Quarantine Act 1908
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| Quarantine Act 1908 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Parliament of Australia | |
| |
| Citation | No. 3 of 1908 or No. 3, 1908 as amended |
| Territorial extent | States and territories of Australia |
| Assented to | 30 March 1908[1] |
| Repealed by | |
| Biosecurity Act 2015 | |
| Summary | |
| The Quarantine Act 1908 was the primary biosecurity and quarantine legislation of the Australian Commonwealth that has been repealed and replaced. | |
| Status: Repealed | |
The Quarantine Act 1908 (Cth) was an act of the Parliament of Australia which is no longer in effect.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 It was superseded by the Biosecurity Act 2015 and repealed on 16 June 2016.[1]
Australia imported livestock from several countries with livestock diseases in the 18th century and by the late 19th century, quarantine measures 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 Commonwealth Government and thus, two years later, the federal parliament enacted the Act, which provided a national approach to quarantine for the first time.[2]
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,[3] and then 2008 Beale Review,[4][5] a "comprehensive and independent review of Australia’s quarantine and biosecurity arrangements", which recommended new biosecurity legislation to replace the Quarantine Act.[6]
This quarantine law affected the 1956 Summer Olympics in Australia. Due to restrictions on livestock importation, the equestrian events at those games had to be hosted in Stockholm, Sweden, rather than Australia.[7]
