Commonwealth Consolidated Acts

ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION AND BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION ACT 1999 - SECT 196

  (1)   A person commits an offence if:

  (a)   the person takes an action; and

  (b)   the action results in the death or injury of a member of a species or a member of an ecological community; and

  (c)   the member is a member of a listed threatened species (except a conservation dependent species) or of a listed threatened ecological community; and

  (d)   the member is in or on a Commonwealth area.

Penalty:

  (a)   in the case of an aggravated offence--imprisonment for 2 years or 3,000 penalty units, or both;

  (b)   in any other case--imprisonment for 2 years or 1,000 penalty units, or both.

Note 1:   For the extra element of an aggravated offence, see section   196F.

Note 2:   This section does not apply in the circumstances described in section   197. A defendant bears an evidential burden in relation to those circumstances. See subsection   13.3(3) of the Criminal Code .

  (2)   Strict liability applies to paragraphs   (1)(c) and (d).

Note:   For strict liability , see section   6.1 of the Criminal Code .