Public Spaces (Unattended Property) Act 2021 Assented in NSW

Tuesday 14 December 2021 @ 2.38 p.m. | Legal Research

The Public Spaces (Unattended Property) Act 2021 (NSW) (‘the Act’) received the Royal Assent on 29 November 2021. The Act imposes significant fines on those leaving and dumping property in public spaces. This includes shopping trolleys, cars, trailers and livestock.

Its corresponding Bill – the Public Spaces (Unattended Property) Bill 2021 (‘the Bill’) – was originally introduced in the Legislative Assembly on 10 November 2021 by Minister for Local Government Shelley Hancock (‘the Minister’). The Bill passed both houses of parliament with no amendments.

The Act is yet to commence.

Background

The Impounding Act 1993 (NSW) ('the 1993 Act') has undergone a significant review in recent years, with the Minister describing it as “outdated” in her second reading speech for the Bill. This new Act repeals the 1993 Act, and instead implements “future-focused” legislation, as described in the Minister’s second reading speech of the Bill.

The Act addresses issues which the Minister acknowledged in her second reading speech have been raised in Parliament and in NSW councils for years. The Minister noted that the laws on impounding were first brought in over 40 years ago to deal with the same problem that Act is addressing now, namely, the abandonment of shopping trolleys in public spaces. Since then, there have been several failed attempts to control such abandoned property, such as voluntary agreements and codes of practice. But the issue still remains, and it means that the bush, waterways, and the wider natural environment is left at risk.

This Act takes action on the issue by shifting the responsibility for the clean-up and correct disposal of unattended property from the councils to the owners of the property. The Act implements strong sanctions for corporations, such as major supermarkets, whose property is left unattended. It also imposes strict time-limits in which they can collect such property before being fined. The Act also introduces penalties for unattended cars and trailers, as well as livestock neighbouring properties.

The Minister said in her second reading speech that:

“[u]nattended shopping trolleys, vehicles and stray animals are costing our local communities and councils $17 million per year. It is clear from extensive feedback that the community has had enough of other people’s property cluttering public spaces and impacting the access and enjoyment of those spaces”.

Shopping Trolleys 

The Minister noted that abandoned shopping trolleys can disturb the natural environment, obstruct access to public spaces such as train stations, bus stops and emergency exits, and block footpaths, in turn endangering the safety of vision-impaired people.

The Minister commented in her second reading speech that the objective of the Act is to:

“ … require retailers, or those responsible, to pick up their trolleys within risk-based time frames, or face fines and/or have their trolleys taken into possession and moved to a place of storage where they must then collect them, pay the fees associated with collecting them or face another fine for not collecting them”.

The time-frame established by the Act for trolley collection is within 3 hours of notice. Penalties for non-compliance with this time-limit are significant. For supermarkets, the penalty per trolley left unattended is a “$2,750 maximum court-imposed penalty, or a $660 fine”. Additionally, that fine “may compound by 10% for each additional trolley up to 10 more trolleys”. The maximum penalty for corporations is $13,750, which the Minister noted in her second reading speech is a reflection of the “public expectations for stronger action against corporate wrongdoers”.

The Act also requires that trolleys be clearly branded so that the responsible party can be ascertained. However, the Act does allow an exemption to this requirement for businesses owning less than 25 trolleys, so as to not create a burden for small businesses.

Cars and Trailers 

The Act also attends to the issue of unregistered cars and trailers taking up space on residential streets. The Minister noted in her second reading speech that:

“councils and members of Parliament … get daily calls from frustrated residents about them, and they are told very little can be done”.

She specifically mentioned Randwick City Council as a council receiving over 1000 complaints like this each year. The Minister, acknowledging the value of car parking spaces, explained that the Act will:

“enable councils, police and transport authorities to issue an on-the-spot fine to the registered operator of any unregistered car or trailer parked on a street 15 days after registration collapses”.

If a vehicle or trailer is not attended to in time, penalties may involve a $2,750 maximum court-imposed penalty, or a $660 fine for an unattended vehicle.

Animals 

The Act increases penalties to deal with the issue of livestock on roads, in public spaces, and in neighbouring private land.

The Minister outlined that there are several risks associated with unattended livestock, ranging from traffic accidents, biosecurity hazards, and the spreading of disease and weeds, which can impact the livelihoods of other farmers. The Act will hold livestock owners responsible for this.

Penalties will increase up to a "$2,750 maximum court-imposed penalty, or a $660 fine for one stray animal”. Like with the penalties for unattended trolleys, the “fines may compound by 10% for each additional animal up to 10 extra animals”.

Financial and Environmental Benefits 

The changes set to be implemented as a result of this Act are expected to bring a financial benefit for councils and other authorities. The Minister commented in her second reading speech that:

“[t]he net benefit of implementing all of the proposals in this Bill is estimated at $9.7 million per year – a 60% reduction in costs”.

Additionally councils will be able to reduce time and cost spent taking, storing or caring for and disposing of unattended property. Not only will councils save on time and resources, but corporations will be encouraged to be more environmentally responsible, and the responsible ownership of animals by farmers will be incentivised.

In concluding her second reading speech of the Bill, the Minister said:

“The [Act] will help to rid our public spaces of the dangers, access problems, environmental issues and unsightly clutter of shopping trolleys, cars, trailers, other problem items and the dangers posed by stray stock on roads once and for all”

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Sources:

Public Spaces (Unattended Property) Act 2021 (NSW), Bill and additional explanatory materials available from TimeBase's LawOne service

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