Forestry Act 1959

This Act may be cited as the Forestry Act 1959.

The dictionary in schedule 3 defines particular words used in this Act.

The chief executive may appoint a person as a forest officer if satisfied the person has the necessary expertise or experience to be a forest officer.

The chief executive may appoint an employee of a plantation operator as a plantation officer, for a specified licence area, if satisfied the employee has the necessary expertise or experience to be a plantation officer.

An appointment under this section must be made by instrument in writing.

A forest officer or plantation officer holds office on any conditions stated in—

the officer’s instrument of appointment; or

a signed notice given to the officer; or

a regulation.

A forest officer or plantation officer stops holding office if—

the term of office that is stated in a condition of office ends; or

the office ends under another condition of office; or

the officer resigns by giving the chief executive a notice signed by the officer.

Also, a plantation officer stops holding office if—

the person stops being an employee of a plantation operator; or

the delegation of power under section 96B to the plantation operator is revoked.

This section does not limit the ways in which a forest officer or plantation officer stops holding office.

In this section—condition of office means a condition on which the officer holds office.

The chief executive must issue an identity card to each forest officer and plantation officer.

The identity card must—

contain a recent photo of the person; and

contain a copy of the person’s signature; and

identify the person as a forest officer or plantation officer under this Act; and

state an expiry date for the card.

This section does not prevent the issue of a single identity card to a person for this Act and other purposes.

Without limiting subsection (3), if the person holds an office under another Act administered by the department, the identity card may identify the other office.

Despite subsection (1), the chief executive is not required to issue an identity card to—

a forest officer who is a police officer; or

a person who holds an identity card, issued under another Act by a Minister or chief executive of a department, that identifies the person as a forest officer.

When exercising a power in relation to a person in the person’s presence, a forest officer or plantation officer must—

produce the officer’s identity card for the person’s inspection before exercising the power; or

have the identity card displayed so it is clearly visible to the person.

However, if it is not practicable to comply with subsection (1), the officer must produce the identity card for the person’s inspection at the first reasonable opportunity.

This section does not apply to a forest officer who is a police officer.

Subsection (3) does not limit or otherwise affect the Police Powers and Responsibilities Act 2000, section 637.

In this section—identity card means—

an identity card issued under section 17C; or

an identity card, issued under another Act by a Minister or chief executive of a department, that identifies the person as a forest officer under this Act.

If a person stops being a forest officer or plantation officer, the person must return an identity card issued to the person under section 17C to the chief executive within 21 days after the office ends, unless the person has a reasonable excuse. Maximum penalty—50 penalty units.

Any forest officer, in addition to such other powers and duties as from time to time devolve upon the forest officer under this Act, may—

be accompanied and aided by any person the forest officer may think competent to assist the forest officer in making any inspection or examination; and

make such examination and inquiry as may be necessary to ascertain whether the provisions of this Act have been or are being complied with by any person or in respect of any State forest, timber reserve, forest entitlement area, or any forest products or quarry material, the property of the Crown; and

question, with respect to matters under this Act, the owner or occupier of any place, every person whom the forest officer finds in any place, and every person who has been within the preceding 6 months employed in or on any place to ascertain whether this Act has been or is being complied with, and require any such person to answer the questions put and to sign a declaration of the truth of the person’s answers; and

require the production of any licence, permit, or other authority granted or agreement or contract made under and for the purposes of this Act and of any book, notice, record, list, or writing which by this Act is required to be had or kept or which, in the forest officer’s reasonable opinion, may be material to an inquiry under paragraph (c), and inspect, examine, and take copies of or extracts from the same; and

at any time, search and examine all containers, vehicles, vessels, or other receptacles for holding or transporting any forest products or quarry material or reasonably suspected so to be, and for that purpose the forest officer may require the owner or person in charge thereof to open any such container, vehicle, vessel, or other receptacle, as the case may be, and expose its contents to view; and

subject to subsections (1A) and (3), enter and inspect a place in which the forest officer reasonably suspects are forest products or quarry material got or interfered with or that the forest officer reasonably suspects have been got or interfered with in contravention of this Act; and

if the forest officer finds forest products or quarry material mentioned in paragraph (g) in a place entered under that paragraph—

seize, take away and detain the forest products or quarry material together with anything (an incidental thing) including any document, equipment, gear, machinery, plant, vehicle or vessel, the officer reasonably suspects has been used or is intended to be used, in or in connection with, or is evidence of, the getting or interfering with the forest products or quarry material; and

subject to sections 82D to 82F, secure anything seized until the end of proceedings for a contravention of this Act; and

exercise such other powers, functions and authorities as may be prescribed.

The power to enter a place under subsection (1)(g) may be exercised—

for a place that is occupied land—only between sunrise and sunset or at any time with the consent of the owner or an agent or employee of the owner; or

otherwise—at any time.

The officer’s powers may be limited by—

the officer’s instrument of appointment; or

a signed notice given to the officer; or

a regulation.

Forest officer may require name and addressAny forest officer who—

finds any person committing or who reasonably suspects any person of having committed an offence against this Act; or

is making inquiries or investigations with a view to establishing whether or not an offence against this Act has been committed by any person; or

is of the opinion that the name and address of any person is required for the purpose of giving effect to any provision of this Act, or for the purpose of enabling the forest officer to carry out his or her powers and duties under this Act;

may require such person to state the person’s name and address, or name or address, and, if the forest officer has reasonable ground to suppose that the name and address, or name or address, given is false, may require evidence of the correctness thereof.

Entry into dwellingBefore a forest officer enters any part of a place, which part is being used as a dwelling at the time the entry is to be made, the forest officer shall, save where the forest officer has permission of the occupier of that part to the entry, obtain from a justice a warrant to enter.

Subsection (3) does not apply in respect of the curtilage of any premises.

A justice who is satisfied upon the complaint of a forest officer that there is reasonable cause to suspect—

that there are in any place forest products or quarry material; and

that such forest products or quarry material have been got or interfered with contrary in any respect to this Act;

may issue a warrant for the place for the purpose of a stated forest officer or any forest officer exercising a forest officer’s powers.

The warrant must state—

the place to which the warrant applies; and

that a stated forest officer or any forest officer, with necessary and reasonable help and force, may—

enter the place and any other place necessary for entry to the place; and

exercise a forest officer’s powers; and

particulars of the matters mentioned in subsection (4) that the justice considers appropriate; and

the name of the person suspected of having contravened the Act unless the name is unknown or the justice considers it inappropriate to state the name; and

the hours of the day or night when the place may be entered; and

the justice’s name; and

the day and time of the warrant’s issue; and

the day, within 1 month after the warrant’s issue, when the warrant ends.

In this section—occupied land means land on which the owner is lawfully residing.owner, of land, includes—

the lessee or licensee from the State of the land; or

the person who has lawful control of the land, on trust or otherwise; or

the person who is entitled to receive the rents and profits of the land.

A plantation officer may exercise power under this Act, including under a delegation, only for the licence area for which the plantation officer is appointed.

A plantation officer may—

take away and dispose of a notice in the licence area that has not been authorised by the chief executive for the licence area; and

require the production of any licence, permit, or other authorisation under which a person claims to be entitled to conduct an activity in the licence area that the person is conducting and inspect, examine, and take copies of the authorisation; and

require the name and address of a person the plantation officer finds committing, or whom the plantation officer reasonably suspects of having committed, an offence against this Act in the licence area.

The officer’s powers may be limited by—

the officer’s instrument of appointment; or

a signed notice given to the officer; or

a regulation.

A person who fails to comply with a requirement lawfully given or made by a plantation officer under subsection (2) without a reasonable excuse commits an offence.Maximum penalty—100 penalty units.

A person who is required under subsection (2)(c) to state the person’s name or address must not, without a reasonable excuse, state a false name or address.Maximum penalty—100 penalty units.

A person does not commit an offence against subsection (4) if the person is not proved to have committed the offence he or she was allegedly found committing or suspected of having committed.

Subsections (1) and (2) do not limit the powers of a forest officer under this Act.

In this section—commit, an offence, includes attempt to commit an offence.licence area includes part of the licence area.State forest includes part of the State forest.

In this Act, a reference to a person performing duties under this Act includes a reference to a plantation operator or plantation officer when performing duties under this Act only in the following provisions—

section 39(2)(a);

section 69A(1)(c) as it applies to section 69D;

section 84(4);

section 86(1)(a) or (h);

section 95(a) or (b);

section 96.

This section applies if a forest officer makes a requirement under section 18(1)(e) (the requirement) for the production of a document.

The document must be produced at the place and time stated in the requirement.

The place stated in the requirement—

may be other than the place where the document is ordinarily kept; but

must be reasonable in the circumstances of the making of the requirement.

The time stated in the requirement must be reasonable in the circumstances of the making of the requirement.

To avoid any doubt, it is declared that—

the document must be produced in its original form; and

the forest officer may keep possession of the document for the time the forest officer reasonably requires to exercise the forest officer’s powers under section 18(1)(e).

The forest officer may continue to keep possession of the document after the forest officer has finished exercising the forest officer’s powers under section 18(1)(e) if the forest officer is satisfied on reasonable grounds that continued retention of the document is necessary—

for the purpose of an inquiry under section 18(1)(c); or

to preserve the document as evidence for a prosecution for a contravention of this Act.

Subsection (6)(a) does not authorise retention of the document after the end of—

the time reasonably necessary to complete the inquiry; or

the first 6 months after the production of the documents.

Subsection (6)(b) does not authorise retention of the document after the end of—

if a prosecution for the contravention mentioned in subsection (6)(b) is started within the first 6 months after the production of the document—the prosecution for the contravention and any appeal from the prosecution; or

if paragraph (a) does not apply—the 6 months mentioned in paragraph (a).

Until the document is returned, the forest officer must allow a person who would be entitled to possession of it, if it had not been retained by the forest officer, to inspect it and make copies of it.