Litter Act 2004

A person commits an offence if—

the person deposits litter at a public place; and

the nature of the litter or the way the litter is deposited is likely to injure a person or animal, or to damage property.

A person commits an offence if—

the person deposits litter at a public place; and

the litter is any of the following:

a cigarette or cigarette butt whether lit or unlit;

a match or similar item whether lit or unlit;

a syringe.

Subsections (1) and (2) do not apply if the depositing of the litter is accidental and the person takes all reasonable steps to retrieve the litter.

Subsection (2) does not apply to—

the depositing of the litter in a public place in a receptacle that is—

provided or designed to be used for litter; and

appropriate for litter of that size, shape, nature and volume; or

the depositing of litter in accordance with an invitation from a public servant in the exercise of the public servant’s functions; or

for litter mentioned in subsection (2) (b) (i) or (ii)—

the placing of a receptacle containing litter at a public place for the litter to be removed by a waste collection service; or

the depositing of litter at a public landfill or waste facility in accordance with the requirements for depositing litter at the landfill or facility.

The defendant has an evidential burden in relation to the matters mentioned in s (3) and s (4) (see Criminal Code, s 58).

An offence against subsection (2) is a strict liability offence.

In this section:

anything designed for use, or intended to be used, as part of a hypodermic syringe; and

a needle designed for use, or intended to be used, in relation to a hypodermic syringe.