Western Australian Current Acts

ANIMAL WELFARE ACT 2002 - SECT 5

5 .         Terms used

        (1)         In this Act —

        Agriculture WA means the department of the Public Service principally assisting with the administration of the Biosecurity and Agriculture Management Act 2007 ;

        animal means —

            (a)         a live vertebrate; or

            (b)         a live invertebrate of a prescribed kind,

        other than a human or a fish (as defined in the Fish Resources Management Act 1994 );

        animal ethics committee means an animal ethics committee established by a scientific establishment in accordance with the scientific use code;

        Biodiversity Conservation Department means the department of the Public Service principally assisting with the administration of the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 ;

        CEO means the chief executive officer of the Department;

        code of practice means a code of practice adopted under section 94(2)(d);

        Department means the department of the Public Service principally assisting the Minister in the administration of this Act;

        designated inspector means a general inspector designated under section 35A(1) as a designated inspector;

        fauna has the meaning given in the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 section 5(1);

        Fisheries Western Australia means the department of the Public Service principally assisting with the administration of the Fish Resources Management Act 1994 ;

        general inspector means a police officer or a person appointed as a general inspector under section 33;

        harm includes —

            (a)         injury; and

            (b)         pain; and

            (c)         distress evidenced by severe, abnormal physiological or behavioural reactions;

        inspector means a general inspector or a scientific inspector;

        lawfully taken , in relation to fauna, means taken in circumstances that do not involve a contravention of the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 or any other written law;

        licence means a licence issued under Part 2;

        non-residential place —

        (a)         means any place except a building, vehicle or other structure in which a person ordinarily lives; and

            (b)         includes gardens, yards or other land surrounding, and sheds or other outbuildings near, such a building or other structure;

        person in charge , in relation to an animal, means —

            (a)         the owner of the animal; or

            (b)         a person who has actual physical custody or control of the animal; or

            (c)         if the person referred to in paragraph (b) is a member of staff of another person, that other person; or

            (d)         the owner or occupier of the place or vehicle where the animal is or was at the relevant time;

        place means anywhere at all, whether or not that place can be moved, but does not include a vehicle;

        RSPCA means The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Western Australia ⁴ ;

        scientific establishment means a person who uses, or whose staff or students use, animals for scientific purposes;

        scientific inspector means a person appointed as a scientific inspector under section 33(5) or 34;

        scientific purposes means acquiring, developing or demonstrating knowledge or techniques in a scientific discipline, other than in prescribed circumstances, and includes —

            (a)         teaching; and

            (b)         research; and

            (c)         product development or testing; and

            (d)         carrying out a prescribed activity;

        scientific use code means the prescribed code of practice for the care and use of animals for scientific purposes;

        staff , in relation to a person, includes —

            (a)         all the people working for, or engaged by, that person whether as officers, employees, agents, contractors, volunteers or in any other capacity; and

            (b)         if the person is a scientific establishment, all the people who use the establishment’s facilities for scientific purposes; and

            (c)         if the person is a body corporate, its directors, secretary and executive officers; and

            (d)         if the person is a partnership, the partners;

        vehicle includes a train, vessel, aircraft and any other thing used as a means of transport;

        veterinarian has the meaning given in the Veterinary Practice Act 2021 section 3.

        (1A)         In this Act unless the contrary intention appears a reference to Part 3 includes a reference to regulations referred to in section 18B.

        (2)         Regulations cannot be made to prescribe pearl oysters (as defined in the Pearling Act 1990 ) for the purposes of paragraph (b) of the definition of “animal”.

        [Section 5 amended: No. 28 of 2006 s. 352; No. 24 of 2007 s. 9; No. 24 of 2016 s. 310(2) and (3); No. 35 of 2018 s. 5; No. 19 of 2021 s. 226(2) and (3); No. 5 of 2023 s. 4.]