Operators of animal display establishments. The Regulation primarily affects persons who operate or wish to operate animal display establishments in New South Wales. That includes fixed establishments (zoos, aquaria, wildlife parks), mobile exhibitors, off-display facilities that keep animals for display although not always shown to the public, and minor exhibitors defined as those exhibiting 30 animals or fewer (s 3, s 7, s 11).
Permit-holders and applicants. Persons seeking to exhibit species listed in Schedule 2 must obtain a section 24 permit and comply with the heightened notification and escape duties for permit animals (s 9, s 28). Applicants for licences and approvals must complete approved forms, lodge supporting documents and pay lodgment and issue fees as prescribed (s 10, s 11).
Veterinarians and veterinary staff. The Regulation restricts access to veterinary drugs and the administration of drugs and vaccines to veterinary practitioners or persons authorised by them (s 21). It also requires that exhibitors make arrangements to ensure there is always someone authorised to call for veterinary advice (s 40(3)). Veterinary practitioners will therefore be implicated in supply and authorisation arrangements, and their client relationships with exhibitors bear documentary and operational significance.
Staff and attendants. Exhibitors must employ adequate trained staff and qualified attendants necessary to maintain animal husbandry and care standards (s 40). For drive-through areas an exhibitor must ensure suitably trained and armed staff are immediately available to kill or sedate an animal to save human life or prevent injury (s 27(2)(c)). This raises practical obligations for recruiting, training, credentialling and ensuring compliance with other regulatory regimes (for example those governing weapons and emergency sedation), although those regimes are outside the Regulation’s text.
Third parties acquiring or selling animals. The Regulation constrains acquisition and sale by requiring exhibitors not to acquire animals if they know or ought reasonably to know the counterparty has committed relevant offences under the Act or related Acts, and by requiring Secretary consent to acquire or sell animals of species listed in Schedule 2 (s 32). That imposes due diligence obligations on buyers and sellers and links commercial transactions to regulatory consent. The Regulation also treats transfer of licences and variations to authorities as applications subject to lodgment fees (s 10, s 11).
Departmental decision‑makers and inspectors. The Secretary is the primary decision-maker across a wide range of powers: issuing licences, stipulating approved forms and amounts, prescribing standards as Departmental publications, varying standards for long-standing establishments, imposing and varying conditions after giving notice and considering representations, granting exemptions, and ordering remediation such as modification or demolition of housing (s 8(1), s 8(3), s 10, s 19, s 25, s 34, s 39). Inspectors and the Secretary also have enforcement powers, including directions about dangerous or unsuitable housing (s 25). The Secretary’s central role concentrates regulatory choice within the Department.
Public and visitors. The public and visitors to animal display establishments are affected indirectly through safety provisions such as supervision obligations for animals in contact with the public (s 26), drive-through safety rules (s 27), escape notifications (s 28), venomous animal antivenom requirements (s 29), and requirements to maintain insurance against death, injury or damage arising from authorised activities (s 17).
Conservation, animal welfare and industry organisations. The Regulation prescribes certain organisations that may nominate persons to the advisory committee provided for in the Act (s 41). It also contemplates mandatory conservation education (s 13) and possible participation in the Australasian Species Management Program (s 14), which links the regulatory regime to conservation and industry bodies.
Businesses indirectly affected. Pet shops, agricultural show organisers and rural landholders get specific exemptions or definitions that impact whether they need a licence (s 3 definitions, s 4, s 5, Schedule 1, Schedule 3). Conversely, businesses that provide transport, temporary structures for mobile displays, insurance products and training courses will see demand from licence holders because the Regulation requires approved training for applicants (s 10(4)) and allows conditions relating to vehicles and temporary structures for mobile exhibitions (s 15).
Who pays and who decides. Financial burdens fall mainly on applicants and licence holders via lodgment and issue fees and possibly bond arrangements for cetacea licences (s 11, s 42). Licence holders also bear insurance costs (s 17), compliance costs for staffing, record-keeping and standards compliance (ss 36, 37, 40). The Secretary decides on the form and content of applications, the standards to be applied, exemptions, and the imposition or variation of terms and conditions (s 19, s 8(1), s 34). The Regulation therefore reallocates routine operational costs to private operators while centralising many regulatory choices with the Secretary.