a) the
person’s full name; and
(b) the
person’s date of birth; and
(c) the
address where the person is residing; and
(d) the
address where the person usually resides, if that is different from the
address referred to in paragraph (c);
premises includes —
(a) land
(whether vacant or not); and
(b) land
covered by water, whether permanently or temporarily or from time to time; and
(c) the
whole or any part of a building or other structure, of whatever type and
whether of a permanent or temporary nature; and
(d) a
vehicle;
prescribed condition of health has the meaning
given in section 148;
public authority means —
(a) an
agency as defined in the Public Sector Management Act 1994 section 3(1); or
(b) a
body, corporate or unincorporate, that is established or continued for a
public purpose by the State, regardless of the way it is established; or
(c) a
local government; or
(d) a
regional local government, but only in Part 12 and section 299; or
(da) a
regional subsidiary; or
(e) the
Police Force of Western Australia; or
(f) a
person or body, or a person or body within a class of persons or bodies,
prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this paragraph;
public health means the health of individuals in
the context of —
(a) the
wider health and wellbeing of the community; and
(b) the
combination of safeguards, policies and programmes designed to protect,
maintain, promote and improve the health of individuals and their communities
and to prevent and reduce the incidence of illness and disability;
public health emergency means an event or
circumstance, or a series of events or circumstances, that is causing or
contributing to, has caused or contributed to or may cause or contribute to
serious adverse effects on public health;
public health emergency management plan means a
public health emergency management plan prepared under section 165;
public health official means —
(a) a
departmental officer; or
(b) a
person employed or engaged in a health service provider (as defined in the
Health Services Act 2016 section 6);
public health order means a public health order
made under section 116;
public health risk means a risk of harm to public
health;
public health risk activity means —
(a) an
activity declared by the regulations to be a public health risk activity; or
(b) an
activity within a class of activities declared by the regulations to be public
health risk activities;
public health state of emergency means a public
health state of emergency declared under section 167;
public health state of emergency declaration means
a declaration of a public health state of emergency under section 167;
quarantine direction , in relation to a person,
means a direction under Part 11 Division 2 or Part 12 Division 5, or under the
Emergency Management Act 2005 Part 6 Division 1 or 1A or Part 6A Division 4,
the effect of which is that the person must remain —
(a) at
premises for quarantine-related purposes; or
(b) in
an area for quarantine-related purposes; or
(c)
quarantined from other persons;
remote communication means any way of
communicating at a distance, including by telephone, fax, email and radio;
sample , except in section 240(1)(f), means a
sample taken, in accordance with accepted medical practice, from any part of
the body of a person, including a sample of blood, urine, tissue or hair, or
another biological specimen;
school means a government school, or a
non-government school, as defined in the School Education Act 1999 section 4;
senior next of kin , in relation to a deceased
person, has the meaning given in the Coroners Act 1996 section 37(5);
senior police officer means a police officer who
is, or is acting as, a Superintendent or an officer of a rank more senior than
a Superintendent;
serious public health incident power means a power
provided for in section 157(1);
serious public health risk —
(a)
means a public health risk involving potential harm to public health that is
irreversible, of a high impact or on a wide scale; and
(b)
includes a public health risk declared by the regulations to be a serious
public health risk; but
(c) does
not include a public health risk declared by the regulations not to be a
serious public health risk;
student , in relation to a health profession, has
the meaning given in section 202MA;
test order means an order made under section 100;
urgently notifiable infectious disease means a
notifiable infectious disease declared under section 90 to be an urgently
notifiable infectious disease;
urgently notifiable infectious disease-related
condition means a notifiable infectious disease-related condition declared
under section 91 to be an urgently notifiable infectious disease-related
condition;
vaccine preventable notifiable infectious disease
means a notifiable infectious disease declared under section 90 to be a
vaccine preventable notifiable infectious disease;
vehicle —
(a)
means any means of transport, whether self-propelled or not, and whether used
on land or sea or in the air; and
(b)
without limiting paragraph (a), includes —
(i)
a caravan, trailer or other land vehicle; and
(ii)
a vessel;
vessel —
(a)
means any thing used, or capable of being used, in navigation by water, of
whatever size and whether or not it has any means of propulsion; and
(b)
without limiting paragraph (a), includes the following —
(i)
a houseboat, pontoon or raft;
(ii)
a hovercraft, seaplane or other similar craft;
(iii)
a submarine or other submersible;
working day means a day other than a Saturday, a
Sunday or a public holiday.
(2) A reference in a
provision of this Act to an authorised officer —
(a) is a
reference to a person who is an authorised officer by virtue of a designation
under section 24, but (except in a provision listed in the Table) only if that
designation has effect for the purposes of the provision in which that
reference occurs; and
(ab)
includes a reference to the Chief Health Officer; and
(b)
includes a reference to an authorised officer exercising powers as an
emergency officer.
Table
|
Part 2 Division 4 |
sections 136, 137, 138, 139 and 141 |
|
Parts 11 and 12 |
section 226(1)(b) |
|
sections 245, 247, 249, 251, 252, 253, 254, 255, 257, 258 and 259 |
sections 280, 285 and 297 |
[Section 4 amended: No. 26 of 2016 s. 82; No. 4 of
2018 s. 117; No. 14 of 2019 s. 4; No. 33 of 2020 s. 4; No. 33 of 2022 s. 19;
No. 9 of 2023 s. 126; No. 20 of 2023 s. 6.]