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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 14 Hansard (11 December) . . Page.. 5222 ..

MR WOOD (continuing):

One of the problems the new provisions will address is the inappropriate use of bins in public places by people who use them to dispose of their household or commercial waste. Regrettably, some commercial enterprises see litter bins provided at shopping centres and other public places as a cheap alternative to paying for proper disposal of their commercial waste. Unfortunately, the nature and quantity of the waste placed in the bins provided for public use means that the bins are often filled to overflowing. This both generates a litter problem and prevents members of the community being able to deposit small items of litter in bins crammed full of commercial waste. The act makes it an offence for a person to deposit household or commercial waste into a receptacle inappropriate for that purpose, such as a litter bin located in a public place for public use.

One of the shortcomings of the existing legislation is that it makes it very difficult to hold motorists responsible for acts of littering when items or materials are thrown from a motor vehicle or fall off a vehicle. A prosecution can only be achieved where there is a witness who is able to positively identify the driver or passenger who litters from a vehicle. Littering from vehicles accounts for a substantial proportion of the ACT's litter problem. To improve enforcement capability, the new act will enable an infringement notice to be issued to the registered operator of a vehicle from which littering occurs.

Mr Cornwell: Gazumped but never mind, I don't mind.

MR WOOD: Thank you, Mr Cornwell. The onus would be on the registered operator to establish that he or she was not the person who committed the alleged act of littering. Similar provisions are in place in other jurisdictions and this is the same concept that applies to speeding and parking offences in the ACT. The act will also include new provisions to ensure that vehicle loads are properly secured to prevent the escape of items from the vehicle.

In particular, the act will impose liability on a person who has required someone else to transport items in a vehicle from which material or items are able to escape as a result of a failure to provide sufficient means to secure the load. This provision will address situations which can arise where employers place employees under pressure to cart loads, for example, of landscaping or building materials, but fail to supply an adequate means of securing those loads so as to prevent material escaping.

The provisions in the current legislation that make it an offence to place advertising leaflets on motor vehicles in public areas will be expanded. It will now, equally, be an offence for a person to direct someone or employ a distributor to arrange for advertising leaflets to be placed on motor vehicles. Presently, the sanctions to deal with littering under the act are limited to the issue of an infringement notice or prosecuting an alleged offender.

The new act includes provisions enabling a verbal direction to be given to remove the litter or a formal "clean-up"direction to be issued as, in many instances, this may be a more appropriate and effective response. In more serious cases, such as where a commercial operator dumps waste on public land, both a clean-up direction and an infringement notice or prosecution may be appropriate, and the act allows for this.

In accordance with the policy of adopting a single, consistent infringement penalty scheme for the ACT, regulations will be made pursuant to the Magistrates Court Act

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