Relevant Offences

Overview

The Nature Conservation (Wildlife) Regulations 2021 (the Regulations) came into effect on 30 November 2021. These regulations are a replacement for the Wildlife (General) Regulations 2010 and Wildlife (Exhibited Animals) Regulations 2010. Under the Regulations, applicants for permits and licences must declare if they have been convicted of a 'relevant offence' within the previous five years. If an applicant has been convicted of a relevant offence, they may not be eligible to receive a permit or licence.

The Regulations provide for the Secretary to nominate offences within the listed Acts as relevant. The Secretary may also nominate relevant offences from other Acts not listed within the regulations. This change increases fairness, by ensuring that applicants who have a conviction for an offence unrelated to the intent of the regulations are still eligible for a permit or licence.

Relevant offences

The Department's Relevant Offences Policy defines relevant offences as those relating to:

Offences against fauna;
Offences relating to the misuse of means by which wildlife may be taken and
Offences relating to obstruction or intimidation of authorised officers or veterinary staff in carrying out of their legislative duties.

In the Legislation with Exclusions table, all offences in the listed legislation are relevant offences, unless excluded in column two. In the Legislation with Inclusions table, only the offences included in column two are relevant offences.

Legislation with Exclusions

Legislation	Sections that are excluded as relevant offences
Nature Conservation Act 2002	Section 20 – Prohibition on certain names except in reference to reserved land
Nature Conservation (Wildlife) Regulations 2021	No exclusions
Animal Welfare Act 1993	Section 11A – Rodeos
Firearms Act 1996	No exclusions
Whales Protection Act 1988	No exclusions
Threatened Species Protection Act 1995	Offences against listed flora

Legislation with Inclusions

Legislation	Parts/Divisions/Sections that are included as relevant offences
National Parks and Reserves Management Act 2002	Section 36 – Prohibition on destroying trees Part 4 – Provisions Relating to Enforcement (All offences in this Part) Section 85 – Assistance to officers
National Parks and Reserves Management Regulations 2019	Part 2 Division 5 - Grant of authority (All offences in this Division) Part 2 Division 3 – General use of reserved land (All offences in this Division)
Dog Control Act 2000	Section 19AB – Dogs must not injure or kill sensitive wildlife Section 19AC – Collection of sample by authorised officer