Exhibited Animals Act 2015

This Act may be cited as the Exhibited Animals Act 2015.

Subject to subsection (2), this Act commences on a day to be fixed by proclamation.

If a provision of this Act does not commence before 1 July 2016, it commences on that day.

The Acts Interpretation Act 1954, section 15DA does not apply to this Act.

The main purpose of this Act is to provide for exhibiting and dealing with exhibited animals.

It is also a purpose of this Act to ensure the relevant risks and relevant adverse effects associated with exhibiting and dealing with exhibited animals are prevented or minimised.

The purposes of this Act are to be achieved primarily by—

imposing a general obligation on persons exhibiting and dealing with exhibited animals to prevent or minimise the relevant risks and relevant adverse effects associated with exhibiting and dealing with exhibited animals; and

requiring that authorities be obtained to allow particular animals to be exhibited; and

imposing additional obligations on persons exhibiting or dealing with authorised animals under exhibited animal authorities; and

providing for monitoring and enforcement of compliance with this Act; and

providing for codes of practice relating to a person’s obligations under this Act; and

providing for the chief executive to make guidelines about the application of this Act and how a person may comply with obligations imposed under this Act.

This Act binds all persons, including the State and, so far as the legislative power of the Parliament permits, the Commonwealth and the other States.

Subsection (1) does not make the State, the Commonwealth or another State liable to be prosecuted for an offence.

This Act does not apply to the State for an animal only because it is—

a protected animal or an animal in the wild; and

the property of the State under the Nature Conservation Act, another Act or the common law.

Note—See the Nature Conservation Act, section 83.

Unless this Act otherwise states, it does not affect the application of—

the Animal Care and Protection Act 2001; or

the Biosecurity Act; or

the Nature Conservation Act; or

the Work Health and Safety Act 2011.

However, this Act does apply to the NCA chief executive if the NCA chief executive is exhibiting or dealing with an exhibited animal only under the authority of the Nature Conservation Act, section 173P.

No provision of this Act creates a civil cause of action based on a contravention of the provision.

This Act does not affect or limit a civil right or remedy that exists apart from this Act, whether at common law or otherwise.

Without limiting subsection (1), compliance with this Act does not necessarily show that a civil obligation that exists apart from this Act has been satisfied or has not been breached.

This Act does not apply to exhibiting or dealing with an animal if—

the animal is of a species mentioned in schedule 1; or

the animal is authorised or permitted to be exhibited under the Biosecurity Act or Nature Conservation Act; or

the animal can be lawfully exhibited and dealt with (without an exhibited animal authority or a licence, permit or other authority under the Biosecurity Act or Nature Conservation Act) and any of the following apply—

the animal is being used for scientific purposes;

the animal is displayed for the purpose of its sale;

the animal is displayed for no longer than 11 days at a time; orExamples for subparagraph (iii)—

• displaying an animal at an agricultural show or community event

• displaying Gouldian finches at a meeting of a bird fanciers’ association

• displaying an animal for ‘show and tell’ in a school classroom

the animal is a protected animal being rehabilitated for return to the wild and is displayed under the authority of the Nature Conservation Act, section 173P(1), for 1 or more of the following purposes—

to give public information about the ecological role of that species of animal;

to promote education about, and the conservation of, that species of animal;

to promote an understanding of ecology and the conservation of that species of animal;

to raise funds to assist in providing care and treatment for animals being rehabilitated for return to the wild; or

the animal is international wildlife or a protected animal, other than an animal mentioned in paragraph (d), that is displayed under the authority of the Nature Conservation Act, section 173P(1), for no longer than 11 days at a time.

However, if an animal as mentioned in subsection (1)(c)(iii) or (e) is displayed for a commercial purpose, this Act does apply to exhibiting or dealing with the animal.

In this section—scientific purposes see the Animal Care and Protection Act 2001, section 48.

The dictionary in schedule 2 defines particular words used in this Act.

Generally, an animal is any live member of the animal kingdom, other than a human being.

In relation to dealing with an exhibited animal, an animal includes—

the animal at each stage of its life cycle; andExamples—

• a pre-natal or pre-hatched creature

• larvae or pupae

• an embryo

the whole or any part of the genetic or reproductive material of the animal.

Examples—an ovum, semen