Criminal Code Act 1995
Section 3
CHAPTER 9 - DANGERS TO THE COMMUNITY Part 9.2 - Psychoactive substancesA person commits an offence if: (a) the person imports a substance; and (b) the substance is a psychoactive substance.
Penalty: Imprisonment for 5 years, or 300 penalty units, or both.
(2)
Subject to subsection (3) , this section does not apply to a substance if it is: (a) food (within the meaning of the Food Standards Australia New Zealand Act 1991 ) for which:
(i) there is a standard (within the meaning of that Act); or
(b) a tobacco product (within the meaning of the Public Health (Tobacco and Other Products) Act 2023 ); or (c) goods that are listed goods, or registered goods, within the meaning of the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989 ; or (d) goods that are represented in any way to be:
(ii) in the form in which the substance is presented, there is a tradition in Australia and New Zealand of using the substance as food for humans; or
(i) for therapeutic use (within the meaning of that Act); or
other than goods that are represented as a serious drug alternative; or (e) therapeutic goods that are:
(ii) for use as an ingredient or component in the manufacture of therapeutic goods (within the meaning of that Act);
(i) exempt goods (within the meaning of that Act); or
(ii) exempt under section 18A of that Act; or
(iii) the subject of an approval or authority under section 19 of that Act; or
(f) a substance or mixture of substances:
(iv) the subject of an approval under section 19A of that Act; or
(i) that is an agricultural chemical product (within the meaning of the Agricultural and Veterinary Chemicals Code set out in the Schedule to the Agricultural and Veterinary Chemicals Code Act 1994 ); or
(g) a substance or mixture of substances:
(ii) that would be such an agricultural chemical product, apart from regulations made for the purposes of paragraph 4(4)(b) of that Code; or
(i) that is a veterinary chemical product (within the meaning of that Code); or
(ii) to which paragraph 5(4)(a) of that Code applies; or
(h) a substance or mixture of substances that is an active constituent (within the meaning of that Code) for a proposed or existing chemical product (within the meaning of that Code), and that:
(iii) that would be such a veterinary chemical product, apart from regulations made for the purposes of paragraph 5(4)(b) of that Code; or
(i) is an approved active constituent (within the meaning of that Code); or
(ii) is an exempt active constituent (within the meaning of subsection 69B(1) of the Agricultural and Veterinary Chemicals (Administration) Act 1992 ); or
(i) an industrial chemical within the meaning of the Industrial Chemicals Act 2019 ; or (ia) a plant or fungus, or an extract from a plant or fungus; or (j) a controlled drug, controlled plant, controlled precursor, border controlled drug, border controlled plant or border controlled precursor; or (k) a prohibited import within the meaning of the Customs Act 1901 ; or (l) prescribed by, or included in a class of substances prescribed by, the regulations.
(iii) is imported into Australia with the written consent of the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority under subsection 69B(1B) of that Act; or
Note:
A defendant bears an evidential burden in relation to the matters in this subsection (see subsection 13.3(3) ).
(3)
Subsection (2) does not apply to a substance that contains any psychoactive substance that is not of a kind specified in any of paragraphs (2)(a) to (l) .
(4)
In a prosecution for an offence under subsection (1) , it is not necessary to prove that the defendant was reckless as to: (a) the particular identity of the substance; or (b) whether the substance had a particular psychoactive effect.
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