Dealing in protected birds draft code of practice

The Biodiversity Conservation Regulation 2017 allows for the creation of codes of practice relating to animals or plants as a defence to prosecution of an offence under the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016. Codes of practice set out the compliance and management requirements for activities involving protected wildlife.

The Biodiversity Conservation Regulation 2017 permits codes of practice to impose record keeping obligations to the department on those registered to a code of practice.

To comply with a code of practice, a person must abide by its terms. Penalties can apply for non-compliance.

At this early stage, the crimson rosella and pictorella mannikin have been risk assessed, reviewed by the Species List Advisory Committee, and endorsed by National Parks and Wildlife Service for inclusion in the draft code of practice.

These bird species are proposed to be included in the code of practice, you cannot keep either of these species without a licence until the code has been finalised and the species are formally deemed code regulated.

Following the risk-assessment process, if a species is deemed suitable to be code regulated, the Environment Agency Head will declare that the bird is now subject to the code, and it will be added to the Code regulated bird list, with the date from which it can be kept on code.

If and when the code is adopted, we will announce on the department's website when individuals and groups can submit further proposals for species to be added to the Code regulated bird list. These proposals will be assessed, and if they pass the risk-assessment process, they will be added to the Code regulated bird list.

We are using a risk-based approach to determine which species of native birds can be regulated under a code of practice and which will remain licensed for the purpose of private keeping.

The code intends to reduce administrative requirements for bird keepers who do not trade in higher volumes of birds by transferring some lower-risk species from a licence to a code of practice regulation.

Licences remain important in regulation, in cases where the species is less common, has a heightened risk of adverse conservation outcomes such as poaching from the wild, and has specialised care requirements.

The draft code proposes a trading limit on the total number of birds that can be bought, sold, imported, exported, traded, gifted or acquired as a gift in a year.

If the code of practice is adopted, those registered to the code, can trade up to 30 code regulated birds in a 12-month period.

If you plan to buy, sell, exchange, import, or export more than 30 code regulated birds, you will need to obtain or retain a licence, and be subject to the conditions of the licence (not the code).

If the limit of 30 remains in the final code and if you trade in more than 30 birds a year, you must remain on your licence and remain subject to the conditions of the licence.

The trading limit goes some way to address concerns that people could trade in a high number of native animals under a code of practice that has lesser regulatory requirements to a licence.

Our animal keeper data indicates that the limit of 30 trades will impact less than 1% of current bird licence holders, as 99% of licensees report trading less than 31 birds per year.

The inclusion of mandatory registration in the draft code results from stakeholders' feedback. The feedback outlined that the department requires contact information on keepers to ensure compliance.

Requiring registration and reporting will also improve our capacity as a regulator to monitor the code's implementation. By providing the department with this information, we can effectively manage biodiversity risks, deliver helpful education materials, and notify people of any regulatory changes.

The proposed registration process is a once-of activity. It is proposed that reporting will only be required if:

• your contact information changes
• you acquire additional code regulated birds through buying, trading, exchanging, importing, or receiving as a gift
• you give away code regulated birds through selling, trading, exchanging exporting or gifting.

In the case of a breeding event, escapes and deaths, these do not require notifying the department. However, you must record these events as part of your own record keeping and maintain these for 7 years.

The draft code of practice proposes that a person must register their contact details and species information with the department to comply with the code of practice.

The department deals with compliance matters strategically, and the code of practice will sit within this regulatory framework.

We will continue to monitor and respond to reports from the community on non-compliant activities related to animal keeping.

We are not accepting requests for new species to be added to the NSW Native Animal keepers species list until the wildlife licensing reforms are implemented.

More information about when we will consider new species proposals will be made publicly available, and the risk-assessment process will apply.