Australian Capital Territory Numbered Acts Australian Capital Territory Numbered Actssubstitute
8 Littering
(1) A person must not deposit litter at a public place or an open private place.
Maximum penalty: 10 penalty units.
Examples
1 dropping a lolly wrapper onto a footpath
2 leaving food packaging in a private car park
(2) A person commits an offence if—
(a) the person deposits litter at a public place or an open private place; and
(b) the litter escapes, or is likely to escape—
(i) from the public place into or onto another public place or an open private place; or
(ii) from the open private place into or onto a public place or another open private place.
Maximum penalty: 10 penalty units.
Examples
1 unsolicited advertising material, brochures or newspapers left falling out of a letterbox or in a front yard that are likely to be windblown onto a public park
2 building waste kept unsecured on a building site that is likely to be windblown offsite
Note Escape is defined in the dictionary.
(3) A person commits an offence if—
(a) the person deposits litter in a public place in a receptacle provided for litter; and
(b) the litter is not of the size, shape, nature or volume for which the receptacle is provided.
Maximum penalty: 10 penalty units.
Example
placing commercial or household waste in a bin provided for general public waste
(4) Subsection (1) does not apply to the depositing of litter at a place with the consent of the occupier of the place.
(5) Subsection (2) does not apply to the depositing of litter at a place with the consent of the occupier of the place only if the litter is unlikely to escape.
(6) Subsections (1) and (2) do not apply to—
(a) the placing of a receptacle containing litter at a public place for the litter to be removed by a waste collection service; or
(b) the depositing of litter at a public place or an open private place in a receptacle that is—
(i) provided or designed to be used for litter; and
(ii) appropriate for litter of that size, shape, nature and volume; or
(c) the depositing of litter in accordance with an invitation from a public servant in the exercise of the public servant's functions; or
(d) the depositing of litter at a public landfill or waste facility.
(7) Subsections (1) to (3) do not apply if the depositing of the litter is accidental and the person takes all reasonable steps to retrieve the litter.
Note The defendant has an evidential burden in relation to the matters mentioned in s (4) to s (7) (see Criminal Code
, s 58).
(8) An offence against this section is a strict liability offence.
9 Aggravated littering
(1) A person commits an offence if—
(a) the person deposits litter at a public place; and
(b) the nature of the litter or the way the litter is deposited is likely to injure a person or animal, or to damage property.
Maximum penalty: 100 penalty units, imprisonment for 1 year or both.
(2) A person commits an offence if—
(a) the person deposits litter at a public place; and
(b) the litter is any of the following:
(i) a cigarette or cigarette butt whether lit or unlit;
(ii) a match or similar item whether lit or unlit;
(iii) a syringe.
Maximum penalty: 50 penalty units.
(3) Subsections (1) and (2) do not apply if the depositing of the litter is accidental and the person takes all reasonable steps to retrieve the litter.
(4) Subsection (2) does not apply to—
(a) the depositing of the litter in a public place in a receptacle that is—
(i) provided or designed to be used for litter; and
(ii) appropriate for litter of that size, shape, nature and volume; or
Example
depositing a syringe in a sharps container
(b) the depositing of litter in accordance with an invitation from a public servant in the exercise of the public servant's functions; or
(c) for litter mentioned in subsection (2) (b) (i) or (ii)—
(i) the placing of a receptacle containing litter at a public place for the litter to be removed by a waste collection service; or
(ii) the depositing of litter at a public landfill or waste facility.
Note The defendant has an evidential burden in relation to the matters mentioned in s (3) and s (4) (see Criminal Code
, s 58).
(5) An offence against subsection (2) is a strict liability offence.
(6) In this section:
"syringe" means a hypodermic syringe and includes—
(a) anything designed for use, or intended to be used, as part of a hypodermic syringe; and
(b) a needle designed for use, or intended to be used, in relation to a hypodermic syringe.
9A Dumping litter
(1) A person commits an offence if—
(a) the person dumps litter at a public place or an open private place; and
(b) the volume of litter is 200L or more but less than 1 000L.
Maximum penalty: 50 penalty units, imprisonment for 6 months or both.
(2) A person commits an offence if—
(a) the person dumps litter at a public place or an open private place; and
(b) the volume of litter is 1 000L or more.
Maximum penalty: 100 penalty units, imprisonment for 1 year or both.
(3) A person commits an offence if—
(a) the person dumps litter at a public place or an open private place; and
(b) the volume of litter is 200L or more but less than 1 000L; and
(c) the person is reckless about whether the litter, or part of the litter, escapes, or is likely to escape—
(i) from the public place into or onto another public place or an open private place; or
(ii) from the open private place into or onto a public place or another open private place.
Maximum penalty: 50 penalty units, imprisonment for 6 months or both.
(4) A person commits an offence if—
(a) the person dumps litter at a public place or an open private place; and
(b) the volume of litter is 1 000L or more; and
(c) the person is reckless about whether the litter, or part of the litter, escapes, or is likely to escape—
(i) from the public place into or onto another public place or an open private place; or
(ii) from the open private place into or onto a public place or another open private place.
Maximum penalty: 100 penalty units, imprisonment for 1 year or both.
(5) Subsections (1) and (2) do not apply to the dumping of litter at a place with the consent of the occupier of the place.
(6) Subsections (3) and (4) do not apply to the dumping of litter at a place with the consent of the occupier of the place only if the litter is unlikely to escape.
(7) Subsections (1) to (4) do not apply to—
(a) the placing of a receptacle containing litter at a public place for the litter to be removed by a waste collection service; or
(b) the dumping of litter at a public place or an open private place in a receptacle that is—
(i) provided or designed to be used for litter; and
(ii) appropriate for litter of that size, shape, nature and volume; or
(c) the dumping of litter in accordance with an invitation from a public servant in the exercise of the public servant's functions; or
(d) the dumping of litter at a public landfill or waste facility.
(8) Subsections (1) to (4) do not apply if the dumping of the litter is accidental and the person takes all reasonable steps to retrieve the litter.
Note The defendant has an evidential burden in relation to the matters mentioned in s (4) to s (7) (see Criminal Code
, s 58).
(9) Strict liability applies to subsections (1) (b), (2) (b), (3) (b) and (4) (b).
9B Dumping litter—strict liability
(1) A person commits an offence if—
(a) the person dumps litter at a public place or an open private place; and
(b) the volume of litter is at a level mentioned in an item in table 7A, column 2.
(2) A person commits an offence if—
(a) the person dumps litter at a public place or an open private place; and
(b) the volume of litter is at a level mentioned in an item in table 7A, column 2; and
(c) the litter, or part of the litter, escapes, or is likely to escape—
(i) from the public place into or onto another public place or an open private place; or
(ii) from the open private place into or onto a public place or another open private place.
(3) For an offence against subsections (1) and (2), a penalty in accordance with section 9BA applies.
(4) Subsection (1) does not apply to the dumping of litter at a place with the consent of the occupier of the place.
(5) Subsection (2) does not apply to the dumping of litter at a place with the consent of the occupier of the place only if the litter is unlikely to escape.
(6) Subsections (1) and (2) do not apply to—
(a) the placing of a receptacle containing litter at a public place for the litter to be removed by a waste collection service; or
(b) the dumping of litter at a public place or an open private place in a receptacle that is—
(i) provided or designed to be used for litter; and
(ii) appropriate for litter of that size, shape, nature and volume; or
(c) the dumping of litter in accordance with an invitation from a public servant in the exercise of the public servant's functions; or
(d) the dumping of litter at a public landfill or waste facility.
(7) Subsections (1) and (2) do not apply if the dumping of the litter is accidental and the person takes all reasonable steps to retrieve the litter.
Note The defendant has an evidential burden in relation to the matters mentioned in s (4) to s (7) (see Criminal Code
, s 58).
(8) An offence against this section is a strict liability offence.
9BA Dumping litter—penalties for s 9B offences
If a person commits an offence against section 9B (1) or (2) and the volume of litter was at a level stated in column 2 of an item of table 9BA, the offence is punishable by the maximum penalty stated in column 3 of that item.
Table 9BA
|
column 1 item |
column 2 level |
column 3 maximum penalty (penalty units) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | level 1 | 20 |
| 2 | level 2 | 35 |
| 3 |
level 3 | 50 |