Biosecurity (Exposed Conveyances Exempt from Biosecurity Control) Determination 2026

Contents

Part 1 · Preliminary

1Name#

This instrument is the Biosecurity (Exposed Conveyances Exempt from Biosecurity Control) Determination 2026.

2Commencement#

(1)Each provision of this instrument specified in column 1 of the table commences, or is taken to have commenced, in accordance with column 2 of the table. Any other statement in column 2 has effect according to its terms.

Commencement information
Column 1	Column 2	Column 3
Provisions	Commencement	Date/Details
1. The whole of this instrument	1 October 2026.	1 October 2026

Note: This table relates only to the provisions of this instrument as originally made. It will not be amended to deal with any later amendments of this instrument.

(2)Any information in column 3 of the table is not part of this instrument. Information may be inserted in this column, or information in it may be edited, in any published version of this instrument.

3Authority#

This instrument is made under subsection 192(6) of the Biosecurity Act 2015.

4Schedules#

Each instrument that is specified in a Schedule to this instrument is amended or repealed as set out in the applicable items in the Schedule concerned, and any other item in a Schedule to this instrument has effect according to its terms.

5Definitions#

Note: A number of expressions used in this instrument are defined in the Act, including the following:

(a) approved arrangement;

(b) Australian territory;

(d) conveyance;

(e) disease;

(f) exposed to;

(g) first point of entry;

(h) installation;

(i) pest;

(j) protected zone area;

(k) protected zone vessel.

In this instrument:

Act means the Biosecurity Act 2015.

domestic goods means:

(a)goods that were released from biosecurity control under paragraph 162(1)(a), (b) or (c) of the Act; or

(b)goods that:

(i)were brought from a place in Australian territory; and

(ii)were not subject to biosecurity control at the time the goods were brought from Australian territory; and

(iii)were not goods in relation to which an exposed goods order was in force at the time the goods were brought from Australian territory.

domestic person:

(a)means a person who was brought from a place in Australian territory; and

(b)includes a person referred to in paragraph (a) who leaves a conveyance temporarily and returns to it.

level of biosecurity risk associated with the second conveyance is low: see subsections 7(2) and (3).

low-risk goods means any of the following:

(a)fuel;

(b)petroleum;

(c)canisters of petroleum;

(d)goods that are for use in the maintenance or repair of a vessel referred to in Article 3.2(e) of the Ballast Water Convention.

Note: Article 3.2(e) of the Ballast Water Convention refers to “any warship, naval auxiliary or other ship owned or operated by a State and used, for the time being, only on government non-commercial service”.

petroleum means:

(a)any naturally occurring hydrocarbon, whether in a gaseous, liquid or solid state; or

(b)any naturally occurring mixture of hydrocarbons, whether in a gaseous, liquid or solid state; or

(c)any naturally occurring mixture of:

(i)one or more hydrocarbons, whether in a gaseous, liquid or solid state; and

(ii)one or more of the following, that is to say, hydrogen sulphide, nitrogen, helium and carbon dioxide;

and includes:

(d)any petroleum as defined by paragraph (a), (b) or (c) that has been returned to a natural reservoir; and

(e)any petroleum as defined by paragraph (a), (b), (c) or (d), where either or both of the following has occurred:

(i)one or more things have been added;

(ii)one or more things have been wholly or partly removed.

petroleum industry vessel means a vessel (other than an installation) that is, or is to be, used wholly or principally for, or in connection with:

(a)exploring for, or exploiting, petroleum with equipment on, or forming part of, the vessel; or

(b)operations or activities associated with, or incidental to, activities of the kind referred to in paragraph (a).

Part 2 · Exposed conveyances exempt from biosecurity control

6Purpose of this instrument#

This instrument specifies circumstances in which section 192 of the Act does not apply in relation to a conveyance:

(a)that is exposed to another conveyance that is an aircraft or vessel, where the aircraft or vessel is subject to biosecurity control because of subsection 191(2) or (4) of the Act; or

(b)that is exposed to another conveyance, where the other conveyance is subject to biosecurity control because of subsection 192(2), (3) or (5) of the Act; or

(c)that in the course of a journey:

(i)leaves Australian territory; and

(ii)is exposed to another conveyance while outside Australian territory; and

(iii)re-enters Australian territory after being exposed to the other conveyance.

7Circumstances in which exposed conveyance does not become subject to biosecurity control—general#

(1)Section 192 of the Act does not apply in relation to a conveyance (the exposed conveyance) that is exposed to another conveyance (the second conveyance) as referred to in section 6 of this instrument if:

(a)no contamination, infestation or infection is, or was, transferred from the second conveyance to the exposed conveyance; and

(b)no pests are, or were, transferred from the second conveyance to the exposed conveyance; and

(c)no person on board the exposed conveyance is, or was, exposed to:

(i)an animal or a plant on the second conveyance that is infected with a disease; or

(ii)an animal or a plant on the second conveyance that has died from a disease; and

(d)if the exposed conveyance is an aircraft or a vessel:

(i)no human remains are on board the aircraft or vessel at any time it is in Australian territory; and

(ii)no person on board the aircraft or vessel has signs or symptoms of a listed human disease at any time the aircraft or vessel is in Australian territory; and

(e)if the second conveyance is not an installation or a petroleum industry vessel:

(i)only domestic persons (including any domestic persons who transferred from the second conveyance to the exposed conveyance) intend to disembark, or disembark, in Australian territory; and

(ii)only low-risk goods or domestic goods (including any low-risk goods or domestic goods that were transferred from the second conveyance to the exposed conveyance) are on board the exposed conveyance at any time it is in Australian territory; and

(f)if the second conveyance is an installation or a petroleum industry vessel—any of the following circumstances applies:

(i)no person who transferred from the second conveyance to the exposed conveyance intends to disembark, or disembarks, in Australian territory, and no goods (other than low-risk goods or domestic goods) that were transferred from the second conveyance to the exposed conveyance are on board the exposed conveyance at any time it is in Australian territory;

(ii)the level of biosecurity risk associated with the second conveyance is low within the meaning of subsection (2) or (3);

(iii)biosecurity risks associated with the second conveyance are managed in accordance with an approved arrangement covering the operator of the second conveyance in relation to the operations of the second conveyance, and the end of journey requirements specified in subsection (4), (5), (6) or (7) are met in relation to the exposed conveyance.

Circumstances in which level of biosecurity risk associated with second conveyance is low

(2)The level of biosecurity risk associated with the second conveyance is low if:

(a)only domestic persons have ever been on board the second conveyance; and

(b)only the following kinds of goods have ever been on board the second conveyance:

(i)domestic goods;

(ii)low-risk goods;

(iii)goods that are to be deployed to the sea or the seabed (including goods that have been brought on board the second conveyance for the purpose of being deployed to the sea or the seabed);

(iv)goods that are in the possession of a domestic person who left the second conveyance temporarily and later returned to it, being goods that were in the possession of the person at the time the person left the second conveyance.

(3)The level of biosecurity risk associated with the second conveyance is low if:

(a)the Director of Biosecurity is satisfied, on the basis of information provided by the person in charge or the operator of the second conveyance, that the level of biosecurity risk associated with the second conveyance was acceptable before the exposure to the exposed conveyance occurred; and

(b)during the period between the Director of Biosecurity becoming satisfied as referred to in paragraph (a) and the exposure occurring:

(i)no persons boarded the second conveyance or only domestic persons boarded the second conveyance; and

(ii)no goods were brought on board the second conveyance or only goods of a kind referred to in paragraph (2)(b) were brought on board the second conveyance.

End of journey requirements in relation to exposed conveyance that is an aircraft

(4)If:

(a)the exposed conveyance is an aircraft; and

(b)the aircraft’s journey ends, or is intended to end, at a first point of entry for the aircraft; and

(c)there is a biosecurity entry point for the aircraft at the first point of entry;

the end of journey requirements are that the aircraft is brought to that biosecurity entry point as soon as practicable after the aircraft arrives at the first point of entry.

Note: Section 238 of the Act is about when an aircraft must be brought to a biosecurity entry point at the first point of entry.

(5)If:

(a)the exposed conveyance is an aircraft; and

(b)the aircraft’s journey ends, or is intended to end, at a landing place in Australian territory other than a first point of entry for the aircraft;

the end of journey requirements are that:

(c)permission has been given under subsection 239(2) of the Act for the aircraft to land at that landing place and any conditions of the permission have been, or are intended to be, complied with; or

(d)a direction has been given under paragraph 240(1)(a) or 242(1)(a) of the Act requiring the aircraft to land at that landing place and the direction has been, or is intended to be, complied with.

End of journey requirements in relation to exposed conveyance that is a vessel

(6)If:

(a)the exposed conveyance is a vessel; and

(b)the vessel’s journey ends, or is intended to end, at a first point of entry for the vessel; and

(c)there is a biosecurity entry point for the vessel at the first point of entry;

the end of journey requirements are that the vessel is brought to that biosecurity entry point as soon as practicable after the vessel arrives at the first point of entry.

Note: Section 246 of the Act is about when a vessel must be brought to a biosecurity entry point at the first point of entry.

(7)If:

(a)the exposed conveyance is a vessel; and

(b)the vessel’s journey ends, or is intended to end, at a port in Australian territory other than a first point of entry for the vessel;

the end of journey requirements are that:

(c)permission has been given under subsection 247(2) of the Act for the vessel to be moored at that port and any conditions of the permission have been, or are intended to be, complied with; or

(d)a direction has been given under paragraph 248(1)(a) or 250(1)(a) of the Act requiring the vessel to be moored at that port and the direction has been, or is intended to be, complied with.

Exception

(8)This section does not apply in relation to a conveyance that is exposed to a protected zone vessel in the protected zone area.

Note: Section 8 of this instrument deals with a conveyance that is exposed to a protected zone vessel in the protected zone area.

8Circumstances in which exposed conveyance does not become subject to biosecurity control—exposure to protected zone vessel in protected zone area#

Section 192 of the Act does not apply in relation to a conveyance (the exposed conveyance) that is exposed to another conveyance (the second conveyance) as referred to in section 6 of this instrument if:

(a)the second conveyance is a protected zone vessel; and

(b)the exposed conveyance is exposed to the second conveyance in the protected zone area; and

(c)if there were live animals on board the second conveyance at the time the exposure occurred—all of those animals were domestic goods; and

(d)if there were live plants on board the second conveyance at the time the exposure occurred—all of those plants were domestic goods.

Part 3 · Application, saving and transitional provisions

9Application, saving and transitional provisions#

(1)Section 6 applies in relation to a conveyance that is exposed to another conveyance on or after the commencement of this section.

(2)The Biosecurity (Exposed Conveyances—Exceptions from Biosecurity Control) Determination 2016, as in force immediately before the commencement of this section, continues to apply on and after that commencement in relation to the exposure of a conveyance to another conveyance, as referred to in section 5 of that instrument, that occurred before that commencement.

(3)If:

(a)in relation to the last exposure of a conveyance to another conveyance (the second conveyance) before the commencement of this section, the Director of Biosecurity was satisfied of the matter mentioned in paragraph 6(3)(a) of the Biosecurity (Exposed Conveyances—Exceptions from Biosecurity Control) Determination 2016; and

(b)paragraph 6(3)(b) of that instrument applied in relation to that last exposure; and

(c)after that last exposure and before the commencement of this section:

(i)no persons boarded the second conveyance or only domestic persons (within the meaning of that instrument) boarded the second conveyance; and

(ii)no goods were brought on board the second conveyance or only goods of a kind referred to in paragraph 6(2)(b) of that instrument were brought on board the second conveyance;

then, for the purposes of subsection 7(3) of this instrument, the Director of Biosecurity is taken to be satisfied, at the commencement of this section, that the level of biosecurity risk associated with the second conveyance is acceptable.

(4)Subsection (3) ceases to apply in relation to the second conveyance if, after the commencement of this section:

(a)a person, other than a domestic person (within the meaning of this instrument), boards the second conveyance; or

(b)goods of a kind not referred to in paragraph 7(2)(b) of this instrument are brought on board the second conveyance.

Schedule 1 · Repeals

Biosecurity (Exposed Conveyances—Exceptions from Biosecurity Control) Determination 2016 #

1 The whole of the instrument

Repeal the instrument.

Sourced from the Federal Register of Legislation at legislation.gov.au, © Commonwealth of Australia, licensed under CC BY 4.0. Compilations may have been reformatted.