The National Parks and Wildlife Regulation 2019 (2019 Regulation) commenced on 1 September 2019. It has replaced the National Parks and Wildlife Regulation 2009 (2009 Regulation).
The NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) sought public comment on the public consultation draft of the 2019 Regulation between 19 June and 19 July 2019. The 2019 Regulation was finalised after considering the need for further changes based on feedback from the public.
The 2019 Regulation carries over most of the provisions from the 2009 Regulation. The 2019 Regulation sets out provisions to support achieving the objectives of the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974. The Regulation details how activities are managed in national parks to ensure conservation values are protected and people can enjoy visiting parks in a safe and sustainable way. The Regulation includes rules for the entry of vehicles and animals to national parks, camping, preventing littering and damage, lighting of fires, and protection of vegetation.
Why did the Regulation need to be updated?
The 2009 Regulation was remade as part of the staged repeal of statutory rules required under the Subordinate Legislation Act 1989.
Reviewing the 2009 Regulation ensured that the 2019 Regulation is up to date, meets the Government's better regulation principles, is in plain English, and reduces red tape wherever possible.
The changes in the 2019 Regulation are minor and aim to provide clarity on certain aspects of park management and to remove duplication of provisions now covered by the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016.
You can find more information on why and how we've updated the Regulation on the Questions and answers webpage.
Outcome of public consultation submissions
NPWS received 53 submissions (including 2 submissions from the same author) and considered all submissions to determine if a change to the public consultation draft of the 2019 Regulation was needed.
NPWS considered that most of the issues raised in submissions did not warrant any changes. However, minor changes were made to draft clauses 54 and 55 in response to a submission.
Changes to the Regulation
The 2019 Regulation provides clarity on park management issues, including the regulation of animals on park and the exemption for assistance animals in nature reserves, vehicles requiring consent on park, the definitions of aircraft and unmanned aircraft (drones), and removes duplicate provisions now addressed by the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016. In addition, all references throughout to ‘Director-General’ have been updated to relevant current decision-maker position titles.
There are also 2 offences which are no longer subject to penalty infringement notices and, as such have been removed from the penalty notice offences schedule.
In addition, some of the content has been reorganised to improve flow and readability and minor editorial and style updates have been made in line with legal drafting requirements and machinery of government changes.
Full details of the changes to the Regulation are available in the final regulatory impact statement (RIS).
Regulatory impact statement
A regulatory impact statement (RIS) was prepared to support the public consultation draft of the 2019 Regulation. The RIS sets out the objectives and rationale of the update of the Regulation. It discusses the 3 options that were considered for achieving those objectives as well as an assessment of the costs and benefits of each option.
The issues discussed in the RIS don't represent the final NSW Government position on the amendments but provided an opportunity for interested parties to review it and provide comments and suggestions.
Following the close of public consultation, the RIS has been updated to reflect the outcome of the consultation process and submissions review and the finalisation of the 2019 Regulation. It contains details of the changes that were originally proposed and subsequently made to the Regulation.
