Western Australian Consolidated Acts

WILDLIFE CONSERVATION ACT 1950 - NOTES

Notes

¹ This is a compilation of the Wildlife Conservation Act 1950 and includes the amendments made by the other written laws referred to in the following table ^1a. The table also contains information about any reprint.

Compilation table

Short title	Number and year	Assent	Commencement
Fauna Protection Act 1950 2	77 of 1950 (14 and 15 Geo. VI No. 77)	5 Jan 1951	1 Jul 1952 (see s. 2 and Gazette 13 Jun 1952 p. 1497-8)
Fauna Protection Act Amendment Act 1954	38 of 1954 (3 Eliz. II No. 38)	3 Dec 1954	3 Dec 1954
Limitation Act 1935 s. 48A(1)	35 of 1935 (26 Geo. V No. 35) (as amended by No. 73 of 1954 s. 8)	14 Jan 1955	Relevant amendments (see s. 48A and Second Sch. 3) took effect on 1 Mar 1955 (see No. 73 of 1954 s. 2 and Gazette 18 Feb 1955 p. 343)
Reprint of the Fauna Protection Act 1950 approved 19 Apr 1956 in Vol. 9 of Reprinted Acts (includes amendments listed above)
Decimal Currency Act 1965	113 of 1965	21 Dec 1965	Act other than s. 4-9: 21 Dec 1965 (see s. 2(1)); s. 4-9: 14 Feb 1966 (see s. 2(2))
Fauna Protection Act Amendment Act 1967	45 of 1967	21 Nov 1967	1 Jun 1968 (see s. 2 and Gazette 24 May 1968 p. 1509)
Reprint of the Fauna Conservation Act 1950 approved 5 Jul 1968 in Vol. 22 of Reprinted Acts (includes amendments listed above)
Fauna Conservation Act Amendment Act 1969	99 of 1969	25 Nov 1969	13 Feb 1970 (see s. 2 and Gazette 13 Feb 1970 p. 429)
Fauna Conservation Act Amendment Act 1970	53 of 1970	5 Nov 1970	5 Nov 1970
Reprint of the Fauna Conservation Act 1950 approved 10 Apr 1973 (includes amendments listed above)
Fauna Conservation Act Amendment Act 1975	67 of 1975	7 Nov 1975	5 Dec 1975 (see s. 2 and Gazette 5 Dec 1975 p. 4359)

Wildlife Conservation Act Amendment Act 1976	86 of 1976 (as amended by No. 28 of 1979 s. 4-7)	4 Nov 1976	28 Apr 1980 (see s. 2 and Gazette 18 Apr 1980 p. 1115)
Wildlife Conservation Act Amendment Act 1977	34 of 1977	7 Nov 1977	1 Aug 1978 (see s. 2 and Gazette 21 Jul 1978 p. 2627)

Wildlife Conservation Act Amendment Act 1979	28 of 1979	21 Sep 1979	28 Apr 1980 (see s. 2 and Gazette 18 Apr 1980 p. 1115)
Reprint of the Wildlife Conservation Act 1950 approved 30 Jun 1980 (includes amendments listed above)
Wildlife Conservation Amendment Act 1980	53 of 1980	19 Nov 1980	19 Nov 1980
Acts Amendment (Conservation and Land Management) Act 1984 Pt. II	112 of 1984	19 Dec 1984	22 Mar 1985 (see s. 2 and Gazette 15 Mar 1985 p. 931)
Wildlife Conservation Amendment Act 1985	58 of 1985	28 Oct 1985	25 Nov 1985
Conservation and Land Management Amendment Act 1991 s. 57	20 of 1991	25 Jun 1991	23 Aug 1991 (see s. 2 and Gazette 23 Aug 1991 p. 4353)
Acts Amendment (Game Birds Protection) Act 1992 Pt. 2	18 of 1992	16 Jun 1992	16 Jun 1992 (see s. 2)
Fish Resources Management Act 1994 s. 264	53 of 1994	2 Nov 1994	1 Oct 1995 (see s. 2 and Gazette 29 Sep 1995 p. 4649)
Statutes (Repeals and Minor Amendments) Act 1994 s. 4	73 of 1994	9 Dec 1994	9 Dec 1994 (see s. 2)
Local Government (Consequential Amendments) Act 1996 s. 4	14 of 1996	28 Jun 1996	1 Jul 1996 (see s. 2)
Financial Legislation Amendment Act 1996 s. 64	49 of 1996	25 Oct 1996	25 Oct 1996 (see s. 2(1))
Acts Amendment (Land Administration) Act 1997 s. 142 and 143	31 of 1997	3 Oct 1997	30 Mar 1998 (see s. 2 and Gazette 27 Mar 1998 p. 1765)
Statutes (Repeals and Minor Amendments) Act 1997 s. 132 4	57 of 1997	15 Dec 1997	15 Dec 1997 (see s. 2(1))
Statutes (Repeals and Minor Amendments) Act (No. 2) 1998 s. 75	10 of 1998	30 Apr 1998	30 Apr 1998 (see s. 2(1))
Reprint of the Wildlife Conservation Act 1950 as at 20 Nov 1998 (includes amendments listed above)
Criminal Investigation (Identifying People) Act 2002 Sch. 2 cl. 7	6 of 2002	4 Jun 2002	29 Jun 2002 (see s. 2 and Gazette 28 Jun 2002 p. 3037)
Animal Welfare Act 2002 s. 97	33 of 2002	15 Nov 2002	4 Apr 2003 (see s. 2 and Gazette 4 Apr 2003 p. 1023)
Environmental Protection Amendment Act 2003 s. 120	54 of 2003	20 Oct 2003	8 Jul 2004 (see s. 2 and Gazette 30 Jun 2004 p. 2581)
Statutes (Repeals and Minor Amendments) Act 2003 s. 133	74 of 2003	15 Dec 2003	15 Dec 2003 (see s. 2)
Reprint 6: The Wildlife Conservation Act 1950 as at 3 Sep 2004 (includes amendments listed above)
Courts Legislation Amendment and Repeal Act 2004 s. 141	59 of 2004	23 Nov 2004	1 May 2005 (see s. 2 and Gazette 31 Dec 2004 p. 7128)
Criminal Law Amendment (Simple Offences) Act 2004 s. 82	70 of 2004	8 Dec 2004	31 May 2005 (see s. 2 and Gazette 14 Jan 2005 p. 163)
Criminal Procedure and Appeals (Consequential and Other Provisions) Act 2004 s. 78, 80 and 82	84 of 2004	16 Dec 2004	2 May 2005 (see s. 2 and Gazette 31 Dec 2004 p. 7129 (correction in Gazette 7 Jan 2005 p. 53))
Machinery of Government (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act 2006 Pt. 7 Div. 5	28 of 2006	26 Jun 2006	1 Jul 2006 (see s. 2 and Gazette 27 Jun 2006 p. 2347)
Reprint 7: The Wildlife Conservation Act 1950 as at 6 Oct 2006 (includes amendments listed above)
Financial Legislation Amendment and Repeal Act 2006 Sch. 1 cl. 187	77 of 2006	21 Dec 2006	1 Feb 2007 (see s. 2(1) and Gazette 19 Jan 2007 p. 137)
Standardisation of Formatting Act 2010 s. 51	19 of 2010	28 Jun 2010	11 Sep 2010 (see s. 2(b) and Gazette 10 Sep 2010 p. 4341)
Reprint 8: The Wildlife Conservation Act 1950 as at 19 Nov 2010 (includes amendments listed above)
Personal Property Securities (Consequential Repeals and Amendments) Act 2011 Pt. 6 Div. 3	42 of 2011	4 Oct 2011	30 Jan 2012 (see s. 2(c) and Cwlth Legislative Instrument No. F2011L02397 cl. 5 registered 21 Nov 2011)

^1a On the date as at which this compilation was prepared, provisions referred to in the following table had not come into operation and were therefore not included in this compilation. For the text of the provisions see the endnotes referred to in the table.

Provisions that have not come into operation

Short title	Number and year	Assent	Commencement
Biosecurity and Agriculture Management (Repeal and Consequential Provisions) Act 2007 s. 95 5	24 of 2007	12 Oct 2007	To be proclaimed (see s. 2(2))
Conservation Legislation Amendment Act 2011 Pt. 3 6	36 of 2011	13 Sep 2011	To be proclaimed (see s. 2(b))

² Now known as the Wildlife Conservation Act 1950; short title changed (see note under s. 1).

³ Section 48A and the Second Schedule were inserted by the Limitation Act Amendment Act 1954 s. 8.

⁴ The amendments in the Statutes (Repeals and Minor Amendments) Act 1997 s. 132(23) to s. 15(1a) and (1b) and 23C(2a) are not included because the provisions to be amended were repealed by s. 132(3) and (13) of that Act.

⁵ On the date as at which this compilation was prepared, the Biosecurity and Agriculture Management (Repeal and Consequential Provisions) Act 2007 s. 95 had not come into operation. It reads as follows:

95. Wildlife Conservation Act 1950 amended

(1) The amendments in this section are to the Wildlife Conservation Act 1950.

(2) Section 6(5) is amended by deleting “a declared plant within the meaning of the Agriculture and Related Resources Protection Act 1976” and inserting instead —

“

a declared pest as that term is defined in the Biosecurity and Agriculture Management Act 2007

”.

⁶ On the date as at which this compilation was prepared, the Conservation Legislation Amendment Act 2011 Pt. 3 had not come into operation. It reads as follows:

Part 3 — Wildlife Conservation Act 1950 amended

47. Act amended

This Part amends the Wildlife Conservation Act 1950.

48. Section 6 amended

(1) In section 6(1) delete the definitions of:

nature reserve

wildlife sanctuary

(2) In section 6(1) in the definition of wildlife officer delete “that Act;” and insert:

that Act.

49. Section 23 replaced

Delete section 23 and insert:

23. Aboriginal persons may take flora and fauna for customary purposes

(1) In this section —

Aboriginal customary purpose means —

(a) preparing or consuming food customarily eaten by Aboriginal persons; or

(b) preparing or using medicine customarily used by Aboriginal persons; or

(c) engaging in artistic, ceremonial or other cultural activities customarily engaged in by Aboriginal persons; or

(d) engaging in activities incidental to a purpose stated in paragraph (a), (b) or (c);

Aboriginal person means a person wholly or partly descended from the original inhabitants of Australia;

CALM Act means the Conservation and Land Management Act 1984;

CALM Act land means —

(a) land, or land and waters, listed in the CALM Act section 5; and

(b) land that, under the CALM Act section 8C, is under the management of the CEO; and

(c) land to which the CALM Act section 131 applies;

exclusive native title, in relation to an area of land or waters, means native title rights and interests (as defined in section 223 of the NT Act) —

(a) that exist in relation to the area, whether or not they have been determined under the NT Act to exist; and

(b) that confer possession, occupation, use and enjoyment of the area on the holders of the native title rights and interests to the exclusion of all others;

exclusive native title holder, for an area in relation to which exclusive native title exists, means —

(a) the registered native title body corporate (as defined in section 253 of the NT Act) in respect of the native title rights and interests concerned; or

(b) if there is no such body corporate, each person who holds the native title rights and interests concerned or a person acting with the authority of each such person;

NT Act means the Native Title Act 1993 (Commonwealth).

(2) This section does not affect the operation of the CALM Act.

(3) It is a defence to a charge of an offence against this Act of taking fauna or flora to prove —

(a) the accused is an Aboriginal person; and

(b) the accused took the fauna or flora for an Aboriginal customary purpose; and

(c) in taking the fauna or flora the accused complied with any regulations that restrict or exclude the operation of this subsection; and

(d) if the offence is alleged to have been committed on land other than CALM Act land, the person who has control or management of the land consented to the taking of the fauna or flora; and

(e) if the offence is alleged to have been committed in an area in respect of which exclusive native title exists, the accused either —

(i) held the exclusive native title alone or with other persons; or

(ii) took the fauna or flora with the consent of the exclusive native title holder.

(4) If, but for this subsection, the defence provided by subsection (3) would entitle an Aboriginal person to do an act that is inconsistent with the continued existence, enjoyment or exercise of any native title rights and interests (as defined in section 223 of the NT Act) held by another Aboriginal person, the defence does not apply to that act unless it is proved the accused did the act in order to obtain fauna or flora sufficient only for food for the accused and his or her family, but not for sale.

(5) An Aboriginal person who takes fauna or flora for an Aboriginal customary purpose must not sell the flora or fauna, or any part of it, unless, under the regulations, the sale is excepted or the person is authorised or licensed to do so.

Penalty: a fine of $4 000.

(6) Regulations made under section 28 may restrict or exclude the operation of subsection (3) by reference to any of, or a combination of, the following —

(a) the fauna or flora taken;

(b) the class of person taking the fauna or flora;

(c) the time of taking;

(d) the place of taking;

(e) the manner of taking;

(f) the quantity of fauna or flora taken;

(g) the circumstances of the taking.

Defined Terms

[This is a list of terms defined and the provisions where they are defined. The list is not part of the law.]

Defined Term Provision(s)
animal 6(1)
carcass 6(1)
CEO 6(1)
class 6(1)
close season 6(1)
Crown land 6(1)
fauna 6(1), 20(6), 27(4)
flora 6(1)
government department 9(4)
honorary wildlife officer 6(1)
illegal device 6(1)
illegal means 6(1)
keep 6(1)
licence 6(1)
nature reserve 6(1)
open season 6(1)
other animal 27A(1)
private land 6(1)
processing establishment 6(1)
protected 6(1)
protected flora 6(1)
protection 6(1)
purposes of sport or recreation 15A(3)
rare flora 23F(1)
skin 6(1)
to process 6(1)
to sell 6(1)
to take 6(1))
wildlife officer 6(1)
wildlife sanctuary 6(1)