Industrial Hemp Act 2017 (SA)

South Australia Industrial Hemp Act 2017 An Act to authorise and regulate the cultivation of industrial hemp; to make a related amendment to the Controlled Substances Act 1984; and for other purposes.

Contents Part 1—Preliminary 1 Short title 2 Commencement 3 Interpretation 4 Meaning of associate 5 Criminal intelligence 6 Provisions of Act not unlawful 7 Interaction with Commonwealth law Part 2—Licences 8 Application for licence 9 Chief Executive must investigate application 10 Suitability of applicant—fit and proper person 11 Determination of licence application 12 Terms and conditions of licence 13 Renewal of licence 14 Chief Executive must investigate renewal application 15 Determining a renewal application 16 Suspension or cancellation of licence 17 Review by Tribunal Part 3—Inspectors 18 Inspectors 19 General powers of inspector 20 Inspector has power to seize material Part 4—Offences 21 False or misleading statements 22 Offence to fail to comply with a requirement 23 Interference with inspectors 24 Offence to impersonate inspector 25 Offence not to comply with licence Part 5—Miscellaneous 26 Industrial Hemp Register 27 Delegation 28 Immunity from personal liability 29 Protection against self-incrimination 30 Regulations Schedule 1—Related amendment Part 1—Preliminary 1 Amendment provision Part 2—Amendment of Controlled Substances Act 1984 2 Amendment of section 31—Application of Part Legislative history

The Parliament of South Australia enacts as follows: Part 1—Preliminary 1—Short title This Act may be cited as the Industrial Hemp Act 2017. 2—Commencement This Act will come into operation on a day to be fixed by proclamation. 3—Interpretation In this Act— ACC means the Australian Crime Commission established under the Australian Crime Commission Act 2002 of the Commonwealth; certified hemp seed means seed certified, in accordance with the regulations, as seed that will typically produce hemp plants with a concentration of THC in the leaves and flowering heads of not more than 0.5%; Chief Executive means the Chief Executive of the Department that is, under a Minister, responsible for the administration of the Agricultural and Veterinary Chemicals (South Australia) Act 1994; criminal intelligence means information relating to actual or suspected criminal activity (whether in this State or elsewhere) the disclosure of which could reasonably be expected to prejudice criminal investigations, to enable the discovery of the existence or identity of a confidential source of information relevant to law enforcement or to endanger a person's life or physical safety; cultivate means— (a) plant a seed, seedling or cutting of the plant or transplant the plant; or (b) nurture, tend or grow the plant; or (c) harvest the plant (including pick any part of the plant or separate any resin or other substance from the plant); or (d) dry the harvested plant or part of the plant; or (e) take part in the process of cultivation of the plant; drug of dependence means a poison within the meaning of the Controlled Substances Act 1984 declared by the regulations under that Act to be a drug of dependence; drug related offence means— (a) an indictable offence involving possession, or cultivation of, or trafficking in, a drug of dependence; or (b) an indictable offence under the Controlled Substances Act 1984; or (c) an indictable offence under the law of another jurisdiction involving possession, or cultivation of, or trafficking in, a drug of dependence; or (d) an offence of a kind prescribed by the regulations; hemp means a plant, or any part (including the seed) of a plant, of the genus cannabis; industrial hemp means hemp that— (a) has been grown from certified hemp seed; and (b) has a concentration of THC in the leaves and flowering heads of not more than 1%, and includes the seed of such a plant and any product derived from any such plant; industrial hemp licence—see section 8(1); industrial hemp register means the register established under section 26; inspector means— (a) a person appointed as an inspector under section 18; or (b) a police officer; licence means a licence under this Act; licence holder means— (a) the holder of an industrial hemp licence; or (b) the holder of a special licence; premises means any land, building, structure, vehicle, vessel or aircraft; sell means sell by wholesale or retail and includes the following: (a) agree to sell; (b) offer or expose for sale; (c) keep, or possess, for sale; (d) deal in, barter or exchange; (e) send, forward, deliver or receive for sale; (f) authorise, direct, cause or permit the doing of any matter in paragraphs (a) to (e); special licence—see section 8(2); supply includes the following: (a) deliver, sell, trade, give or distribute, whether for valuable consideration or not; (b) offer or agree to supply; (c) cause or permit to supply; (d) hold in possession for the purpose of supply; (e) produce or pack for the purpose of supply; THC means tetrahydrocannabinol; Tribunal means the South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal established under the South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2013. 4—Meaning of associate (1) For the purposes of this Act, a person who is of or above the age of 18 years is an associate of an applicant for a licence or a licence holder if the person— (a) holds any relevant financial interest, or is entitled to exercise any relevant power (whether in right of the person or on behalf of any other person) in the business of the applicant or the licence holder (being the business to which the application or licence relates), and by virtue of that interest or power, is able to exercise a significant influence over or with respect to the management or operation of the business; or (b) holds any relevant position (whether in right of the person or on behalf of any other person) in the business of the applicant or the licence holder (being the business to which the application or licence relates). (2) In subsection (1)— relevant financial interest in relation to a business means— (a) any share in the capital of the business; or (b) any entitlement to receive any income derived from the business; relevant position, in relation to the business of an applicant or a licence holder, means— (a) the position of director, partner, trustee, manager, secretary or other executive position, however designated; and (b) any other position determined by the Chief Executive to be associated or connected with the ownership, administration or management of the operations or business of the applicant; relevant power means any power, whether exercisable by voting or otherwise and whether exercisable alone or in association with others— (a) to participate in any directorial, managerial or executive decision; or (b) to elect or appoint any person to any relevant position. 5—Criminal intelligence (1) Information that is classified by the Commissioner of Police as criminal intelligence for the purposes of this Act may not be disclosed to any person other than the Chief Executive, the Minister, the Tribunal, a court or a person to whom the Commissioner of Police authorises its disclosure. (2) If the Commissioner of Police— (a) opposes the issuing or renewal of a licence; or (b) requests the suspension or cancellation of a licence, on the basis of information that is classified by the Commissioner of Police as criminal intelligence, the Chief Executive is not (despite any other provision of this Act) required to provide any grounds or reasons for a decision to refuse to issue or renew the licence or to suspend or cancel the licence (as the case may be) other than that the decision was made in the public interest. (3) In any proceedings under this Act, the Tribunal or a court— (a) must, on the application of the Commissioner of Police, take steps to maintain the confidentiality of information classified by the Commissioner of Police as criminal intelligence, including steps to receive evidence and hear argument about the information in private in the absence of the parties to the proceedings and their representatives; and (b) may take evidence consisting of or relating to information so classified by the Commissioner of Police by way of affidavit of a police officer of or above the rank of superintendent. (4) The Commissioner of Police may not delegate the function of classifying information as criminal intelligence for the purposes of this Act except to a Deputy Commissioner or Assistant Commissioner of Police. 6—Provisions of Act not unlawful Nothing in any other Act or law affects the provisions of this Act or renders unlawful anything done in accordance with this Act. 7—Interaction with Commonwealth law (1) A provision of this Act has no effect to the extent of any inconsistency with the Commonwealth Act (and this Act is not to be taken to authorise the performance of a function or the exercise of a power under this Act that would result in operational inconsistency of this Act with the Commonwealth Act). (2) In this section— Commonwealth Act means the Narcotic Drugs Act 1967 of the Commonwealth. Note— See section 7A of the Commonwealth Act in relation to its interaction with State and Territory laws.