Customs Act 1901

The owner of goods intended for export:

must ensure that the goods are entered for export; and

must not allow the goods:

if the goods are a ship or aircraft that is to be exported otherwise than in a ship or aircraft—to leave the place of exportation; or

if the goods are other goods—to be loaded on the ship or aircraft in which they are to be exported;

an authority to deal with them is in force; or

the goods are, or are included in a class of goods that are, excluded by the regulations from the application of this paragraph.

An offence against subsection (1) is an offence of strict liability.

Subsection (1) does not apply to:

goods that are accompanied or unaccompanied personal or household effects of a passenger in, or a member of the crew of, a ship or aircraft; and

goods (other than prescribed goods) constituting, or included in, a consignment that:

is consigned by post, by ship or by aircraft from one person to another; and

has an FOB value not exceeding $2,000 or such other amount as is prescribed.

containers that are the property of a person carrying on business in Australia and that are exported on a temporary basis to be re‑imported, whether empty or loaded; and

containers that are intended for use principally in the international carriage of goods, other than containers that, when exported from Australia, cease, or are intended to cease, to be the property of a natural person resident, or a body corporate incorporated, in Australia; and

goods that, under the regulations, are exempted from this section, either absolutely or on such terms and conditions as are specified in the regulations.

However, subsection (2) does not exempt from subsection (1) goods for the export of which a permission (however described) is required by an Act or an instrument made under an Act, other than goods or classes of goods prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this subsection.

For the purposes of paragraph (2)(a), goods:

in quantities exceeding what could reasonably be expected to be required by a passenger or member of the crew of a ship or aircraft for his or her own use; or

that are, to the knowledge or belief of a passenger or a member of the crew of a ship or aircraft, to be sold, or used in the course of trading, outside Australia;