Australian Capital Territory Numbered Acts

BIOSECURITY ACT 2023 (NO. 50 OF 2023) - SECT 27

    (1)     A person commits an offence if the person—

        (a)     has a duty to notify a biosecurity event under section 26; and

        (b)     fails to comply with the duty.

Maximum penalty: 50 penalty units.

    (2)     A person commits an offence if the person—

        (a)     has a duty to notify a biosecurity event under section 26; and

        (b)     intentionally or negligently fails to comply with the duty.

Maximum penalty: 2 500 penalty units, imprisonment for 2 years or both.

    (3)     An offence against subsection (1) is a strict liability offence.

    (4)     It is a defence to a prosecution for an offence against subsection (1) if the defendant proves that they took all reasonable precautions and exercised all appropriate diligence to prevent the commission of the offence.

    (5)     It is a defence to a prosecution for an offence against this section if the defendant proves that they believed on reasonable grounds that the biosecurity event was widely and publicly known.

Note     The defendant has a legal burden in relation to the matters mentioned in s (4) and s (5) (see Criminal Code

, s 59).