Biosecurity Amendment (Advanced Compliance Measures) 2023

✦ Plain-English Summary

# Biosecurity Amendment (Advanced Compliance Measures) 2023

## What it does
The government is strengthening Australia's border biosecurity checks by requiring people arriving on planes and ships to hand over more information and documents upfront. The changes also increase penalties for breaking biosecurity rules and introduce on-the-spot fines for certain violations.

## Why it matters
This gives Australian authorities better tools to catch biosecurity risks (like diseases or banned goods) before they enter the country. It also makes it harder for people to slip through with undeclared items, which protects Australian agriculture, health, and the environment.

## Key details
- **Travel documents**: Incoming passengers must now produce travel documents (passports, visas, etc.) so officials can assess risk linked to both the person and their luggage
- **Higher penalties**: Civil penalties for breaking biosecurity rules have increased — meaning bigger fines for people and businesses who breach the rules
- **Infringement notices**: Officers can now issue on-the-spot fines for certain strict liability offences (things like failing to declare goods), without waiting for court action
- **Start date**: The law came into effect the day after Parliament approved it

Official Description

Amends the Biosecurity Act 2015 to: enable the Director of Biosecurity to require each person who intends to enter, or enters, Australian territory on an incoming aircraft or vessel to provide information and produce a passport or other travel document for the purpose of assessing the level of biosecurity risk associated with the person and any goods that the person has with them; enable the director to scan any passport or travel document so produced and collect and retain personal information; create a civil penalty provision for persons who do not comply with the requirement to produce a passport or travel document; introduce a procedural fairness requirement for the relevant director to give notice of a proposed variation to the biosecurity industry participant covered by an approved arrangement and invite the participant to given a written submission within 14 days in relation to the proposed variation; streamline existing notice requirements in relation to a proposed suspension or revocation of an approved arrangement; introduce an alternative sanction of a reprimand which may be given if the relevant director does not consider it appropriate to vary, suspend or revoke an approved arrangement after receiving the biosecurity industry participant’s written submission; increase civil penalties for certain contraventions or failure to comply with certain requirements; make a technical amendment to clarify the Act’s intent; and insert new strict liability offences.

Committee Referrals

Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Legislation Committee; Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights; Senate Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills

Full bill PDF →APH page →

Audit History

Introduced

21 June 2023

Last updated on APH

10 Apr 2026

Outcome date

13 Sept 2023

Last checked by Crossbench

yesterday

Full text indexed

yesterday

🗳️

No formal division recorded

This bill passed by voice vote — parliament agreed without calling a formal count. A division is only recorded when a member explicitly requests one.

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