New South Wales Consolidated Acts

SUMMARY OFFENCES ACT 1988 - SECT 28J

28J Offence of hunting on private land

(1) In this section:
"animal" means any vertebrate animal but does not include a fish within the meaning of the Fisheries Management Act 1994 .
"hunt" an animal includes search for, pursue, trail, stalk or drive out the animal in order to capture, trap, harm or kill the animal.
"occupier" and "owner" have the same meanings as they have in the Rural Lands Protection Act 1998 .
"private land" has the same meaning as it has in the Rural Lands Protection Act 1998 .

(2) A person who, without reasonable excuse (proof of which lies on the person) enters private land and hunts for any animal on the land, without the consent of the owner or occupier of the land, is guilty of an offence.

Maximum penalty: 10 penalty units or imprisonment for 12 months, or both.

(3) Without limiting subsection (2), a person is taken to have reasonable excuse for the purposes of that section if:

(a) the person did not know that the land was private land, or

(b) the person is an Aboriginal person:

(i) who is a member, or in the company of a member, of a Local Aboriginal Land Council and who is undertaking traditional cultural hunting within the area of the Council in accordance with a permit issued under section 48 of the Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983 , or

(ii) who enters the land and hunts an animal pursuant to a native title right or interest that is the subject of an approved determination of native title or of a registered native title claim, or

(c) the person enters the land and hunts animals in accordance with a duty imposed on the person under the Rural Lands Protection Act 1998 or the Wild Dog Destruction Act 1921 to suppress and destroy the animals, or

(d) the person is of a class, or enters the land and hunts in the circumstances, prescribed by the regulations.