Tasmanian Consolidated Acts

ABORIGINAL RELICS ACT 1975 - SECT 14

      (1) Except as otherwise provided in this Act, no person shall, otherwise than in accordance with the terms of a permit granted by the Minister on the recommendation of the Director –

(a) destroy, damage, deface, conceal, or otherwise interfere with a relic;

(b) make a copy or replica of a carving or engraving that is a relic by rubbing, tracing, casting, or other means that involve direct contact with the carving or engraving;

(c) remove a relic from the place where it is found or abandoned;

(d) sell or offer or expose for sale, exchange, or otherwise dispose of a relic or any other object that so nearly resembles a relic as to be likely to deceive or be capable of being mistaken for a relic;

(e) take a relic, or cause or permit a relic to be taken, out of this State; or

(f) cause an excavation to be made or any other work to be carried out on Crown land for the purpose of searching for a relic.

      (2) A permit under subsection (1) is of no effect if, to the knowledge of the holder thereof, the relic to which it relates has been acquired or dealt with in contravention of this Act.

      (3) This section does not apply to any dealing in land.

      (4) Where an authorized officer has reasonable grounds for believing that an offence under –

(a) this section has been, or is about to be, committed in relation to a relic; or

(b) subsection (1)(d), has been, or is about to be, committed in relation to an object other than a relic referred to therein –

      (5) Where a person is convicted of an offence under this section in relation to a relic owned by him, the court by which he is convicted may, in addition to or in lieu of imposing any penalty on that conviction, order the relic to be forfeited to the Crown and, on the making of such an order, the relic vests in and becomes the property of the Crown.