{"id":"F2019L00787","name":"Biosecurity (First Point of Entry—Port of Townsville) Determination 2019","slug":"biosecurity-first-point-of-entry-port-of-townsville-determination-2019","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":440103,"registerId":"F2019L00787-fast-fetch-1775955868078","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-12","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Biosecurity (First Point of Entry—Port of Townsville) Determination 2019","content":"---\nmeta-content-style-type: text/css\nmeta-content-type: application/xhtml+xml; charset=utf-8\n---\n\n?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"utf-8\" standalone=\"no\"?>\n\n![Commonwealth Coat of Arms of Australia](image.001.jpeg)\n\n \n\nBiosecurity (First Point of Entry—Port of Townsville) Determination 2019\n\nI, Dean Merrilees, as delegate of the Director of Biosecurity, make the following determination.\n\nDated 7 June 2019\n\nDean Merrilees\n\nAssistant Secretary  Compliance Division  Department of Agriculture\n\n \n\nContents\n\nPart 1—Preliminary\n\n1 Name\n\n2 Commencement\n\n3 Authority\n\n4 Definitions\n\nPart 2—First point of entry\n\n5 First point of entry—vessels\n\n6 First point of entry—goods\n\nPart 3—Biosecurity entry points\n\n7 Biosecurity entry points—vessels\n\n8 Biosecurity entry points—goods\n\nPart 4—Conditions\n\n9 Conditions—notifying Agriculture Department of changes\n\n \n\n \n\nPart 1—Preliminary\n\n \n\n1  Name\n\n  This is the Biosecurity (First Point of Entry—Port of Townsville) Determination 2019.\n\n2  Commencement\n\n (1) Each provision of this instrument specified in column 1 of the table commences, or is taken to have commenced, in accordance with column 2 of the table. Any other statement in column 2 has effect according to its terms.\n\n \n\n- Commencement information\n- Column 1 Column 2 Column 3\n- Provisions Commencement Date/Details\n- 1. The whole of this instrument 16 June 2019. 16 June 2019\n\n\nNote: This table relates only to the provisions of this instrument as originally made. It will not be amended to deal with any later amendments of this instrument.\n\n (2) Any information in column 3 of the table is not part of this instrument. Information may be inserted in this column, or information in it may be edited, in any published version of this instrument.\n\n3  Authority\n\n  This instrument is made under subsection 229(1) of the Biosecurity Act 2015.\n\n4  Definitions\n\nNote: A number of expressions used in this instrument are defined in section 9 of the Act.\n\n  In this instrument:\n\nAct means the Biosecurity Act 2015.\n\nfreight container means a re‑usable container:\n\n (a) that is designed to be used to transport goods by one or more modes of transport; and\n\n (b) that can be transferred from one mode of transport to another without unloading the goods from the container; and\n\n (c) that is known as a 20‑foot‑long container or a 40‑foot‑long container.\n\ngeneral goods means goods (as defined by section 19 of the Act) other than baggage, freight containers, live horses or waste.\n\ngoods means goods (as defined by section 19 of the Act):\n\n (a) that are subject to biosecurity control; or\n\n (b) in relation to which an exposed goods order is in force.\n\ninorganic bulk goods means chemicals, ores, minerals or gases that:\n\n (a) are brought or imported into Australian territory in bulk; and\n\n (b) do not contain animals, plants, organic compounds or microbes.\n\nnon‑commercial vessel has the same meaning as in the Biosecurity Regulation 2016.\n\nnon‑commercial vessel baggage means baggage carried on a non‑commercial vessel.\n\nnon‑commercial vessel waste means waste carried on a non‑commercial vessel.\n\npassenger vessel baggage means baggage carried on a passenger vessel.\n\nvessel means a vessel (as defined by section 9 of the Act) that is subject to biosecurity control.\n\nwaste means goods (as defined by section 19 of the Act):\n\n (a) that are subject to biosecurity control; and\n\n (b) that are intended, by the person in charge of the vessel on which the goods are carried, to be disposed of.\n\nPart 2—First point of entry\n\n \n\n5  First point of entry—vessels\n\n  Port of Townsville is a first point of entry for vessels generally.\n\n6  First point of entry—goods\n\n  Port of Townsville is a first point of entry for goods other than live horses.\n\nNote: For other matters relating to whether particular goods may be brought into a particular first point of entry, see sections 173 and 174 of the Act (which deal with prohibited goods and conditionally non‑prohibited goods) and any determinations made under those sections.\n\nPart 3—Biosecurity entry points\n\n \n\n7  Biosecurity entry points—vessels\n\n  Each area of Port of Townsville specified in column 2 of an item of the following table is designated as a biosecurity entry point for a vessel, or a vessel included in a class of vessels, specified in column 1 of the item.\n\n \n\n- Biosecurity entry points—vessels\n- Item Column 1Vessels Column 2Areas\n- 1 Non-commercial vessels Breakwater Marina\n- 2 Vessels other than non‑commercial vessels Berth 10\n- 3 Vessels other than the following:(a) non‑commercial vessels;(b) passenger vessels The following areas:(a) Berth 1;(b) Berth 3;(c) Berth 4;(d) Berth 8;(e) Berth 9;(f) Berth 11;(g) Townsville Marine Precinct\n\n\nNote: A vessel that has arrived at Port of Townsville must be brought to a biosecurity entry point for the vessel at that port as soon as practicable (see section 246 of the Act).\n\n8  Biosecurity entry points—goods\n\n  Each area of Port of Townsville specified in column 2 of an item of the following table is designated as a biosecurity entry point for goods, or goods included in a class of goods, specified in column 1 of the item.\n\n \n\n- Biosecurity entry points—goods\n- Item Column 1Goods Column 2Areas\n- 1 All of the following:(a) non‑commercial vessel baggage;(b) non-commercial vessel waste Breakwater Marina\n- 2 Freight containers The following areas:(a) Berth 3;(b) Berth 4;(c) Berth 8;(d) Berth 9;(e) Berth 10\n- 3 General goods The following areas:(a) Berth 3;(b) Berth 4;(c) Berth 8;(d) Berth 9;(e) Berth 10; (f) Townsville Marine Precinct\n- 4 Inorganic bulk goods The following areas:(a) Berth 1;(b) Berth 3;(c) Berth 4;(d) Berth 8;(e) Berth 9;(f) Berth 10; (g) Townsville Marine Precinct\n- 5 Passenger vessel baggage Berth 10\n- 6 Waste The following areas:(a) Berth 1;(b) Berth 3;(c) Berth 4;(d) Berth 8;(e) Berth 9;(f) Berth 10; (g) Berth 11;(h) Townsville Marine Precinct\n\n\nNote 1: If a vessel has arrived at Port of Townsville and is carrying goods mentioned in the table that are to be unloaded from the vessel, those goods must be brought to a biosecurity entry point for those goods as soon as practicable (see section 147 of the Act).\n\nNote 2: This determination does not designate biosecurity entry points for other goods for which Port of Townsville is a first point of entry, so the requirement in section 147 of the Act does not apply to the unloading of those other goods.\n\nPart 4—Conditions\n\n \n\n9  Conditions—notifying Agriculture Department of changes\n\n (1) The determination of Port of Townsville as a first point of entry by this instrument is subject to the conditions in this section.\n\n (2) If the owner (or, if there is more than one owner, an owner) of Port of Townsville becomes aware that there has been, or will be, a change to the business entity operating:\n\n (a) Port of Townsville; or\n\n (b) a biosecurity entry point at Port of Townsville;\n\nthe owner (or, if there is more than one owner, an owner) must give the Agriculture Department, in writing, notice of the change as soon as practicable after becoming aware that the change has occurred or will occur.\n\n (3) If the lessee (if any) (or, if there is more than one lessee, a lessee) of Port of Townsville becomes aware that there has been, or will be, a change to the business entity operating:\n\n (a) Port of Townsville; or\n\n (b) a biosecurity entry point at Port of Townsville;\n\nthe lessee (or, if there is more than one lessee, a lessee) must give the Agriculture Department, in writing, notice of the change as soon as practicable after becoming aware that the change has occurred or will occur.\n\n (4) If a person or body that is responsible for carrying out operations at Port of Townsville proposes to make a change referred to in subsection (5), the person or body must give the Agriculture Department, in writing, reasonable notice of the proposed change.\n\n (5) For the purposes of subsection (4), the changes are as follows:\n\n (a) a change to the procedures at Port of Townsville providing for biosecurity measures to be taken to manage the level of biosecurity risk associated with operations carried out at Port of Townsville;\n\n (b) a change to the facilities or amenities available at Port of Townsville for biosecurity officials and human biosecurity officers to perform functions or exercise powers under the Act at Port of Townsville;\n\n (c) a change to the procedures at Port of Townsville that may affect the ability of a person who carries out operations at Port of Townsville to identify biosecurity risks associated with those operations;\n\n (d) a change to the procedures at Port of Townsville that may affect the ability for biosecurity officials or human biosecurity officials to be informed of any identified biosecurity risks associated with operations carried out at Port of Townsville;\n\n (e) a change to the procedures at Port of Townsville for managing any other factors that may contribute to, or affect, the level of biosecurity risk associated with operations carried out at Port of Townsville.\n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This is a standard, narrow administrative determination made under the Biosecurity Act 2015. It performs exactly the function intended by its enabling provision (section 229(1)) — designating a specific port as a first point of entry and setting entry point locations. The scope remains tightly focused on operational requirements for the Port of Townsville."},"complexity_factors":["Short instrument with only 9 substantive sections across 4 Parts","Straightforward tabular format for designating entry points (2 simple tables)","Limited cross-referencing — primarily references the parent Biosecurity Act 2015 for definitions","7 defined terms in section 4, mostly clarifying cargo categories (freight container, general goods, inorganic bulk goods, etc.)","Simple conditional logic in Part 4 (notification requirements triggered by specific events — changes to operators or procedures)","No nested exceptions or highly conditional provisions","Clear structural separation between vessel rules and goods rules"],"plain_english_summary":"This instrument declares the Port of Townsville a formal first point of entry for international vessels and goods, and prescribes which berths must be used for different vessel and cargo types. It affects port operators, shipping companies, captains, biosecurity officers and importers. It matters because it channels arrivals to locations where biosecurity inspections can be carried out and requires the port to notify the Agriculture Department of operational changes that could affect biosecurity risk."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"No. The determination exercises the designation power under subsection 229(1) of the Biosecurity Act (see s.3) to name Port of Townsville as a first point of entry, identify biosecurity entry points and impose notification conditions. It confines itself to those designations and notification requirements and does not, on its face, broaden or narrow the Act’s statutory scheme."},"complexity_factors":["Cross-references to the Biosecurity Act for definitions and enforcement powers (see Authority and Definitions, s.3–4).","Detailed mapping of classes of vessels and goods to specific berths and areas (ss.7–8), creating operational specificity.","Notification and reporting obligations for owners, lessees and operators, including timing and scope of required notices (s.9), which create administrative compliance costs.","Interaction with existing statutory duties to bring vessels/goods to entry points and the Act’s rules on prohibited or conditionally non-prohibited goods (notes referencing ss.147, 173, 174, 246).","Limited discretionary elements — the instrument designates and conditions but delegates operational detail to port operators and the Department for implementation (ss.5–9)."],"plain_english_summary":"This instrument declares Port of Townsville a first point of entry for vessels and most goods and designates specific berths and marina areas as the places where arriving vessels and unloaded goods must be brought for biosecurity processing.\n\nIt requires owners, lessees and operators to give the Department of Agriculture written notice of changes to the business operator, procedures or facilities that could affect biosecurity risk, placing notification and compliance duties on port stakeholders."},"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"A positive credit balance is required for all requests, including BYOK, so fallback providers remain available. Add credits at https://vercel.com/d?to=%2F%5Bteam%5D%2F%7E%2Fai%3Fmodal%3Dtop-up to continue.","source":"analysis-cron"}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/biosecurity-first-point-of-entry-port-of-townsville-determination-2019","history":"/api/acts/biosecurity-first-point-of-entry-port-of-townsville-determination-2019/history","analysis":"/api/acts/biosecurity-first-point-of-entry-port-of-townsville-determination-2019/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/biosecurity-first-point-of-entry-port-of-townsville-determination-2019/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/biosecurity-first-point-of-entry-port-of-townsville-determination-2019/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/biosecurity-first-point-of-entry-port-of-townsville-determination-2019/documents"}}