Referral
1.1
On 18 June 2020, the Senate, on the recommendation of the Senate Standing Committee for the Selection of Bills, referred the Biosecurity Amendment (Traveller Declarations and Other Measures) Bill 2020 (the bill) to the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Legislation Committee (the committee) for inquiry and report by 30 July 2020.
Conduct of the inquiry
1.2
The committee advertised the inquiry on its website and wrote to relevant organisations inviting written submissions. The closing date for the receipt of submissions was 3 July 2020.
Acknowledgments
1.4
The committee thanks all the organisations that contributed to the inquiry.
Background and purpose of the bill
1.5
Australia's biosecurity system is a 'significant national asset'. The system is designed to assist in the protection of Australia's unique environment, and underpins $60 billion in agricultural production, $49 billion in agricultural exports, and the $42 billion inbound tourism industry. Each of these sectors make vital contributions to both jobs and growth, particularly in rural and regional Australia.
1.6
The Explanatory Memorandum (EM) to the bill explains that a key component of Australia's biosecurity system is the requirement for all incoming passengers, crew, and persons in charge of aircraft and vessels (including Australian residents and citizens) to provide information for the purpose of assessing the level of biosecurity risk associated with the person and any goods they may have with them. This information is usually provided through the completion of an Incoming Passenger Card (IPC) or Crew Declaration.
1.7
Minor contraventions of the Biosecurity Act 2015 (the Biosecurity Act) are generally dealt with through the issuing of infringement notices under Part 5 of the Regulatory Powers (Standard Provisions) Act 2014, as modified by section 524 of the Biosecurity Act.
1.8
The effect of the Biosecurity Regulation 2016 (the regulation) is such that where an alleged contravention of specified provisions occurs at a first point of entry (an airport), the infringement notice amount is two penalty units. The period for paying the infringement notice usually ends when the person first leaves the first point of entry, however this period can be extended on request to 28 days.
1.9
An infringement notice amount of 12 units is usually issued for incidents which occur outside of the airport context (where the person is an individual), and the payment period is 28 days after the notice being given.
1.10
For more serious breaches, Australian citizens or residents may face court action, with potential penalties ranging from $12,600 (for civil matters) to $420,000 and/or imprisonment for up to 10 years (criminal prosecutions).
1.11
The Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment (the department) advised that, despite ongoing information campaigns emphasising the importance of declaring goods that pose a biosecurity risk to Australia's unique environment, incoming passengers (both Australian citizens and residents and international visitors) continue to fail to declare goods of a kind known to carry the risk of potentially devastating pests and diseases.
1.12
As such, the bill proposes to amend the Biosecurity Act to provide for 'a flexible and proportionate compliance response through the targeted setting of amounts payable under an infringement notice'.
1.13
Specifically, the bill proposes to amend the Biosecurity Act to allow the regulation to specify different penalty amounts for infringement notices issued for different kinds of alleged contraventions of provisions of the Act.
1.14
Further, the bill proposes to amend the Biosecurity Act to clarify that the regulation may prescribe different periods of time to pay an infringement notice depending on the kind of goods or class of goods to which an alleged contravention of the Act relates.
1.15
The bill would amend the Biosecurity Act to permit the Director of Biosecurity to make a legislative instrument to specify goods or classes of goods that can attract a higher infringement amount. The bill would also provide that the legislative instrument is made for a period of no longer than 12 months, and is not subject to parliamentary disallowance due to the technical and scientific nature of its underlying risk assessments.
1.16
The bill would permit the regulations to incorporate references to the legislative instrument as in force from time to time.
1.17
The amendments proposed by the bill would commence on 1 January 2021. This would allow time for the department to implement the amendments, including the establishment of enforcement and payment systems, and the delivery of coordinated training to biosecurity officers and Australian Border Force officers.
1.18
The EM states that prior to the commencement of the proposed amendments, an education and awareness campaign would be conducted by the department, targeting incoming passengers and crew. This would include inflight videos and material displayed at airports. Further, the department would publish the list of goods determined by the legislative instrument on the department's website.
Infringement notice amounts
1.19
The department informed the committee that in the airport environment, biosecurity officers are currently able to issue infringement notices for alleged contraventions of four provisions in the Biosecurity Act: subsections 126(2), 128(2), 532(1) and 533(1). Alleged contraventions of these provisions involve a failure to comply with a requirement to answer questions, or provide information in writing, a failure to comply with directions, and the provision of false or misleading information or a document. The first two provisions attract a maximum penalty of 120 penalty units ($26,640); the latter two provisions attract a maximum penalty of 60 penalty units ($13,320). Only a court can order a person to pay the maximum penalty.
1.20
The department went on to note that as an alternative to court proceedings, biosecurity officers are able to issue infringement notices for alleged contraventions of the Biosecurity Act under Part 5 of the Regulatory Powers (Standard Provisions) Act 2014 (Regulatory Powers Act). The Regulatory Powers Act allows infringement notices to be issued for up to (and including) 12 penalty units ($2664), as does subsection 524(4) of the Biosecurity Act.
1.21
Currently, passengers and crew who provide false or misleading information about goods they are bringing into Australia, including by failing to declare goods on their IPC or Crew Declaration, may be in breach of section 532(1) or 533(1) of the Biosecurity Act. The regulations provide for an infringement notice in the amount of two penalty units. Between 1 July 2017 and 30 June 2020, this amount was $420. Since 1 July 2020, the amount is $444 as a result of the automatic indexation of the value of a penalty unit under the Crimes Act 1914.
1.22
The proposed amendments contained in the bill would enable an infringement notice to be issued stating a set amount of penalty units where passengers and crew allegedly fail to declare high biosecurity risk goods that are listed in the new legislative instrument. These amounts would differ according to the kind of goods or class of goods to which the alleged contravention relates. A failure to declare goods or a class of goods that are required to be declared, but are not listed in the legislative instrument would continue to attract an infringement notice in the amount of two penalty units under the regulation.
Consideration by other committees
1.23
When examining a bill or draft bill, the committee may take into account any relevant comments published by other committees.
1.24
At the time of reporting, the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights, and the Senate Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills have not commented on the bill.