Part 1—Preliminary
1 Name
This instrument is the Biosecurity (Human Biosecurity Emergency) (Human Coronavirus with Pandemic Potential) (Emergency Requirements for Remote Communities) Determination 2020.
3 Authority
This instrument is made under subsection 477(1) of the Biosecurity Act 2015.
4 Definitions
Note: A number of expressions used in this instrument are defined in the Biosecurity Act 2015, including the following:
(a) Australian law;
(b) Australian territory;
(c) conveyance;
(d) exposed to;
(e) Health Department.
(1) In this instrument:
commercial primary production means:
(a) commercial primary production of:
(i) food; or
(ii) products that, with further processing, will become (at least in part) food; or
(b) commercial processing of primary products to make food from them; or
(c) provision of veterinary services for animals kept, used or bred for commercial primary production described in paragraph (a); or
(d) aquaculture; or
(e) agribusiness.
cruise ship means a vessel that:
(a) has sleeping facilities for 100 or more passengers; and
(b) is usually used to provide a service of sea transportation, being a service that:
(i) is provided in return for a fee payable by persons using the service; and
(ii) is available to the general public.
designated area means an area described in Schedule 1.
essential activity in a designated area means any of the following:
(a) providing any of the following for the benefit of one or more persons in the area:
(i) health care;
(ii) education;
(iii) services relating to prevention of, or recovery from, domestic violence;
(iv) services relating to child protection;
(v) policing services;
(vi) emergency services;
(vii) essential services of a kind typically provided by local government, such as rubbish collection;
(viii) services, benefits, programs or facilities that the Chief Executive Centrelink has the function of providing;
(b) providing correctional services in relation to one or more persons in the area;
(c) providing funerary services in the area;
(d) conducting, or taking part in, a sitting of a court or tribunal in the area;
(e) operating, maintaining, repairing or replacing:
(i) equipment for providing electricity, gas, water, medical services, telecommunications services or broadcasting services; or
(ii) other essential infrastructure in the area;
(f) delivering food, fuel, mail or medical supplies in the area;
(g) obtaining medical care or medical supplies in the area;
(h) continuing the construction in the area of housing or transport infrastructure that was in progress immediately before the commencement of this instrument;
(i) carrying out mining operations, or operations ancillary to mining operations, in the area in a manner that is agreed with a human biosecurity officer so as to minimise the extent to which other persons in the area are exposed to the persons carrying out those operations;
(j) transporting freight to or from a place in the area;
(k) carrying out commercial primary production in the area in a manner that is agreed with a human biosecurity officer so as to minimise the extent to which other persons in the area are exposed to the persons carrying out the production;
(l) doing any of the following things, in the area in a manner that is agreed with a human biosecurity officer so as to reduce as far as practicable the extent to which other persons in the area are exposed to the persons doing the things, in connection with an election for a member of a legislature whose electorate includes some or all of the area:
(i) enrolling voters;
(ii) canvassing votes;
(iii) putting up or taking down signs relating to the election;
(iv) providing facilities for voting;
(v) voting;
(vi) scrutinising votes.
mining operations includes operations for the extraction of oil or gas.
relevant decision‑maker for a designated area means:
(a) a person occupying an office, appointment or position, of a State or other body, described, for the area, in the table in Schedule 2; or
(b) a human biosecurity officer who is an officer or employee of the Health Department, acting after having regard to the advice of a person who is a relevant decision‑maker for the area under paragraph (a).
(2) A reference in a provision of this instrument to a particular law of a State is a reference to that law as in force immediately before the commencement of that provision.
Part 2—Requirements
5 Persons not to enter designated areas
(1) A person must remain outside a designated area unless:
(a) the person is entering the area to escape an immediate threat to the person’s life; or
(b) the person is a member of the Australian Defence Force and is entering the area in the course of the member’s duty; or
(ba) the person is one of the following officials, and is entering the area in the course of the person’s duty as such an official:
(i) the Director of Human Biosecurity;
(ii) a chief human biosecurity officer for a State;
(iii) a human biosecurity officer;
(iv) a biosecurity official;
(v) an official performing functions under an Australian law relating to public health, biosecurity or requirements on the export of food or agricultural commodities; or
(bb) because of an amendment of the description of the area in Schedule 1, the person ceases to remain outside the area on the commencement of the amendment; or
(c) all of the following apply to the person entering the area:
(i) immediately before the entry, the person does not have any of the signs or symptoms of human coronavirus with pandemic potential;
(ii) in the 14 days immediately before the entry, the person has not been exposed, without adequate personal protective precautions, to human coronavirus with pandemic potential;
(iii) in the 14 days immediately before the entry, the person has not been in a foreign country;
(iv) the person is not entering the area wholly or partly for the purpose of engaging in an activity in the area that is prohibited by or under an Australian law;
(v) the person’s entry to the area is not prohibited by or under an Australian law (other than this section);
(vi) at least one of subsections (2), (3), (4), (5), (6) and (7) applies to the person; or
(d) none of paragraphs (a) to (c), but all of the following, apply to the person entering the area:
(i) the person is entering the area on board a vessel, other than a cruise ship, as the person in charge of the vessel or a member of the crew of the vessel;
(ii) immediately before the entry, the person does not have any of the signs or symptoms of human coronavirus with pandemic potential;
(iii) in the 14 days immediately before the entry, the person has not been exposed, without adequate personal protective precautions, to human coronavirus with pandemic potential;
(iv) the person is not entering the area wholly or partly for the purpose of engaging in an activity in the area that is prohibited by or under an Australian law;
(v) the person’s entry to the area is not prohibited by or under an Australian law (other than this section).
Person is at low risk of transmitting human coronavirus with pandemic potential
(2) This subsection applies to a person entering a designated area if, throughout the 14 days before entering, the person:
(a) has been isolated from the general public; and
(b) has not had any signs or symptoms of human coronavirus with pandemic potential.
Person is entering area to engage in, or provide transport for, essential activity
(3) This subsection applies to a person entering a designated area if:
(a) the person either:
(i) is entering the area primarily to engage in an essential activity in the area that requires the person to be in the area; or
(ii) is the person in charge of, or a member of the crew of, a conveyance entering the area primarily to transport one or more persons described in subparagraph (i); and
(b) either:
(i) there is an urgent need for the person to engage in the essential activity in the area or to be in charge of, or a member of the crew of, the conveyance entering the area; or
(ii) the person is entering the area primarily to engage in an essential activity in a manner that is agreed with a human biosecurity officer so as to minimise the extent to which other persons in the area are exposed to the person carrying out the activity.
Person has permission to enter area
(4) This subsection applies to a person entering a designated area if there is in force permission for the person to enter the area given by a relevant decision‑maker for the area who:
(a) is a chief human biosecurity officer or a human biosecurity officer; or
(b) has had regard to any guidance from a human biosecurity officer about who should be allowed to enter the area.
Person is in transit through area
(5) This subsection applies to a person (the entrant) entering a designated area on a journey for which the following conditions are met:
(a) the journey is to a place beyond the area;
(b) the journey takes the most direct practicable route through the area;
(c) either:
(i) the journey does not involve a person in the area (other than a person travelling with the entrant) being exposed to the entrant or a person travelling with the entrant; or
(ii) the journey is to or from a resources industry fixed structure (within the meaning of the Sea Installations Act 1987), or a resources industry mobile unit (within the meaning of that Act), that is outside the area, and exposure of a person (other than a person travelling with the entrant) in the area to the entrant is managed in a manner approved by a human biosecurity officer.
Person is moving without exposure between designated areas or parts of designated area
(6) This subsection applies to a person (the entrant) entering a designated area (the end area) on a journey for which the following conditions are met:
(a) the journey started in a designated area (the start area) that the entrant did not enter in contravention of subsection (1), whether the start area is the same as, or different from, the end area;
(b) the journey passed through an area that was not a designated area;
(c) on the journey the entrant was not exposed to a person who did not start the journey with the entrant;
(d) if the journey involved use of a conveyance, the same conveyance was used for the whole journey.
Person is crossing State border between designated areas
(7) This subsection applies to a person entering a designated area from an adjoining designated area by crossing the border of a State where it is part of the boundary of each of the designated areas.
6 Persons entering designated areas to minimise contact with others in those areas
(1) This section applies to a person who enters a designated area in reliance on:
(a) paragraph 5(1)(a) (about persons escaping immediate threats to their lives); or
(b) paragraph 5(1)(b) (about members of the Australian Defence Force); or
(ba) paragraph 5(1)(ba) (about officials with duties relating to public health or biosecurity); or
(c) subsection 5(3) (about persons entering the area in connection with essential activities); or
(d) subsection 5(4) (about persons entering the area with permission given by a relevant decision‑maker); or
(e) subsection 5(6) (about persons moving without exposure to others between designated areas) applying to a journey from a different designated area.
(2) The person must take reasonable steps (having regard to the person’s circumstances and reason for entering the area) to minimise the extent to which anyone else in the area is exposed to the person.
7 Persons entering designated areas on board vessels to stay on board
(1) This section applies to a person who enters a designated area on board a vessel in reliance on paragraph 5(1)(d) (about crew of vessels other than cruise ships who are not covered by any of paragraphs 5(1)(a) to (c)).
(2) While the vessel is in the designated area, the person must:
(a) remain on board the vessel unless:
(i) the person is escaping an immediate threat to the person’s life; or
(ii) the person is removed from the vessel to be given urgent medical treatment; and
(b) take adequate precautions to reduce the risk of another person on board the vessel, who is neither the person in charge of the vessel nor a member of the crew of the vessel, being exposed to human coronavirus with pandemic potential.
(3) If the person leaves the vessel while it is in the designated area, the person must take reasonable steps (having regard to the person’s circumstances and reason for leaving the vessel) to minimise the extent to which anyone else in the area is exposed to the person.
