Quarantine Act 1908
The Quarantine Act 1908, also known as the Quarantine Act 1908-1973, was an Act of the Parliament of Australia which is no longer in effect. It was assented to on 30 March 1908. It was superseded by the "Biosecurity Act 2015" and repealed on 16 June 2016. History. Australia imported livestock from several countries with livestock diseases in the 18th century. By the late 19th century, quarantine measure were implemented by the Australian colonies. Clause 51(ix) of the Australian Constitution empowered the federal government to make laws in relation to quarantine. In 1906, the state premiers  agreed that the administration of quarantine be transferred to the federal government. Two years later, the federal parliament enacted the "Quarantine Act 1908", providing a national approach to quarantine for the first time. When the Act was passed, sea travel was the only way that people and goods could reach Australia, and the main concern was protecting the country from outbreaks of "quarantinable disease", such as the bubonic plague, yellow fever, smallpox, cholera and leprosy. The Act was amended more than 50 times in its 108 years of existence, as biosecurity risks in Australia changed over time, and the broader  concept of biosecurity came to include "protection of the economy, environment and human health from negative impacts associated with entry, establishment or spread of exotic pests and diseases"; a more proactive approach. A number of reviews were undertaken, including the Nairn Report, and then 2008 "Beale Review" ("One Biosecurity: A Working Partnership", Roger Beale et al., 2008), a "comprehensive and independent review of Australia’s quarantine and biosecurity arrangements", which recommended new biosecurity legislation to replace the "Quarantine Act". Last version. The Act at its last revision (Compilation No. 44, June 2016) provided for: It also specified the scope of  quarantine and defined various terms used in the Act; administration arrangements, including arrangements with states and territories; the relationship with the "Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999" and the Environment Minister; general provisions; quarantining of vessels, persons, goods, animals and plants; monitoring and control; powers for enforcement of the Act, and a number of miscellaneous matters. Repeal and replacement. In 2015, the "Biosecurity Act 2015" replaced most of the "Quarantine Act 1908", which was wholly repealed on 16 June 2016 by the "Biosecurity (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Act 2015". The new Act was a major reform of the  Quarantine Act, in particular in its strengthening and modernising the biosecurity legislation in Australia. New requirements included how the then Department of Agriculture and Water Resources would manage biosecurity risks associated with goods, people and vessels entering Australia.