PUBLIC HEALTH (NUISANCE PREVENTION) REGULATIONS (Repealed)

This reprint shows the Regulations as in force at 1 July 2011. Any amendments that commence after that date are not included.

These Regulations may be cited as the Public Health (Nuisance Prevention) Regulations.

goods means goods, chattels, merchandise, materials, stone, timber or other articles.

house includes a school, also a factory, hut, shed, caravan or tent, and any other building or structure in which persons dwell or are employed. The term also includes an aircraft at an airport and a vessel lying in any river, harbour or other water within the territorial waters of the Northern Territory of Australia other than a vessel belonging to the Royal Navy, or the Royal Australia Navy or of any British Commonwealth Dominion or possession, or to the Navy of any foreign Government.

place of public amusement or public resort includes a building or a part of a building, or any enclosure, ground, swimming-pool, place, or premises whatsoever used or intended to be used for public meetings, or as assembly rooms, or as a theatre, or dancing hall, or music hall, or for athletic entertainment or boxing, or swimming or for circuses, or cinematograph exhibitions, or as a stand on a racecourse or on land adjacent thereto, or sports ground, or show ground, or for any public performances or public amusements whatever, whether a charge is made for admission thereto or not.

sanitary conveniences includes urinals, water-closets, earth-closets, privies, cesspits, cesspools, septic tanks, or other receptacles for the deposit of faecal matter or refuse, and all similar conveniences.

sewerage includes any sewer, manhole, ventilator, structure, engine, pump, machinery, sewerage apparatus, outfall, or other work for or in connection with sewerage connections to premises, or sewerage apparatus. and for the purposes of this definition the term sewer shall mean a sewer for the carrying off of sewage. and sewage includes faecal matter, urine, household slops, and objectionable waters. and the term sewerage apparatus shall mean any water closet, urinal, fitting, apparatus, appliance, sink, trap, pipe, or ventilator for or in connection with a sewer.

writing includes partly printing and partly writing, and printing, typewriting, lithography, photography, and other modes of representing or reproducing words in a visible form.

(2) Where in these Regulations reference is made to a mineral-field only, such reference shall be and be deemed to be a reference both to a mineral-field and a gold-field.

(a) premises in such a state as to be a nuisance or injurious or prejudicial to health;

(b) a swamp, pool, ditch, gutter, watercourse, sanitary convenience, or other accumulation of water on land or a street or a receptacle holding water, in such a state as to be a breeding-ground for mosquitoes, not being a reservoir or other storage of water used in connection with manufacturing purposes;

(e) a house or part of a house so overcrowded as to be dangerous or injurious or prejudicial to the health of the inmates, whether or not members of the same family;

(f) a factory, workshop, or workplace not kept in a cleanly state, or not ventilated in such a manner as to render harmless, as far as practicable, any gases, vapours, dust or impurities generated in the course of the work carried on therein that are a nuisance or injurious or prejudicial to the health of persons employed therein;

(g) a chimney (not being the chimney of a private dwelling house) sending forth smoke in such a quantity as to be a nuisance; and

(h) the infestation of any place or premises by rats, mice or other vermin, or by any form of insect life declared by the Chief Health Officer to be injurious or prejudicial to health,

shall be deemed to be a nuisance liable to be dealt with in a manner provided by these Regulations.

A person shall not convey, or cause to be conveyed, through or upon a public place, dung, offal, refuse, or matter, from which an offensive or unwholesome smell arises, except in a properly covered vessel or vehicle.

A person shall not keep live poultry on premises, within 30 feet of a dwelling, or within 50 feet of a well the water from which is used for domestic purposes, nor under conditions as to create a nuisance, or to be dangerous or injurious to health.

A person who keeps pigeons shall keep them in confinement in an enclosed space which shall not be nearer than 12 feet to any house or building.

(1) A person who keeps live poultry shall keep them in a securely fenced yard or yards.

(2) A person who keeps live poultry shall when ordered by an authorised officer clean, distemper or otherwise treat the yard or yards within a reasonable time.

(1) The owner or occupier of a stable, cow-yard, horse-yard or cattle-shed, the floor of which is not impervious to water and to rats, shall reconstruct the floor as to make it impervious to water and rats and shall efficiently drain the floor.

(2) The owner or occupier of a stable shall provide it with adequate ventilation to the satisfaction of an authorised officer.

The occupier or owner of premises which are used as a stable, horse-yard, cow-yard or cattle-shed shall provide a box or bin, of a pattern approved by the Chief Health Officer, for the reception of all dung, or refuse therefrom, and shall cause the premises to be cleansed daily and shall cause all manure, dung or other refuse, if not removed immediately, to be placed in the box or bin, and shall cause the box or bin to be kept covered, and to be emptied and cleansed once at least in every week and more often if an authorised officer requires, and shall not at any time allow the box or bin to become offensive.

(1) A person shall not keep any matter or thing intended for human consumption in any room or place containing nightsoil, or any filth whatever.

(2) A room or place in which food is stored shall not be used as a sleeping apartment.

A person shall not manufacture any matter or thing intended for human consumption except in a room or place, which shall be sufficiently isolated to prevent contamination of the article or thing from adjoining premises, and approved of by the Chief Health Officer.

(1) A person shall not, within an area which has not been declared by the Minister to be an exempt area by notice in the Gazette, cure or pack any fish or fish products (including dried fish, trepang or sharkfins).

(2) A person shall not, within an area which has not been declared by the Minister to be an exempt area by notice in the Gazette, store any fish or fish products (including dried fish, trepang or sharkfins) unless, in the opinion of an authorised officer, the fish or fish products are so packed and stored as not to create a nuisance.

(3) Nothing contained in this regulation shall affect the preparation or cooking of fresh fish or the storing, preparing or packing of pearl shell.

A person shall not keep, or permit or suffer to remain, on a house or premises adjoining thereto, or on the curtilage of a house used for human habitation, any matter from which an unwholesome or offensive smell arises, or any matter as to be prejudicial or injurious to health.

An occupier or owner of premises shall keep the premises in a clean condition, and shall not suffer filth or rubbish to be scattered about or to remain on the premises.

(1) An occupier of premises shall not permit more than one person to sleep in, or to occupy for the purposes of sleeping, the premises or any part of the premises, unless the cubic capacity, measured in cubic feet, of the premises or part of the premises, as the case may be, is at least 500 times the number of persons so sleeping or occupying.

(b) where premises, although surrounded by walls or partitions, are not enclosed, or any part of any premises, although surrounded by walls or partitions, is not enclosed, by reason of the fact that:

(i) those walls or partitions do not extend for the whole of the distance from the floor to the roof or ceiling of the premises; or

the cubic capacity of the premises or of the part of the premises so surrounded, as the case may, is deemed to be the volume of space which would be contained within the premises or walls if the walls were extended from the floors to the ceiling or roof of the premises, as the case may be, with a continuous plain flat surface measured from the floors, to a vertical distance of 9 feet and measuring not less than 10 feet long and 10 feet wide of floor area.

A person shall not throw rubbish or offensive matter upon public or private property, except at a night-soil depot or garbage depot, without permission first obtained from an authorised officer and the owner of the property.

A person shall not place, carry or have in or upon a vehicle or vessel containing manure or offensive matter, or which has recently contained manure or offensive matter and has not since been thoroughly purified, food for human consumption, or a case or other receptacle used for the carriage of food.

An authorised officer may, as often as he thinks fit, visit and inspect all boiling-down establishments, tanneries, fell-mongering establishments, or places of a like nature, and give such instructions regarding the cleaning thereof, both within and without, as to him shall seem required, and an occupier of the premises shall not refuse or neglect to comply with an instruction within a reasonable time (not exceeding 7 days) after being so instructed.

A person shall not, without the written consent of the Chief Health Officer, erect, establish, maintain or carry on a boiling-down establishment, tannery or fellmongering establishment.

(1) A person shall not throw, cast or lay, or cause, permit or suffer to be thrown, cast or laid, or to remain, ashes, soot, rubbish, bottles, broken glass, offal, dung, nightsoil, a dead animal, blood or filth, or paper or rags, or any offensive, dangerous or noxious matter, or thing, upon any part of any public place.

(2) A person shall not kill, slaughter, dress, scald or cut up a beast, swine, calf, sheep, lamb or other animal in, or so near to, any public place so that the blood or filth shall run or flow upon, or over, or be on a part of a public place.

The occupier or the owner of a building or premises shall keep the building and premises, and all cellars, sheds, stables, outbuildings and sanitary conveniences belonging thereto, in a clean condition, and shall, when required by an authorised person, cause the same, or such of them as the authorised officer directs, to be effectively cleansed, purified and lime-washed, kalsomined, painted or repaired to the satisfaction of the authorised person within the time directed by a notice in writing by the authorised person.

A person shall not cast a dead animal, or an animal with intent of drowning the same, into a watercourse, sewer, waterhole, river, creek, storm water channel, canal, reservoir, dam, storage tank, or surface gutter in a road, street or lane.

A drainage trap of any kind shall not be constructed except with the consent and approval in writing of the Chief Health Officer.

The owner of a house or building having a frontage to a road shall not allow water to drip or flow from such premises on to any footpath or road, and shall have the frontage sufficiently spouted to the satisfaction of the Chief Health Officer so as to provide that all drainage and rain waters shall not flow over or upon a part of a road or footway, except by a gutter or drain.

A person shall not discharge water or liquid from the mouth upon the surface of any textile material or during the time he is engaged in the preparation of wearing apparel for ironing.

A person shall not expectorate in any public place or in or upon any public vehicle.

(1) A private drain or sewer communicating with a public drain or sewer shall, when directed by an authorised person, be repaired and cleansed under the inspection of an authorised person, at the cost and charge of the owner, to which the said private sewers and drains shall respectively belong.

(2) The owner or occupier shall sweep and thoroughly flush with water all drains on his property connecting with a street or public place and, if so directed by an authorised officer, with a suitable disinfectant before 8 a.m. daily.

An person shall not, without the permission of an authorised officer, interfere with or damage a drain or sewer.

An occupier shall, on request, furnish an authorised officer with the name and address of the owner, as far as the same may be known to him, and an owner shall, on request, furnish the name of his tenant.

A tank erected above ground for the purpose of containing water shall be fitted with a screw plug, which shall be of a diameter of not less than 3 inches, placed either in, or as near as may be practicable to, the bottom of the tank, to permit of the tank being cleaned from time to time.

For the purposes of regulations 41 and 48, but without limiting the generality of the expression the occupier in these Regulations, any person who has the charge, management or control of any place in which horses, cattle, sheep, goats or swine are kept, or of any horses, cattle, sheep, goats or swine kept in any place, shall be deemed to be the occupier of the land or premises referred to in those regulations if that place is situated on that land or on those premises.

The owner of any premises situated within a radius of one mile from the Post Office at Katherine or Alice Springs shall not keep or permit to be on those premises any goats.

The occupier of any premises situated within the Darwin Town Area described in a Schedule shall not keep or permit to be on those premises any cattle or goats.

Subject to regulations 40, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46 and 47, the occupier of any premises situated within an area which has not been declared by the Minister to be an exempt area by notice in the Gazette shall not keep or permit to be on those premises horses, cattle, sheep, goats or swine without the written permission of the Chief Health Officer or a person authorized by him in that behalf.

(1) A person shall not keep a horse in the Darwin Town Area on any land situated in the area described in a Schedule.

(2) The occupier of any land situated in the are described in a Schedule shall ensure that no horse remains on any land occupied by him in that area.

(1) A person may make application in writing to the Chief Health Officer for approval of the plans, specifications and site of a stable which the person proposes to erect or cause to be erected.

(2) Subject to this regulation, the Chief Health Officer may grant or reject an application made under this regulation.

(3) The Chief Health Officer shall not approve an application made under this regulation unless he is satisfied that:

(a) the stable will, if erected in accordance with the plans and specifications and on the site set out in the application, comply with the requirements of these Regulations; and

(b) if the stable is so erected, its use will not give rise to insanitary conditions.

(4) A person shall not erect a stable or cause a stable to be erected unless the Chief Health Officer has, in accordance with this regulation, approved the plans, specifications and site of the stable.

(1) A person shall not keep a horse in an area which has not been declared by the Minister to be an exempt area by notice in the Gazette except on land on which is built a stable approved in writing by the Chief Health Officer.

(2) The Chief Health Officer shall not approve a stable unless he is satisfied that:

(1) The Chief Health Officer may approve a stable subject to a condition that not more than the number of horses specified in the condition shall be kept on the land on which the stable is situated.

(2) Where a number of horses is so specified, a person shall not keep more than the specified number of horses on that land.

A person shall not erect a stable or cause or permit a stable to be erected within 40 feet of a house or well.

The occupier of any land shall ensure that a horse, ox, sheep or goat in a paddock, yard or other place forming part of that land is not loose unless there is effective provision to prevent the horse, ox, sheep or goat from approaching to within 40 feet of a:

(a) shall maintain the sanitary convenience at all times in a clean and sanitary condition; and

(b) shall maintain the sanitary convenience in good repair and in accordance with the Public Health (Night-soil, Garbage, Cesspits, Wells and Water) Regulations.

shall be guilty of an offence, and shall be liable, upon conviction, to a penalty not exceeding $1000 and, where the offence is a continuing offence, to an additional penalty not exceeding $100 for every day during which the offence continues.

regulation 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 19, 24, 26, 27(2), 28, 29, 30, 34, 37, 39, 43(1) or (4), 44(1), 45(2), 46 or 48 is a regulatory offence.

These Regulations shall apply to any area of the Northern Territory of Australia which is not declared by the Minister to be an exempt area by notice in the Gazette.

First Schedule
All that piece or parcel of land bounded by a line commencing at the southwestern corner of Lot 1785 Town of Darwin; thence by part of a southern boundary of said Lot 1785 bearing 69° 48' 40" for a distance of 251.71 feet; thence by a line bearing 142° 57' 14" for a distance of 34.48 feet to a point on a southern boundary of the said Lot 1785; thence generally easterly and southeasterly along part of the last-named southern boundary of the said Lot 1785 to the southernmost corner thereof; thence southeasterly across a road 33 feet wide to the northwestern corner of Lot 1783; thence northeasterly and southeasterly along the northern and eastern boundary of the said Lot 1783 to the southeastern corner thereof; thence southeasterly along the eastern boundaries of Lots 1782, 1781, 1780, 2227 and 2226 to the southeastern corner of Lot 2226; thence southeasterly across a pathway 10 feet wide to the northeastern corner of lot 2225; thence generally southeasterly along the eastern boundaries of Lots 2225, 2224, 2223, 2222, 2221, 2220, 2219, 2218, 2217, 2216, 2215, 2214, 2213, 2212, 2211, 2210, 2209, 2208 and 2207 to the southernmost corner of Lot 2207; thence by a line southeasterly to the westernmost corner of Lot 3059; thence southeasterly along the northeast side of Ross Smith Avenue to its intersection with the northwest side of Hudson Fysh Avenue; thence southeasterly across the said Hudson Fysh Avenue to the northwestern corner of Lot 3431; thence southerly along the western boundary of said Lot 3431 and its prolongation across the Railway Reserve to the northwestern corner of Lot 1824; thence southerly along the western boundary of said Lot 1824 to the southwestern corner thereof; thence southerly across Bishop Street to the northwestern corner of Lot 2995; thence easterly along part of the southern side of the said Bishop Street and part of the southern side of Jolly Street to the northeastern corner of Lot 2997; thence southerly along the eastern boundaries of the said Lot 2997 and Lot 3466 and their southern prolongation to the intersection with Low Water Mark in Frances Bay; thence generally southerly, southwesterly, northwesterly, northeasterly and northwesterly along the said Low Water Mark to the intersection with a line due west of the southwestern corner of Lot 1785 aforementioned; thence due east along the said line to the point of commencement.

All that piece or parcel of land in the Hundred of Bagot, County of Palmerston, in the Northern Territory of Australia, containing an area of about 256 acres more or less and more particular described as follows:- Commencing at the southeastern corner of portion 1,021, Hundred of Bagot; thence northerly by the eastern boundaries of that portion and portions 1,022 and 1,023 for a distance of 2,912.2 links to the northeastern corner of the portion last named; thence westerly by part of the northern boundary of that portion for a distance of 933.6 links to the southeastern corner of portion 1,027; thence northerly by the eastern boundary of that portion for a distance of 949.2 links to the north-eastern corner thereof and being a point on the southern side of Aralia-street; thence by a line bearing 338 degrees 53' 10" distance 102.2 links to an intersection of the northern side of Aralia-street and the western side of the one chain road adjoining lot 205, Town of Nightcliff; thence westerly by the northern boundary of Aralia-street, and the prolon-gation thereof to the sea coast, Timor sea; thence generally north-easterly along the sea coast to a point on the north-eastern prolongation of the south-eastern side of Rapid Creek road; thence south-westerly by the said prolongation and the said south-eastern side of Rapid Creek road to Nightcliff-road; thence south-easterly by the northeastern side of the said Nightcliff-road and the prolongation thereof to a point on the eastern side of Bagot-road; thence southerly by the said side of Bagot-road to a point being the easterly prolongation of the northern side of Progress-drive; and thence westerly by that prolongation and the said northern side of Progress-drive to the point of commencement.

amd = amended od = order
app = appendix om = omitted
bl = by-law pt = Part
ch = Chapter r = regulation/rule
cl = clause rem = remainder
div = Division renum = renumbered
exp = expires/expired rep = repealed
f = forms s = section
Gaz = Gazette sch = Schedule
hdg = heading sdiv = Subdivision
ins = inserted SL = Subordinate Legislation
lt = long title sub = substituted

Public Health (Nuisance Prevention) Regulations (SL No. 16, 1960)
Notified	14 December 1960
Commenced	31 December 1960 (Cth Gaz, 31 December 1960)
Ordinances Revision Ordinance 1973 (Act No. 87, 1973)
Assent date	11 December 1973
Commenced	11 December 1973
Amendments of the Public Health (Nuisance Prevention) Regulations (SL No. 45, 1978)
Notified	29 December 1978
Commenced	1 January 1979 (r 1)
Amendments of the Public Health (Nuisance Prevention) Regulations (SL No. 9, 1982)
Notified	12 March 1982
Commenced	1 May 1982 (r 1, s 2 Public Health Amendment Act 1981 (Act No. 103, 1981) and Gaz G17, 30 April 1982, p 10)
Criminal Law (Regulatory Offences) Act 1983 (Act No. 68, 1983)
Assent date	28 November 1983
Commenced	1 January 1984 (s 2, s 2 Criminal Code Act 1983 (Act No. 47, 1983), Gaz G46, 18 November 1983, p 11 and Gaz G8, 26 February 1986, p 5)
Amendments of Public Health (Nuisance Prevention) Regulations (SL No. 47, 1996)
Notified	1 October 1996
Commenced	1 October 1996
Statute Law Revision Act 1997 (Act No. 17, 1997)
Assent date	11 April 1997
Commenced	s 16: 10 December 1997; rem: 1 May 1997 (Gaz G17, 30 April 1997, p 2)
Public and Environmental Health Act 2011 (Act No. 7, 2011)
Assent date	16 March 2011
Commenced	1 July 2011 (Gaz S28, 3 June 2011)

r 5 Amendments of the Public Health (Nuisance Prevention) Regulations (SL No. 45, 1978)

General amendments of a formal nature (which are not referred to in the list of amendments to this reprint) are made by s 11 of the Ordinances Revision Ordinance 1973 (Act No. 87, 1973) (as amended) to the following provisions: rr 2, 5, 8, 12, 13, 22, 25, 37, 40, 41, 42, 46, 47, 51 and 52

Northern Territory Repealed Regulations

PUBLIC HEALTH (NUISANCE PREVENTION) REGULATIONS