Part 4Miscellaneous
60KADefinitions
In this Part—
danger
area means the area specified by a directing officer as the
area affected by an emergency.
directing officer
means—
(a)
the Minister, or
(b)
the State Emergency Operations Controller,
or
(c)
a police officer of or above the rank of
sergeant, or
(d)
a police officer of a class prescribed by the
regulations for the purposes of this definition.
emergency or rescue
management organisation means any of the
following—
(a)
(b)
the State Emergency Management
Committee,
(c)
a Regional Emergency Management
Committee,
(d)
a Local Emergency Management
Committee,
(e)
the State Rescue Board,
(f)
a committee or sub-committee of a body referred
to in paragraphs (b)–(e).
premises includes land, place,
building, vehicle, vessel or aircraft, or any part of
premises.
s 60KA: Ins 1995 No
91, Sch 1 [31]. Am 2010 No 117, Sch 1 [20]; 2012 No 103, Sch 3 [12]; 2018 No
59, Sch 1 [29]–[33].
60LPower of police to evacuate or to take other steps
concerning persons
(1)
A directing officer may, if satisfied that there
are reasonable grounds for doing so for the purpose of protecting persons from
injury or death threatened by an actual or imminent emergency, direct, or
authorise a police officer to direct, a person to do any or all of the
following—
(a)
to leave any particular premises and to move
outside the danger area,
(b)
to take any children or adults present in any
particular premises who are in the person’s care and to move them
outside the danger area,
(c)
not to enter the danger
area.
(1A)
A directing officer may, if satisfied that there
are reasonable grounds for doing so for the purpose of protecting persons from
chemical, biological or radiological contamination, direct or authorise a
police officer to direct, a person who may have been subjected to such
contamination to do any or all of the following—
(a)
to remain in a particular
area,
(b)
to remain quarantined from other
persons,
(c)
to submit to decontamination
procedures.
(2)
If a person does not comply with a direction
given under this section, a police officer may do all such things as are
reasonably necessary to ensure compliance with it, using such force as is
reasonably necessary in the circumstances.
(3)
The regulations may limit the circumstances, and
regulate the manner, in which the powers conferred by this section may be
exercised.
(4)
Neither this section nor section 6 of the Police Act 1990 imposes a duty on a
police officer to use force to ensure compliance with a direction under this
section.
(5)
s 60L (previously s
60A): Ins 1990 No 48, Sch 1. Renumbered 1994 No 23, Sch 1 (2). Am 1995 No
91, Sch 1 [32]; 2002 No 115, Sch 2 [1] [2]; 2011 No 62, Sch 3.33; 2018 No 59,
Sch 1 [29] [34].
61Power to take other safety measures
(1)
A directing officer may, if satisfied that there
are reasonable grounds for doing so for the purpose of protecting persons or
animals from injury or death or protecting property threatened by an actual or
imminent emergency, direct, or authorise a police officer to direct, the doing
of any one or more of the following—
(a)
the closure to traffic of any street, road, lane,
thoroughfare or footpath or place open to or used by the public, in the danger
area or any part of the danger area,
(a1)
the removal of vehicles in the danger area or any
part of the danger area,
(b)
the closure of any other public or private place
in the danger area or any part of the danger area,
(c)
the pulling down, destruction or shoring up of
any wall or premises that have been damaged or rendered insecure in the danger
area or any part of the danger area,
(d)
the shutting off or disconnecting of the supply
of any water, gas, liquid, solid, grain, powder or other substance in or from
any main, pipeline, container or storage facility in the danger area or any
part of the danger area,
(e)
the shutting off or disconnecting of the supply
of gas or electricity to any premises in the danger area or any part of the
danger area,
(f)
the taking possession of, and removal or
destruction of any material or thing in the danger area or any part of the
danger area that may be dangerous to life or property or that may interfere
with the response of emergency services to the emergency,
(g)
the protection or isolation of any material or
thing in the danger area by preventing a person from removing or otherwise
interfering with the material or thing.
(2)
The cost of taking action under subsection (1)
(c) is to be borne by the owner of the wall or premises and is to be paid to,
and may be recovered in a court of competent jurisdiction by, the Commissioner
of Police.
(3)
For the purposes of the exercise of a function
under subsection (1) (d), the directing officer or a police officer may
require the person who controls or supplies the substance concerned to
immediately send some competent person to the scene for the purpose of
shutting it off or disconnecting it in accordance with the reasonable
directions of the officer.
(4)
A person must comply with a requirement, or
directions, under subsection (3).
Maximum penalty—50 penalty
units.
(5)
A person who supplies a substance referred to in
subsection (1) (d) or (e) is not liable for any damages because of any
interruption of that supply under this section if the supply is shut off or
disconnected in accordance with the directions of the directing officer or
police officer.
(6)
The regulations may limit the circumstances, and
regulate the manner, in which the powers conferred by this section may be
exercised.
s 61: Rep 1995 No 91,
Sch 1 [33]. Ins 1995 No 91, Sch 1 [34]. Am 2000 No 32, Sch 1 [32]; 2002 No
115, Sch 2 [3] [4]; 2010 No 117, Sch 1 [21]; 2018 No 59, Sch 1 [29]
[34]–[36].
61APower to enter premises
A person may enter any premises for the purposes
of complying with a direction under section 61 (1).
s 61A: Ins 1995 No
91, Sch 1 [34]. Am 2018 No 59, Sch 1 [37].
61AAUse of assistants
A police officer exercising a function under
section 61 may do so with the aid of, and be accompanied by, such assistants
as the police officer considers necessary.
s 61AA: Ins 2010 No
117, Sch 1 [22].
61BNotice of entry
(1)
A person authorised to enter premises may enter
the premises without giving notice—
(a)
if entry to the premises is made with the consent
of the owner or occupier, or
(b)
if the entry is made to a part of the premises
that is open to the public, or
(c)
if entry is required urgently and the case is one
in which the directing officer giving the direction has authorised in writing
(either generally or in a particular case) entry without
notice.
(2)
In any other case, the person must give the owner
or occupier of the premises reasonable written notice of the intention to
enter the premises.
s 61B: Ins 1995 No
91, Sch 1 [34]. Am 2018 No 59, Sch 1 [29] [37] [38].
61CCare to be taken
In the exercise of a function under section 61, a
person authorised to enter premises must do as little damage as
possible.
s 61C: Ins 1995 No
91, Sch 1 [34]. Am 2018 No 59, Sch 1 [37].
61DUse of force by police officers
(1)
Reasonable force may be used by a police officer
for the purpose of gaining entry to premises to comply with a direction under
section 61 but only if the directing officer—
(a)
has authorised in writing the use of force in the
particular case, or
(b)
has specified in writing the circumstances that
are required to exist before force may be used and the particular case falls
within those circumstances.
(2)
If a police officer authorised to enter premises
uses force to do so, the police officer must, as soon as practicable, inform
the directing officer who directed him or her to exercise the function under
section 61.
(3)
The directing officer so informed must give
notice of the use of force to the Commissioner of
Police.
(4)
If a person’s property is damaged by the
exercise of a right of entry the person is to receive such compensation as may
be determined by the Minister for Police, but is not entitled to receive
compensation.
(5)
A person may apply to the Premier for a review of
a determination as to compensation made by the Minister for Police under this
section.
s 61D: Ins 1995 No
91, Sch 1 [34]. Am 2018 No 59, Sch 1 [29] [39].
61EAuthority to enter premises
(1)
A power conferred to enter premises, or to take
action on premises, may not be exercised unless the person proposing to
exercise the power is in possession of an authority and produces the authority
if required to do so by the owner or occupier of the
premises.
(2)
The authority must be a written authority
that—
(a)
states that it is issued under this Act,
and
(b)
gives the name of the person to whom it is
issued, and
(c)
describes the nature of the powers conferred and
the source of the powers, and
(d)
states the date (if any) on which it expires,
and
(e)
describes the kind of premises to which the power
extends, and
(f)
bears the signature of the directing officer or
the police officer who issued the direction under section
61.
(3)
However, a police officer exercising a power to
enter premises, or to take action on premises, must produce his or her warrant
card if required to do so by the owner or occupier of the premises in lieu of
an authority (unless the police officer is in uniform).
s 61E: Ins 1995 No
91, Sch 1 [34]. Subst 2018 No 59, Sch 1 [40].
62Personal liability
(1)
A matter or thing done by—
(a)
an emergency or rescue management organisation,
or
(b)
a member of any such organisation or of the staff
of any such organisation (in the person’s capacity as such a member),
or
(c)
the State Emergency Operations Controller or a
Regional or Local Emergency Operations Controller (in the person’s
capacity as such a controller),
does not, if the matter or thing was done in good faith
for the purposes of executing this or any other Act, subject the member or
controller personally to any action, liability, claim or
demand.
(2)
A matter or thing done by a government sector
employee, or by a member (or member of staff) of an emergency services
organisation, does not, if the matter or thing was done in good faith for the
purposes of executing this Act, subject the employee or member to any action,
liability, claim or demand.
(3)
In this section—
government sector
employee means a person employed in a government sector
agency (within the meaning of the Government Sector
Employment Act 2013).
s 62: Am 1991 No 94,
Sch 2; 2012 No 103, Sch 3 [12]; 2018 No 59, Sch 1 [41].
62ACertain damage to be covered by
insurance
(1)
Any damage to property caused by the exercise in
good faith of functions under section 37A (1) or 61 (1) by—
(a)
the Minister or an emergency services officer
authorised by the Minister during a state of emergency, or
(b)
a directing officer or a police officer
authorised by a directing officer at an actual or imminent emergency,
or
(c)
a person acting on and in accordance with a
direction given by—
(i)
the Minister or an emergency services officer
authorised by the Minister under section 37A (1) during a state of emergency,
or
(ii)
a directing officer or a police officer
authorised by a directing officer under section 61 (1) at an actual or
imminent emergency,
is taken to be damage by the happening that constitutes
the emergency (being fire, flood, storm, tempest, explosion or other risk,
contingency or event) for the purposes of any policy of insurance against the
risk, contingency or event concerning an act or omission that covers the
property.
(2)
This section applies only in respect of damage to
property caused in the exercise of a function to protect persons or animals
from injury or death or property from damage if those persons are, or the
property is, endangered by the happening that constitutes the emergency or
endangered by the escape or likely escape of hazardous material as the result
of that happening.
(3)
Any provision, stipulation, covenant or condition
in any agreement that negatives, limits or modifies or purports to negative,
limit or modify the operation of this section is void and of no
effect.
(4)
In this section, hazardous material
means anything that, when produced, stored, moved, used or otherwise dealt
with without adequate safeguards to prevent it from escaping, may cause injury
or death or damage to property.
s 62A: Ins 1995 No
91, Sch 1 [35]. Am 2000 No 32, Sch 1 [33]; 2018 No 59, Sch 1 [29]
[34].
62BObstruction of members of rescue
units
A person must not obstruct or hinder a member of
an accredited rescue unit acting in connection with a rescue operation or
otherwise in response to an emergency.
Maximum penalty—50 penalty units or
imprisonment for 2 years, or both.
s 62B: Ins 1996 No
89, Sch 1.3 [2].
63This Act not to limit other Acts or
laws
Except as expressly provided by this Act, this
Act does not limit the operation of any other Act or
law.
63AStaff
(1)
Such staff as may be necessary to
enable—
(a)
a relevant emergency or rescue management
organisation to exercise its functions, and
(b)
the operation of the State emergency operations
centre, and
(c)
the State Emergency Recovery Controller to
exercise his or her functions,
are to be employed in the Public Service under the
Government Sector Employment Act
2013.
(1A)
Without limiting subsection (1), staff may be
employed under that subsection to provide executive support facilities
(including operational support) for a relevant emergency or rescue management
organisation.
(2)
In this section, relevant
emergency or rescue management organisation
means—
(a)
(b)
the State Emergency Management Committee,
or
(c)
the State Rescue Board, or
(d)
a subcommittee of any such
organisation.
s 63A: Ins 2000 No
32, Sch 1 [34]. Am 2010 No 117, Sch 1 [23]–[25]; 2015 No 15, Sch 1.25
[6]; 2018 No 59, Sch 1 [42].
63AADelegation by Secretary
The Secretary may delegate any of the
Secretary’s functions under this Act (other than this power of
delegation) to an employee of the Department of Justice.
s 63AA: Ins 2015 No
15, Sch 1.25 [7].
63BOffences relating to emergency services
organisations
(1)
A person who manufactures or sells emergency
services organisation insignia is guilty of an offence.
Maximum penalty—50 penalty
units.
(2)
A person who—
(a)
uses or displays emergency services organisation
insignia, or
(b)
impersonates an emergency services organisation
officer,
with the intention to deceive is guilty of an
offence.
Maximum penalty—50 penalty
units.
(2A)
A person who—
(a)
impersonates an emergency services organisation
officer with the intention to deceive and purports to exercise a function of
such an officer, or
(b)
impersonates an emergency services organisation
officer with the intention to deceive in order to facilitate the commission of
an offence,
is guilty of an offence.
Maximum penalty—100 penalty
units.
(3)
A person is not guilty of an offence under this
section if—
(a)
the person’s conduct is authorised by the
relevant emergency services organisation, or
(b)
the person establishes that the conduct is for
the purposes of a public entertainment, or
(c)
the person establishes that the person has a
reasonable excuse.
(4)
In this section—
emergency
services organisation insignia means—
(a)
any items (being uniforms, insignia, emblems,
logos, devices, accoutrements and other things) that are generally recognised
as pertaining to an emergency services organisation (other than the NSW Police
Force) or as being used by an emergency services organisation officer,
or
(b)
any parts of any such items,
or
(c)
any reasonable imitation of any such items or
parts, or
(d)
any thing or class of thing prescribed by the
regulations as being within this definition (whether or not it may already be
within this definition),
but does not include any thing or class of thing
prescribed by the regulations as being outside this definition.
emergency services
organisation officer includes an employee, member, volunteer
or any other person who exercises functions on behalf of an emergency services
organisation (other than the NSW Police Force).
sell means sell, exchange or let
on hire, and includes—
(a)
offer, expose, possess, send, forward or deliver
for sale, exchange or hire, or
(b)
cause, suffer or allow any of the
above.
s 63B: Ins 2005 No
80, Sch 1 [9]. Am 2006 No 94, Sch 3.33 [7] [8]; 2013 No 108, Sch
2.3.
64Service of documents
(1)
A document may be served on an emergency or
rescue management organisation by leaving it at, or by sending it by
registered post to, the office of the organisation.
(2)
Nothing in this section affects the operation of
any provision of a law or of the rules of a court authorising a document to be
served on an emergency or rescue management organisation in a manner not
provided for by this section.
64AProcedure for tabling annual reports when Parliament not
sitting
(1)
This section applies to a report under section 17
or 49A that the Minister is required to lay before both Houses of
Parliament.
(2)
If a House of Parliament is not sitting when the
Minister seeks to cause a copy of the report to be tabled before it, the
Minister is to cause a copy of the report to be presented to the Clerk of that
House of Parliament.
(3)
A copy of the report presented to the Clerk of a
House of Parliament under this section—
(a)
is, on presentation and for all purposes, taken
to have been laid before the House, and
(b)
may be printed by authority of the Clerk of the
House, and
(c)
if so printed, is taken to be a document
published by or under the authority of the House, and
(d)
is to be recorded—
(i)
in the case of the Legislative Council—in
the Minutes of Proceedings of the Legislative Council, and
(ii)
in the case of the Legislative Assembly—in
the Votes and Proceedings of the Legislative
Assembly,
on the first sitting day of the House after receipt of
the copy of the report by the Clerk.
s 64A: Ins 2010 No
117, Sch 1 [26].
65Proof of certain matters not required
In any legal proceedings, proof is not required
(until evidence is given to the contrary) of—
(a)
the constitution of an emergency or rescue
management organisation, or
(b)
any resolution of such an organisation,
or
(c)
the appointment of, or the holding of office by,
any member of such an organisation, or
(d)
the presence of a quorum at any meeting of such
an organisation.
66Proceedings for offences
Proceedings for an offence against this Act or
the regulations are to be dealt with summarily before the Local
Court.
s 66: Am 2007 No 94,
Sch 4.
67Regulations
(1)
The Governor may make regulations, not
inconsistent with this Act, for or with respect to any matter that by this Act
is required or permitted to be prescribed or that is necessary or convenient
to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to this
Act.
(2)
A regulation may create an offence punishable by
a penalty not exceeding 5 penalty units.
68Savings, transitional and other
provisions
Schedule 4 has effect.
69
s 69: Rep 1990 No
108, Sch 1.