Queensland Consolidated Acts

SUMMARY OFFENCES ACT 2005 - SECT 29

29 Powers of entry

(1) For contacting an owner of a place or for giving a graffiti removal notice, a graffiti removal officer may enter—

(a) a public place; or

(b) vacant land; or

(c) land around premises other than a dwelling.

(2) For contacting the owner of a dwelling, a graffiti removal officer may enter land around the dwelling.

(3) For subsections (1) and (2) , a graffiti removal officer may only enter enclosed land other than a public place if there is no other reasonably practical way for contacting an owner of a place or giving a graffiti removal notice.

(4) To remove public graffiti, a graffiti removal officer may enter—

(a) a public place; or

(b) with the consent or implied consent of an owner of a place—a place that is vacant land or premises other than a dwelling; or

Note—

For implied consent, see section 30 (6) .

(c) with the consent of an owner of a dwelling—a dwelling or land around a dwelling.

(5) For subsection (4) (b) and (c) , the consent of an owner is unnecessary if, when removing the public graffiti, including with necessary equipment—

(a) the graffiti removal officer and any persons helping the officer, are in a public place; and

(b) entry to the owner’s place is limited to either of the following and the entry is a minimal intrusion—

(i) leaning or reaching over into the place;

(ii) working on property that creates a border along the public place; and

(c) the entry happens at a reasonable time having regard to all the circumstances.

Example for paragraph (b)—

removing public graffiti from a front fence of a dwelling or other place

(6) A graffiti removal officer may only exercise power under subsection (4) (b) and (c) if the public graffiti is not accessible from a public place.

(7) A graffiti removal officer may only enter a place to the extent reasonably necessary to perform the officer’s duties.

(8) If a graffiti removal officer enters a place to remove public graffiti with the consent of an owner of the place, the officer’s exercise of powers on the place is subject to any conditions on which the consent is given.

(9) The power to enter includes the power to enter on more than 1 occasion.

(10) The power to enter to remove public graffiti includes the power to enter with other persons (each of whom is a
"helper" ), and vehicles and equipment, if that is reasonably necessary.

(11) Subsections (9) and (10) are subject to the requirements for consent mentioned in subsection (4) .

(12) A vehicle and equipment may not be taken onto a place that is not constructed to safely accommodate their movement or presence.

(13) In this section—

"enclosed land" means—

(a) land fenced in a way that ordinarily restricts access when the land is not open to the public; or

(b) land otherwise ordinarily enclosed to restrict access.

"premises" , for subsection (4) (b) , includes land around premises.