METEORITES ACT 1988

NORTHERN TERRITORY OF AUSTRALIA METEORITES ACT 1988 As in force at 1 July 2014 Table of provisions 1 Short title ......................................................................................... 1 2 Definitions ........................................................................................ 1 3 Property in and management of meteorites ..................................... 1 4 Preservation and scientific investigation .......................................... 2 5 Duties of persons finding meteorites ............................................... 2 6 Protection and recovery of meteorites ............................................. 2 7 Reimbursement of expenses ........................................................... 3 8 Sacred sites and heritage legislation not affected ........................... 3 ENDNOTES -- 1 of 5 -- NORTHERN TERRITORY OF AUSTRALIA ____________________ As in force at 1 July 2014 ____________________ METEORITES ACT 1988 An Act to make provision for the protection of meteorites and tektites 1 Short title This Act may be cited as the Meteorites Act 1988. 2 Definitions In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears: Board, see section 3 of the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory Act 2014. meteorite means a natural mass that has fallen to the earth from beyond the atmosphere and includes a tektite. 3 Property in and management of meteorites (1) Subject to subsection (2), and notwithstanding the degree of their attachment to land, all meteorites in the Territory are the property of the Territory and their management and control is vested in the Board. (2) A meteorite which had been severed or otherwise removed from the ground in which it was naturally imbedded or on which it naturally lay (whether or not as the result of erosion) and taken into possession by a person: (a) before the commencement of this Act; or (b) outside the Territory, is not by virtue of subsection (1) the property of the Territory nor is its management and control vested in the Board by virtue of that subsection. -- 2 of 5 -- Meteorites Act 1988 2 (3) The onus of proving that a meteorite had been severed or otherwise removed from the ground in which it was naturally imbedded or on which it naturally lay and taken into possession by a person: (a) before the commencement of this Act; or (b) outside the Territory, rests on the person asserting that fact. (4) Notwithstanding that a meteorite is the property of the Territory, neither the Territory nor the Board are liable for any damage or loss naturally resulting from the impact of a meteor or the presence of the meteorite. (5) To the extent that subsection (1) effects an acquisition of property by the Territory, the Territory shall pay just compensation to the person whose property in a meteorite is so acquired and such compensation is recoverable in a court of competent jurisdiction. (6) For the avoidance of doubt, the property in a meteorite does not pass under or by virtue of a law of the Territory relating to mining. 4 Preservation and scientific investigation (1) Subject to subsection (2), the Board shall take such steps as it thinks fit to preserve a meteorite in situ or at such other place as it thinks fit. (2) The Board may allow or make arrangements for scientific or other investigation of a meteorite. 5 Duties of persons finding meteorites A person who finds a meteorite the property of the Territory shall, as soon as practicable after the finding, give notice of it to the Board. 6 Protection and recovery of meteorites Notwithstanding any other law of the Territory, no person shall: (a) except with the permission of the Board, wilfully damage or destroy a meteorite the property of the Territory or the Board; or -- 3 of 5 -- Meteorites Act 1988 3 (b) except for the purpose of recovering it and delivering it to the Board, remove or be in possession of a meteorite the property of the Territory. Maximum penalty: 8 penalty units. 7 Reimbursement of expenses (1) The Board may, in its discretion, refund the reasonable expenses incurred by a person, in: (a) notifying the Board of the finding of a meteorite; (b) furnishing information to the Board which results in the finding of a meteorite; or (c) recovering and delivering a meteorite to the Board. (2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), the Board may offer and pay a reward in a case referred to in that subsection. (3) Where damage is occasioned to land in the course of the recovery of a meteorite by or on the authority of the Board, the Board shall compensate the owner of the land for that damage and such compensation is recoverable in a court of competent jurisdiction. 8 Sacred sites and heritage legislation not affected Nothing in this Act derogates from the Northern Territory Aboriginal Sacred Sites Act 1989 or Heritage Act 2011. -- 4 of 5 -- ENDNOTES Meteorites Act 1988 4 ENDNOTES 1 KEY Key to abbreviations 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 nc = not commenced 2 LIST OF LEGISLATION Meteorites Act 1988 (Act No. 18, 1988) Assent date 15 June 1988 Commenced 15 June 1988 Statute Law Revision Act 2000 (Act No. 19, 2000) Assent date 6 June 2000 Commenced s 6: 4 December 1999; rem: 12 July 2000 (s 2 and Gaz G27, 12 July 2000, p 2) Heritage Act 2011 (Act No. 34, 2011) Assent date 15 November 2011 Commenced 1 October 2012 (Gaz S43, 31 July 2012) Penalties Amendment (Miscellaneous) Act 2013 (Act No. 23, 2013) Assent date 12 July 2013 Commenced 28 August 2013 (Gaz G35, 28 August 2013, p 2) Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory Act 2014 (Act No. 6, 2014) Assent date 20 March 2014 Commenced 1 July 2014 (s 2) 3 GENERAL AMENDMENTS General amendments of a formal nature (which are not referred to in the table of amendments to this reprint) are made by the Interpretation Legislation Amendment Act 2018 (Act No. 22, 2018) to: ss 1, 2 and 8. 4 LIST OF AMENDMENTS s 2 amd No. 19, 2000, s 9; No. 6, 2014, s 43 s 6 amd No. 23, 2013, s 19 s 8 amd No. 34, 2011, s 170 -- 5 of 5 --