Biosecurity Act 2014

Statutory compensation is not payable to a person who suffers loss of or damage to property arising out of a biosecurity response—

if the conduct of the person materially contributed to the loss or damage; or

if the biosecurity event that the biosecurity response was directed at addressing could reasonably be expected to have caused the loss or damage, regardless of the happening of the biosecurity response; orExamples of loss or damage in the context of paragraph (b)—

1 An authorised officer destroys a dog because it has contracted rabies. The dog could reasonably have been expected to die as a result of contracting the rabies.

2 An inspector demolishes an outbuilding to eradicate an insect borer. As the borer has damaged the outbuilding irreparably and it would have been structurally unsound, it could reasonably be expected that the outbuilding would have had to have been demolished.

if the biosecurity response was directed at addressing the risk posed by the existence of biosecurity matter and the property was infested or infected with the biosecurity matter when the loss or damage happened; or

if the biosecurity response was directed at addressing the risk posed by the existence of biosecurity matter that is a contaminant and the contaminant was present in the property in an amount more than the maximum acceptable level prescribed under a regulation for the property when the loss or damage happened; or

if the biosecurity response was directed at addressing the risk posed by the existence of biosecurity matter and when the loss or damage happened, the property was likely to have become infested or infected with the biosecurity matter; or

if—

the biosecurity response was directed at addressing the risk posed by the existence of biosecurity matter; and

before the loss or damage happened, the property became infested or infected with the biosecurity matter; and

the property was no longer infested or infected when the loss or damage happened, whether or not this was known at the time of the loss or damage; or

Example of damage in the context of paragraph (f)—damage caused to an animal by the taking of a sample to find out whether an infection is still present

if—

the biosecurity response was directed at addressing the risk posed by the existence of biosecurity matter; and

the biosecurity response was necessary because of an act or omission of the owner of the property or of a person acting under the owner’s express or implied authority; and

the act or omission caused or contributed to, or was likely to cause or contribute to, the spread of the biosecurity matter; or

if—

the biosecurity response was directed at addressing the risk posed by the existence of biosecurity matter; and

the biosecurity response was necessary because of an act or omission of the owner of the property or of a person acting under the owner’s express or implied authority; and

the owner of the property is found guilty of an offence under this Act constituted completely or partly by the act or omission; or

to the extent that the loss or damage is recovered or recoverable by the person under a policy of insurance.

For subsection (1)(e), the chief executive may decide on and publish on the department’s website a methodology for calculating whether property was likely to become infested or infected.