Like all government departments, they will operate on a risk-management basis. So they will target "non-compliance" and where they see risk. That means they will most likely do two things: 1) act on information or intelligence, or 2) target licence holders who pose the greatest risk. Think about it: if you had a budget to conduct enforcement activities, would you go and look at John Smith, who has a single Mac in a fish tank and holds a Companion Licence, or Bill Bloggs who has a Cat 2 licence and breeds animals? It costs the same to go out and visit both, but the potential results are very different. Trust me, I did law enforcement for 15 years. The idea that they will do "random" checks would be very unlikely. It would be very poor practice ... spending a lot of money for limited results. I mean, I hope they do. They'll run out of budget in no time!!! :lol: But as I said earlier, don't be caught out. Read the Guidelines, do your homework. The best defence is to be ready.
you are right and like some said before they will target people with larger collections because then they are more likely to be able to issue fines and make seizures of animals to make it look like they are actually doing something. this will drive even more people underground now.
Don't want to get too complicated here, but it isn't the Guidelines that impose penalties. It is the National Parks and Wildlife legislation. Under this law the guidelines and licensing arrangements are made. So, check the conditions on your licence. On mine it states: it is an offence under the National Parks and Wildlife Regulations (2009) to breach any of the conditions of this licence... There are 14 General Conditions, including compliance with "conditions or instructions that the department may issue from time to time." The maximum penalty is $3,000, plus - licences can be suspended. I would imagine cases of excessive cruelty etc would carry higher penalties and gaol time, under other laws.
Exactly right. So unless someone dobs Bill Bloggs in, he won't be caught. A lot of this is about appeasing lobby groups etc who will complain that pet shops are selling herps to anyone. The Minister - who in NSW doesn't have a great track record of achievement - can come out and say "no, we've set standards and these will be enforced."
