Definitions

In force

(1)

In this Act —

accredited organisation means an organisation accredited under Part 7 Division 3;

Administrative Appeals Tribunal means the Administrative Appeals Tribunal established by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1975 of the Commonwealth;

aggravated offence has the meaning given by section 38;

Commonwealth Act means the Gene Technology Act 2000 of the Commonwealth;

Commonwealth authority means the following —

(a)

a body corporate established for a public purpose by or under a Commonwealth Act; or

(b)

a company in which a controlling interest is held by any one of the following persons, or by 2 or more of the following persons together —

(i)

the Commonwealth;

(ii)

a body covered by paragraph (a);

(iii)

a body covered by either of the above subparagraphs;

Commonwealth Environment Minister means the Minister of State for the Commonwealth responsible for environment and conservation;

confidential commercial information means information declared by the Regulator to be confidential commercial information under section 185;

Consultative Committee means the Gene Technology Community Consultative Committee established by section 106 of the Commonwealth Act;

containment level, in relation to a facility, means the degree of physical confinement of GMOs provided by the facility, having regard to the design of the facility, the equipment located or installed in the facility and the procedures generally used within the facility;

deal with, in relation to a GMO, means the following —

(a)

conduct experiments with the GMO;

(b)

make, develop, produce or manufacture the GMO;

(c)

breed the GMO;

(d)

propagate the GMO;

(e)

use the GMO in the course of manufacture of a thing that is not the GMO;

(f)

grow, raise or culture the GMO; or

(g)

import the GMO,

and includes the possession, supply, use, transport or disposal of the GMO for the purposes of, or in the course of, a dealing mentioned in any of paragraphs (a) to (g);

eligible person, in relation to a reviewable decision, has the meaning given by section 179;

environment includes —

(a)

ecosystems and their constituent parts;

(b)

natural and physical resources; and

(c)

the qualities and characteristics of locations, places and areas;

Ethics Committee means the Gene Technology Ethics Committee established by section 111 of the Commonwealth Act;

evidential material means any of the following —

(a)

a thing with respect to which an offence against this Act or the regulations has been committed or is suspected, on reasonable grounds, to have been committed;

(b)

a thing that there are reasonable grounds for suspecting will afford evidence as to the commission of any such offence;

(c)

a thing that there are reasonable grounds for suspecting is intended to be used for the purpose of committing any such offence;

facility includes, but is not limited to, the following —

(a)

a building or part of a building;

(b)

a laboratory;

(c)

an aviary;

(d)

a glasshouse;

(e)

an insectary;

(f)

an animal house;

(g)

an aquarium or tank;

gene technology means any technique for the modification of genes or other genetic material, but does not include —

(a)

sexual reproduction;

(b)

homologous recombination; or

(c)

any other technique specified in the regulations for the purposes of this paragraph;

Gene Technology Account means the Gene Technology Account established by section 129 of the Commonwealth Act;

Gene Technology Agreement means the Gene Technology Intergovernmental Agreement made for the purposes of this Act between the Commonwealth and at least 4 States, as in force from time to time;

Gene Technology Technical Advisory Committee means the Gene Technology Technical Advisory Committee established by section 100 of the Commonwealth Act;

genetically modified organism means —

(a)

an organism that has been modified by gene technology;

(b)

an organism that has inherited particular traits from an organism (the initial organism), being traits that occurred in the initial organism because of gene technology; or

(c)

anything declared by the regulations to be a genetically modified organism, or that belongs to a class of things declared by the regulations to be genetically modified organisms,

but does not include —

(d)

a human being, if the human being is covered by paragraph (a) only because the human being has undergone somatic cell gene therapy; or

(e)

an organism declared by the regulations not to be a genetically modified organism, or that belongs to a class of organisms declared by the regulations not to be genetically modified organisms;

GMO means a genetically modified organism;

GMO licence means a licence issued under section 55;

GMO Register means the GMO Register established by section 76 of the Commonwealth Act;

GM product means a thing (other than a GMO) derived or produced from a GMO;

Institutional Biosafety Committee means a committee established by an accredited organisation as an Institutional Biosafety Committee;

jurisdiction means the following —

(a)

a State; or

(b)

the Commonwealth;

licence holder means the holder of a GMO licence;

Ministerial Council means the Ministerial Council within the meaning of the Gene Technology Agreement;

notifiable low risk dealing has the meaning given by section 74;

officer, in relation to the Commonwealth, includes the following —

(a)

a Minister of the Crown in right of the Commonwealth;

(b)

a person who holds —

(i)

an office established by or under a Commonwealth Act;

(ii)

an appointment made under a Commonwealth Act; or

(iii)

an appointment made by the Governor‑General or a Minister of the Crown in right of the Commonwealth but not under a Commonwealth Act;

(c)

a person who is a member or officer of a Commonwealth authority;

(d)

a person who is in the service or employment of the Commonwealth or of a Commonwealth authority, or is employed or engaged under a Commonwealth Act;

organism means any biological entity that is —

(a)

viable;

(b)

capable of reproduction; or

(c)

capable of transferring genetic material;

person covered by a GMO licence means a person authorised by a GMO licence to deal with a GMO;

premises includes the following —

(a)

a building;

(b)

a place (including an area of land);

(c)

a vehicle;

(d)

a vessel;

(e)

an aircraft;

(f)

a facility;

(g)

any part of premises (including premises referred to in paragraphs (a) to (f));

Record means the Record of GMO and GM Product Dealings mentioned in section 138 of the Commonwealth Act;

Regulator means the Gene Technology Regulator appointed under section 118 of the Commonwealth Act;

reviewable decision has the meaning given by section 179;

State includes the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory;

State agency means —

(a)

the Crown in right of Western Australia;

(b)

a Minister of the Crown in right of Western Australia;

(c)

an agency within the meaning of the Public Sector Management Act 1994;

(d)

an instrumentality of the State of Western Australia, including a body corporate established for a public purpose by or under a law of the State of Western Australia; or

(e)

a company in which a controlling interest is held by any one of the following persons, or by 2 or more of the following persons together —

(i)

the Crown in right of Western Australia;

(ii)

a person or body covered by paragraph (b) or (d);

(iii)

a body covered by any of the above subparagraphs;

thing includes a substance, and a thing in electronic or magnetic form.

(2)

If this Act requires or permits the Ministerial Council to do a thing, the Ministerial Council must do the thing in accordance with any requirements specified in the Gene Technology Agreement.

Regulations

This provision refers to the regulations (the regulations, specified in the regulations, declared by the regulations). Made under this Act:

Gene Technology Regulations 2007

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10 Definitions