What it does
The Racing Integrity Regulation 2016 (Qld) is a subordinate instrument made under the Racing Integrity Act 2016. It commenced on 1 July 2016 and prescribes a range of matters that the Act leaves to regulation. The regulation serves to operationalise the integrity framework for racing in Queensland by specifying details that are not set out in the primary legislation. It primarily addresses four areas: the content of the Racing Integrity Commission’s operational plan, the exchange of information with other agencies, the record-keeping and reporting obligations for owners of livestock slaughter facilities that receive horses, and the fees payable for racing bookmaker licences. Additionally, it designates an approved place for paying and settling particular bets, identifies persons who may be appointed as authorised officers, and lists laws of other States that are treated as laws about racing or betting for the purposes of the Act. Section 3 requires the Commission’s operational plan to include a program to audit the suitability of licensed animals and participants. That program must specify the categories being audited, the focus of the audits for each category, and the number of audits planned. If an audit identifies an issue outside the stated focus, the program for the next financial year must summarise that issue and state whether it is addressed. Section 3A designates the entities listed in schedule 1AA as relevant agencies for information exchange under section 53A of the Act. Section 4 prescribes that each law of another State listed in schedule 1 is a law about racing or betting, thereby extending the Act’s operation to conduct regulated by those interstate laws. Section 5 approves Tattersall’s Club Rooms at 215 Queen Street, Brisbane as an approved place for paying and settling particular bets under section 140(2) of the Act. Section 6 empowers the commissioner to appoint a race day steward as an authorised officer. Sections 6A and 6B, inserted in 2023, impose record-keeping and reporting obligations on owners of livestock slaughter facilities in relation to horses that arrive at the facility, including the colour and sex of each horse. Part 3 sets the application fee for a racing bookmaker licence at 2,609 fee units for an individual applicant and 7,505 fee units for a corporation, and provides for downward rounding to the nearest dollar under the Acts Interpretation Act 1954. The regulation is largely administrative and prescriptive, filling in gaps left by the principal Act. It does not itself create offences, but the duties it imposes may be enforced through penalty provisions in the Act. The regulation has been amended several times, most recently in 2023 to add the livestock slaughter facility obligations, reflecting a policy focus on tracing horses from racing to slaughter.