Current Legislation

NSW Biosecurity Act 2015

Under the NSW Biosecurity Act 2015, all members of the community have a General Biosecurity Duty to manage biosecurity matter, including weeds and pest animals, whether they are owner, occupier or carrier. The Act also covers the sale of some weed plant species and the introduction of weeds from outside NSW.

Although the general biosecurity duty applies broadly, there are several elements that must be satisfied:

• Dealing with – the general biosecurity duty only applies to a person who 'deals with' biosecurity matter or a carrier of biosecurity matter. 'Deal with' includes a wide range of activities, which are listed in section 12 of the Act. Some examples of dealing with biosecurity matter are; to keep, possess, grow, breed, move, supply or manufacture biosecurity matter.
• Knowledge – a person must know, or ought reasonably to know, that there is or is likely to be a biosecurity risk arising from the biosecurity matter, carrier or 'dealing'. This will be a question of fact and will depend on the circumstances of each situation.
• People who know or ought reasonably to know will generally include people who deal with biosecurity matter or carriers on a regular basis as part of a commercial or recreational activity, and people who work professionally (i.e. 'deal') with a particular type of biosecurity matter or carrier. For these people their general knowledge and expertise would in most cases be sufficient to indicate they know the risks.
• 'Reasonably practicable' – what is reasonably practicable for the prevention, elimination or minimisation of a biosecurity risk will depend on what was reasonably able to be done at a particular time, considering and weighing up all relevant matters.

Considerations include the nature and potential impact of the biosecurity risk, the individual’s level of awareness of the risk, the actions that could be taken to prevent, eliminate, or minimise the risk, and the cost, availability, and suitability of those actions.

In determining the appropriate response to a biosecurity risk, the following matters must be taken into account:

• the nature of the biosecurity risk and the potential impact of that risk.
• the extent of the person’s knowledge of the risk;
• the measures that are available to prevent, eliminate or minimise the risk; and
• the cost, availability and suitability of those measures. (It’s generally not considered reasonably practicable if the cost of control is significantly higher than the level of risk it addresses.) Preventing, eliminating or minimising the biosecurity risk – the risk must be prevented or eliminated if reasonably practicable, otherwise it must be minimised so far as is reasonably practicable.

The general biosecurity duty can apply to more than one person in relation to the same biosecurity risk, for example an owner and a manager may both be responsible for managing a particular biosecurity risk on a property.

For more information on your rights and responsibilities under the Biosecurity Act, read the Biosecurity Legislation Information on the Department of Primary Industries website.

Click below to read more about the NSW Biosecurity Act 2015: