{"id":"F2019L00775","name":"Biosecurity (First Point of Entry— Townsville Airport and Royal Australian Air Force Base Townsville) Determination 2019","slug":"biosecurity-first-point-of-entry-townsville-airport-and-royal-australian-air-force-base-townsville-d","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":440096,"registerId":"F2019L00775-fast-fetch-1775955863823","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-12","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Biosecurity (First Point of Entry— Townsville Airport and Royal Australian Air Force Base 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—Townsville Airport and Royal Australian Air Force Base Townsville) Determination 2019\n\n \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\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—aircraft\n\n6  First point of entry—goods\n\nPart 3—Biosecurity entry points\n\n7  Biosecurity entry points—aircraft\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— Townsville Airport and Royal Australian Air Force Base 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this instrument 16 June 2019. 16 June 2019\n\n\nNote: This table relates only to the provisions of this instrument as originally made.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 223(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\naircraft means an aircraft (as defined by section 9 of the Act) that is subject to biosecurity control.\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\n \n\nPart 2—First point of entry\n\n \n\n5  First point of entry—aircraft\n\n  Townsville Airport and Royal Australian Air Force Base Townsville is a first point of entry for aircraft generally.\n\n6  First point of entry—goods\n\n  Townsville Airport and Royal Australian Air Force Base 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—aircraft\n\nNote: An aircraft must be brought to a biosecurity entry point at a first point of entry if there is a biosecurity entry point for the aircraft at that first point of entry (see section 238 of the Act). If there are no biosecurity entry points for aircraft at a first point of entry, this requirement does not apply to aircraft landing there. This determination does not designate any area of Townsville Airport and Royal Australian Air Force Base Townsville as a biosecurity entry point for aircraft.\n\n8  Biosecurity entry points—goods\n\n  Each area of Townsville Airport and Royal Australian Air Force Base 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 Baggage The following areas:(a) Townsville Airport International Terminal;(b) Royal Australian Air Force Base Townsville Air Movements Terminal\n\n\nNote 1: If an aircraft has arrived at Townsville Airport and Royal Australian Air Force Base Townsville and is carrying goods mentioned in the table that are to be unloaded from the aircraft, 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 Townsville Airport and Royal Australian Air Force Base 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\n9  Conditions—notifying Agriculture Department of changes\n\n (1) The determination of Townsville Airport and Royal Australian Air Force Base 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 Townsville Airport or Royal Australian Air Force Base Townsville becomes aware that there has been, or will be, a change to the business entity operating:\n\n (a) Townsville Airport or Royal Australian Air Force Base Townsville; or\n\n (b) a biosecurity entry point at Townsville Airport or Royal Australian Air Force Base 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 Townsville Airport or Royal Australian Air Force Base Townsville becomes aware that there has been, or will be, a change to the business entity operating:\n\n (a) Townsville Airport or Royal Australian Air Force Base Townsville; or\n\n (b) a biosecurity entry point at Townsville Airport or Royal Australian Air Force Base 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 Townsville Airport or Royal Australian Air Force Base 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 Townsville Airport or Royal Australian Air Force Base Townsville providing for biosecurity measures to be taken to manage the level of biosecurity risk associated with operations carried out at Townsville Airport or Royal Australian Air Force Base Townsville;\n\n (b) a change to the facilities or amenities available at Townsville Airport or Royal Australian Air Force Base Townsville for biosecurity officials and human biosecurity officers to perform functions or exercise powers under the Act at Townsville Airport or Royal Australian Air Force Base Townsville;\n\n (c) a change to the procedures at Townsville Airport or Royal Australian Air Force Base Townsville that may affect the ability of a person who carries out operations at Townsville Airport or Royal Australian Air Force Base Townsville to identify biosecurity risks associated with those operations;\n\n (d) a change to the procedures at Townsville Airport or Royal Australian Air Force Base 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 Townsville Airport or Royal Australian Air Force Base Townsville;\n\n (e) a change to the procedures at Townsville Airport or Royal Australian Air Force Base Townsville for managing any other factors that may contribute to, or affect, the level of biosecurity risk associated with operations carried out at Townsville Airport or Royal Australian Air Force Base Townsville.\n\n \n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"No. The instrument narrowly assigns first point of entry status to Townsville Airport and RAAF Base Townsville, excludes live horses from goods (section 6), designates specific baggage entry points (section 8) and imposes notification conditions (section 9). It does not expand first point of entry powers beyond those locations or categories specified and relies on the Biosecurity Act for broader duties and prohibitions."},"complexity_factors":["Cross‑references to the Biosecurity Act 2015 for key duties and definitions (see notes referencing sections 9, 147, 173, 174, 238) — requires readers to consult the Act for full effect.","Targeted scope: separate treatment of aircraft and goods, and an explicit exclusion for live horses (section 6) which adds a categorical exception to application.","Limited designation of biosecurity entry points only for baggage and only in specified areas (section 8) — creates partial, not blanket, obligations.","Notification and timing standards use flexible, non‑precise language: \"as soon as practicable\" and \"reasonable notice\" (section 9) — introduces administrative discretion and fact‑specific compliance timing.","Multiple duty‑holders named (owners, lessees, persons or bodies responsible for operations) which can complicate allocation of responsibility and practical compliance.","No aircraft biosecurity entry point areas are designated (note to section 7), so operational requirements depend on whether other designations exist under the Act, adding dependency on external determinations."],"plain_english_summary":"Designates Townsville Airport and RAAF Base Townsville as first points of entry for aircraft and for most goods (excluding live horses), and names the international terminal and the RAAF air movements terminal as biosecurity entry points for baggage. It also requires owners, lessees and operators to notify the Agriculture Department of changes to business control, procedures or facilities that could affect biosecurity, creating ongoing compliance and information‑sharing obligations for airport operators and service providers."},"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"},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation remains tightly focused on its original purpose: designating specific Townsville locations as first points of entry and setting basic operational conditions. There is no evidence of scope creep beyond the straightforward administrative function of establishing these entry points and notification requirements."},"complexity_factors":["Short instrument with only 9 sections across 4 Parts","Minimal defined terms (only 2 explicit definitions in section 4, plus references to Act definitions)","Simple conditional logic limited to notification requirements in section 9","Single table with 2 columns and 1 row for biosecurity entry points","No nested exceptions or complex cross-referencing beyond basic references to the Biosecurity Act 2015","Straightforward structure: preliminary matters, first point of entry declaration, entry point designation, conditions"],"plain_english_summary":"This law designates Townsville Airport and RAAF Base Townsville as official first points of entry for international aircraft, cargo (excluding live horses) and baggage, with specified biosecurity entry areas. It applies to airport/base owners, lessees, operators and those running biosecurity entry points, who must notify the Department of Agriculture of changes to operators, facilities or biosecurity procedures. The determination enables biosecurity inspections to manage pest, disease and public‑health risks at these North Queensland entry points."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/biosecurity-first-point-of-entry-townsville-airport-and-royal-australian-air-force-base-townsville-d","history":"/api/acts/biosecurity-first-point-of-entry-townsville-airport-and-royal-australian-air-force-base-townsville-d/history","analysis":"/api/acts/biosecurity-first-point-of-entry-townsville-airport-and-royal-australian-air-force-base-townsville-d/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/biosecurity-first-point-of-entry-townsville-airport-and-royal-australian-air-force-base-townsville-d/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/biosecurity-first-point-of-entry-townsville-airport-and-royal-australian-air-force-base-townsville-d/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/biosecurity-first-point-of-entry-townsville-airport-and-royal-australian-air-force-base-townsville-d/documents"}}