(1) The master of every ship from a place outside Australia bound to or calling at any port shall bring his or her ship to for boarding at a boarding station appointed for that port and shall permit his or her ship to be boarded.
(2) The pilot of an aircraft from a place outside Australia arriving in Australia shall not suffer the aircraft to land at any other airport until the aircraft has first landed:
(a) at such airport for which a boarding station is appointed as is nearest to the place at which the aircraft entered Australia; or
(b) at such other airport for which a boarding station is appointed as has been approved by the Comptroller - General of Customs, in writing, as an airport at which that aircraft, or a class of aircraft in which that aircraft is included, may land on arriving in Australia from a place outside Australia.
(3) The pilot of an aircraft engaged on an air service or flight between Australia and a place outside Australia:
(a) shall not suffer the aircraft to land at an airport for which a boarding station is not appointed; and
(b) shall, as soon as practicable after the aircraft lands at an airport, bring the aircraft for boarding to a boarding station appointed for that airport and shall permit the aircraft to be boarded.
(3A) Subsections (1), (2) and (3) are offences of strict liability.
Note: For strict liability, see section 6.1 of the Criminal Code .
(4) It is a defence to a prosecution for an offence against a provision of subsection (2) or (3) if the person charged proves that he or she was prevented from complying with the provision by stress of weather or other reasonable cause.