1Short title
This Act may be cited as the National Health Security Act 2007.
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Bill homepage (APH)This Act may be cited as the National Health Security Act 2007.
Each provision of this Act specified in column 1 of the table commences, or is taken to have commenced, in accordance with column 2 of the table. Any other statement in column 2 has effect according to its terms.
Commencement information | ||
|---|---|---|
Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
Provision(s) | Commencement | Date/Details |
1. Sections 1 to 5 and anything in this Act not elsewhere covered by this table | The day on which this Act receives the Royal Assent. | 28 September 2007 |
2. Part 2 | A single day to be fixed by Proclamation. However, if any of the provision(s) 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. | 28 March 2008 |
3. Part 3 | A day or days to be fixed by Proclamation. However, if any of the provision(s) do not commence within the period of 18 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. | 31 January 2009 (see F2008L04297) |
4. Part 4 | The day on which this Act receives the Royal Assent. | 28 September 2007 |
This table relates only to the provisions of this Act as originally passed by both Houses of the Parliament and assented to. It will not be expanded to deal with provisions inserted in this Act after assent.
Column 3 of the table contains additional information that is not part of this Act. Information in this column may be added to or edited in any published version of this Act.
In this Act:
Australia, when used in a geographical sense, includes the external Territories.
Australian means an Australian citizen or a permanent resident.
Australian Centre for Disease Control means the Australian Centre for Disease Control established by section 7 of the Australian Centre for Disease Control Act 2025.
Australian territory has the meaning given by section 12 of the Biosecurity Act 2015.
biological agents includes:
bacteria and viruses; and
toxins derived from biological sources, including animals, plants and microbes.
coronial inquiry means a coronial inquiry, coronial investigation or coronial inquest under a law of the Commonwealth, or of a State or Territory.
Director‑General of the CDC means the Director‑General of the Australian Centre for Disease Control appointed under section 10 of the Australian Centre for Disease Control Act 2025.
disease means an illness or medical condition (other than an injury), irrespective of origin or source, that presents or could present significant harm to humans.
dispose of a biological agent means the transfer or destruction of the biological agent.
emergency maintenance of a facility has the meaning given by subsection 55AA(1).
emergency maintenance period for an emergency maintenance report has the meaning given by section 55AB.
emergency maintenance report for a facility has the meaning given by subsection 55AA(2).
enactment means:
an Act of the Commonwealth, a State or a Territory; or
an instrument (including rules, regulations and by‑laws) made under an Act of the Commonwealth, a State or a Territory.
entity means any of the following:
an individual;
a body corporate;
an agency or instrumentality of the Commonwealth, a State or a Territory.
event, for the purposes of Part 2, means:
an occurrence of disease, injury or death; or
an occurrence, including the release of a chemical, biological or radiological agent, that creates the potential for disease, injury or death.
evidential material means any of the following:
a thing with respect to which an offence against Part 3 of this Act, or the Crimes (Biological Weapons) Act 1976, has been committed or is suspected, on reasonable grounds, to have been committed;
a thing that there are reasonable grounds for suspecting will afford evidence as to the commission of any such offence;
a thing that there are reasonable grounds for suspecting is intended to be used for the purpose of committing any such offence.
exempt entity has the meaning given by section 40.
facility includes:
a building, or part of a building; and
a laboratory (including a mobile laboratory).
handling a biological agent includes:
receiving, holding, using and storing the biological agent; and
any operation incidental to, or arising out of, any of those operations.
Subsection 39(2) affects when an entity is treated for the purposes of Division 5 of Part 3 as handling a security‑sensitive biological agent that is a toxin.
An entity that handles a biological agent only for the purpose of transporting it from one place to another place is exempt from the requirements of Division 5 of Part 3: see subsection 40(1).
inspector means a person appointed as an inspector under section 63.
intelligence agency means a Commonwealth government agency that has responsibility for intelligence gathering or security.
International Health Regulations means the International Health Regulations 2005, done at Geneva on 23 May 2005, as in force for Australia from time to time.
In 2007, the text of the International Health Regulations was accessible through the Australian Treaties Library on the AustLII website (www.austlii.edu.au).
legitimate purpose, for an entity to handle a security‑sensitive biological agent, has the meaning given by section 41.
listed human disease has the meaning given by section 42 of the Biosecurity Act 2015.
List of Security‑sensitive Biological Agents means the list established under section 31, as the list is in force from time to time.
monitoring warrant means a warrant issued under section 69.
National Focal Point has the meaning given by section 9.
National Health Security Agreement means the agreement entered into by the Minister under section 7, as the Agreement is in force from time to time.
National Notifiable Disease List means the list established under section 11, as the list is in force from time to time.
National Register means the National Register of Security‑sensitive Biological Agents established under section 36, as the National Register is in force from time to time.
offence‑related powers has the meaning given by section 70A.
offence‑related warrant means:
a warrant issued by a magistrate under section 70M; or
a warrant signed by a magistrate under section 70N.
overseas mass casualty means an event occurring overseas, if:
more than one person (whether an Australian or otherwise):
is affected by a disease, or is injured or dies; and
needs to be repatriated, identified or treated, or needs to be brought to Australia for treatment; and
a responsible Commonwealth, State or Territory body is involved in responding to the event.
permanent resident means a person who is, within the meaning of the Migration Act 1958, the holder of a permanent visa.
permissible purpose has the meaning given by section 8.
personal information has the same meaning as in the Privacy Act 1988.
person assisting an inspector has the meaning given by section 70B.
premises includes the following:
a facility;
a place (including an area of land);
any part of premises (including premises referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b)).
protected information:
for the purposes of Part 2—has the meaning given by section 18; and
for the purposes of Part 3—has the meaning given by section 84.
public health event of national significance means any of the following events:
one or more cases or potential cases of a disease listed on the National Notifiable Disease List;
an urgent event;
an overseas mass casualty;
if a national emergency declaration (within the meaning of the National Emergency Declaration Act 2020) is in force—an emergency to which the declaration relates, if the emergency relates to public health;
a public health risk (other than an event covered by paragraph (a), (b), (c) or (ca)).
public health observation means the monitoring of the health of a person for the purposes of determining the risk of transmission of a disease.
public health risk means an event:
that might adversely affect the health of human populations; and
that satisfies any one or more of the following conditions:
the health effects of the event might spread within Australia;
the health effects of the event might spread between Australia and another country;
the health effects of the event might spread between 2 other countries;
the event might present a serious and direct danger.
register an entity means include the entity on the National Register in relation to one or more security‑sensitive biological agents handled by the entity at one or more facilities.
registered entity means an entity that is registered under section 44 or 47.
reportable event means an event referred to in subsection 48(1).
reportable quantity, in relation to a toxin included in the List of Security‑sensitive Biological Agents, means the quantity (if any) specified in the list as the reportable quantity of that toxin.
responsible Commonwealth, State or Territory body, when used in a provision of Part 2, means a body that is determined under subsection (2) to be a responsible Commonwealth, State or Territory body for the purposes of the provision of Part 2.
reviewable decision, for the purposes of Division 8 of Part 3, has the meaning given by section 80.
sample of a biological agent includes:
a subculture of the agent; and
a preparation made from the agent.
security‑sensitive biological agent means a biological agent that is included in the List of Security‑sensitive Biological Agents.
SSBA means security‑sensitive biological agent.
SSBA Standards means the standards determined by the Minister under section 35.
State or Territory Health Minister means:
the Minister of a State; or
the Minister of the Australian Capital Territory; or
the Minister of the Northern Territory;
who is responsible, or principally responsible, for the administration of matters relating to health in the State, the Australian Capital Territory or the Northern Territory, as the case may be.
State Party means a State that is a signatory to the International Health Regulations.
temporary handling disposal report for a sample of a security‑sensitive biological agent has the meaning given by subsection 60AD(2).
temporary handling period for a sample of a security‑sensitive biological agent has the meaning given by section 60AB.
temporary handling report for a sample of a security‑sensitive biological agent has the meaning given by subsection 60AA(1).
temporary handling Standard has the meaning given by section 60AJ.
traveller means a person undertaking a voyage in which the person enters, or will enter, a country other than the country from which the person began the voyage.
urgent event means an event:
that causes, or creates the potential for, levels of disease, injury or death above the levels that would otherwise be expected for the time and place where the event occurs; and
in respect of which any of the following applies:
the event has or might have a serious impact on public health;
in the case of a disease—the event is unusual or unexpected, and has a high potential to spread (whether within Australia or between Australia and another country);
otherwise—the event is unusual or unexpected, and the health effects of the event have a high potential to spread (whether within Australia or between Australia and another country).
For examples of events that might have a serious impact on public health, see the examples under question I of Annex 2 of the International Health Regulations (“Is the public health impact of the event serious?”).
For examples of events that are unusual or unexpected, see the examples under question II of Annex 2 of the International Health Regulations (“Is the event unusual or unexpected?”).
The Minister may, by legislative instrument, determine any of the following bodies to be a responsible Commonwealth, State or Territory body for the purposes of a provision of Part 2:
one or more bodies of the Commonwealth;
one or more bodies, nominated by a State or Territory Health Minister, of each State, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory.
This Act binds the Crown in right of the Commonwealth, of each of the States, of the Australian Capital Territory and of the Northern Territory.
This Act does not make the Crown liable to be prosecuted for an offence.
This Act extends to every external Territory.
The objects of this Part are:
to provide a national system of public health surveillance to enhance the capacity of the Commonwealth and the States and Territories to identify, and respond to, public health events of national significance which include:
the occurrence of certain communicable diseases; or
certain releases of chemical, biological or radiological agents; or
the occurrence of public health risks; or
the occurrence of overseas mass casualties; and
to provide for the sharing of information with:
the World Health Organization; and
countries affected by an event relating to public health or an overseas mass casualty; and
to support the Commonwealth and the States and Territories in giving effect to the International Health Regulations (other than as mentioned in paragraphs (a) and (b)).
The Minister, on behalf of the Commonwealth, may enter into an agreement with the States, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory for any one or more of the following purposes:
providing for the sharing of information between the Commonwealth, the States and the Territories in relation to communicable diseases, in order to enhance:
the understanding of the epidemiology of those diseases; and
the understanding of the threats of those diseases; and
the ability within Australia to respond to those diseases;
formalising and enhancing consultation between the Commonwealth, the States and the Territories in relation to public health events of national significance;
enhancing the ability within Australia to identify and respond quickly to public health events of national significance;
facilitating the monitoring of public health events of national significance within Australia.
Subsection (1) does not, by implication, limit the executive power of the Commonwealth to enter into agreements.
This subsection allows the National Health Security Agreement to cover purposes other than those mentioned in subsection (1).
For the purposes of this Part, each of the following is a permissible purpose:
preventing, protecting against, controlling or responding to a public health event of national significance (other than an overseas mass casualty);
giving effect to the International Health Regulations (other than as mentioned in paragraph (a));
if an Australian suffers from a disease, or is injured or dies, as a result of an overseas mass casualty—facilitating:
the identification of the Australian (whether in Australia or overseas); and
the repatriation of the Australian to Australia; and
the treatment of the Australian (whether in Australia or overseas);
if a person who is not an Australian suffers from a disease, or is injured or dies, as a result of an overseas mass casualty—facilitating:
the identification of the person (whether within Australia or overseas); and
bringing the person to Australia for treatment; and
the treatment in Australia of the person;
preventing, or reducing the possibility of, a listed human disease entering, or emerging, establishing itself or spreading in, Australian territory or a part of Australian territory;
preventing a listed human disease from spreading to another country.
The National Focal Point means:
the Director‑General of the CDC; and
the persons, offices or positions (if any) nominated in writing by the Director‑General for the purposes of this section.
The functions of the National Focal Point are the following:
to liaise with responsible Commonwealth, State or Territory bodies in relation to public health events of national significance;
to liaise with and be accessible to the World Health Organization and States Parties at all times for the purposes of giving effect to the International Health Regulations;
to liaise with responsible Commonwealth, State or Territory bodies for the purposes of giving effect to the International Health Regulations;
any other functions given to the National Focal Point under:
this Act or the regulations; or
any other Act.
The Minister must, by legislative instrument, establish a list of diseases, to be called the National Notifiable Disease List.
The Minister may include a disease in the list if the Minister considers that an outbreak of the disease would be a public health risk.
The Minister may vary the list by:
adding a disease if the Minister considers that an outbreak of the disease would be a public health risk; or
removing a disease if the Minister no longer considers that an outbreak of the disease would be a public health risk.
A variation under subsection (3) is a legislative instrument.
In making or varying the list, the Minister must consult:
the Director‑General of the CDC; and
each State or Territory Health Minister.
In addition to the Minister’s power, under subsection 11(3), to vary the National Notifiable Disease List, the Minister or the Director‑General of the CDC may vary the list by adding a disease if the Minister or the Director‑General (as the case requires) considers that an outbreak of the disease would be a public health risk.
A variation under subsection (1) is a legislative instrument.
If, under subsection (1), the Minister varies the list, the Minister is not required to consult:
the Director‑General of the CDC; or
any State or Territory Health Minister.
At the end of the period of 6 months after the list is varied under subsection (1), the variation ceases to have effect unless the Minister has made a determination under subsection (6).
A particular disease may not be added to the list under subsection (1) more than once.
After consulting:
the Director‑General of the CDC; and
each State or Territory Health Minister;
the Minister may determine that the variation continues to have effect if the Minister considers that an outbreak of the disease that is included in the variation would be a public health risk.
A determination under subsection (6) is a legislative instrument.
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