Western Australia
Parks and Reserves Act 1895
Reprinted as at 5 March 1999
Reprinted under the Reprints Act 1984 as at 5 March 1999
Western Australia
Parks and Reserves Act 1895
1.Short title1
2.Interpretation1
2A.Application2
3.Governor to appoint Boards to control and manage parks and reserves2
4.Duty of a Board3
5.Certain powers included in the general powers4
6.A Board may delegate powers to committee7
7.A Board may appoint officers and servants7
7A.Powers of authorized persons7
7B.Certificate of authority9
7C.Speed measuring equipment9
8.A Board may make by‑laws10
9.By‑laws to be gazetted and tabled13
10.Penalties for trespass of cattle14
11.Boards to act by majorities, and member presiding to have casting vote14
12.Application of Financial Administration and Audit Act 198514
12A.Liability of parents14
12B.Provisions as to ownership and control of animals15
13.Incorporation of part of Interpretation Act 191816
14.Proceedings by way of notice16
Schedule
Notes
Reprinted under the Reprints Act 1984 as at 5 March 1999
Western Australia
Parks and Reserves Act 1895
An Act for the Management of Parks and Reserves vested in the Crown.
1.Short title
This Act may be cited as the Parks and Reserves Act 1895 1.
2.Interpretation
In this Act the following expressions shall bear the meanings in this section assigned to them respectively, unless the context otherwise requires, or another meaning is expressly assigned —
“authorized person” in relation to any park reserve committed to a Board, or any by‑laws made by a Board, means —
(a)any member of the Police Force;
(b)any member of the Board; or
(c)any ranger appointed by the Board pursuant to section 7;
“Board” shall mean a Board of Parks and Reserves appointed under this Act;
“function” includes power, right, benefit and obligation;
“owner” of a vehicle means the person who is the holder of the requisite vehicle licence or permit under the Road Traffic Act 1974 in respect of that vehicle, or if the vehicle is not the subject of a licence or permit under that Act, the person who owns the vehicle or is entitled to its possession;
“parks and reserves” means land that is reserved under Part 4 of the Land Administration Act 1997 and in relation to which a Board is appointed under section 3(1);
“The Treasurer” shall mean the Treasurer of Western Australia;
“vehicle” includes any vehicle that comes within the interpretation of that term in the Road Traffic Act 1974.
2A.Application
This Act does not authorize the Governor to appoint persons to form a Board to control and manage the Rottnest Island Reserve as described in section 4 of the Rottnest Island Authority Act 1987.
3.Governor to appoint Boards to control and manage parks and reserves
(1)The Governor may appoint persons to form Boards to control and manage land that is reserved under Part 4 of the Land Administration Act 1997, and may appoint the president of every such Board, and may from time to time cancel and revoke such appointments and fill up vacancies in the Boards, and may appoint each of such Boards to control and manage any such land as he may from time to time think fit.
(2)Not less than half the members for the time being of a Board shall form a quorum for the transaction of business.
(3)A Board may sue and be sued, and all legal proceedings may be taken by and against a Board, in the name of the president of the Board.
(4)The Governor may by proclamation constitute any Board under such name as he deems fit, a body corporate with perpetual succession and a Common Seal with power to sue and be sued in its corporate name, to acquire, hold, lease and dispose of real and personal property to borrow money with the approval of the Governor and to do and permit to be done all things which are required by this Act to be done by a Board or which are necessary and convenient to be done by a Board for the purpose of giving effect to this Act.
(5)Where a Board is constituted a body corporate under the provisions of subsection (4) by force of this subsection, the functions until then exercised and exercisable by the Board shall be transferred to the Board as so constituted and an order in council which has placed a reserve under the control of the Board shall be amended so as to place the reserve under the Board as so constituted.
(6)Subject to section 5(3), (4), (4a) and (5), if a Board that is constituted a body corporate under subsection (4) —
(a)has had land vested in it under section 33 of the Land Act 1933 with power to lease, the Board shall be taken always to have had power to lease the land under and subject to that Act; or
(b)has the care, control and management of land placed with it under Part 4 of the Land Administration Act 1997 with power to lease, the Board has the power to lease the land under and subject to that Act.
4.Duty of a Board
The duty of a Board shall be to control and manage all the parks and reserves so committed to them, and to employ in such control and management any funds provided for those purposes by Parliament, and any funds arising from profits, fees, pecuniary penalties, or otherwise coming to the hands of the Board in the course of such control or management.
5.Certain powers included in the general powers
(1)In the exercise of its general powers in respect of the parks and reserves committed to them, a Board of control and management may, among other things, do as follows:—
(a)Fence in or otherwise enclose, clear, level, drain, plant, and form walks and carriage drives through and over such parks or reserves, or any part thereof;
(b)Construct dams and reservoirs for the retention and formation of sheets of water thereon;
(c)Otherwise improve or ornament such parks or reserves, and do all such things as are calculated to adapt such parks and reserves to the purposes of public recreation, health, and enjoyment;
(d)Establish and maintain zoological gardens therein;
(e)Grant licenses for the depasturing of animals on such park lands and reserves, and take for the same such fees as the Board may, by any by‑law, from time to time appoint; and
(f)Grant licenses for the removal of any sand, gravel, or other earth or mineral, and for cutting and removing wood under such restrictions, and at such reasonable price, or such weekly, monthly, or yearly sum as the Board may think fit.
(1a)A Board shall not grant a licence under subsection (1)(e) or (f) unless —
(a)the approval of the Minister has been first obtained; or
(b)the purpose for which the land the subject of the proposed licence is committed to the Board is specifically that for which the licence is proposed to be granted.
(2)Nothing in this section contained shall be construed to limit the general powers of a Board.
(3)Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (1) and (2) a Board shall not, after the coming into operation of the Parks and Reserves Act Amendment Act 1954, so far as concerns Reserve No. A1720, known as King’s Park, —
(a)effect or construct, or permit to be effected or constructed, to, in or on any such park or reserve any improvements for the purpose of the establishment of an aquatic centre, or orchestral shell; or
(b)lease the whole or any part of any such park or reserve (other than a part mentioned in subsection (4), (4a), or (5)),
unless the consent of both Houses of Parliament has first been obtained; or
(c)effect or construct, or permit to be effected or constructed, to, in or on King’s Park any other structure, device, or fixture for the purposes of public recreation, and from which members of the public may be excluded except upon payment of a fee,
unless the consent of the Governor in Executive Council has first been obtained but such consent shall not be given if native flora is to be despoiled.
Provided that the provisions of this subsection shall not apply to any additions or alterations to any structure, device or fixture lawfully on or in any such park or reserve at the commencement of the Parks and Reserves Act Amendment Act 1954, if such additions and alterations are in furtherance of the purpose for which the structure, device or fixture is then being used.
(4)The Board constituted a body corporate under this Act under the name King’s Park Board has power to lease that portion of Reserve No. A1720, known as King’s Park, which has been surveyed as Perth Lot 856, containing 5 perches, the boundaries of which are shown on Lands and Surveys Original Plan No. 12052, for the purpose of a kiosk for the sale of refreshments, such lease to be for a term not exceeding 3 years at any one time and to be subject to such terms and conditions as the Governor may approve, which may include a provision for renewal from time to time.
(4a)The Board constituted a body corporate under this Act under the name King’s Park Board has power to lease that portion of Reserve No. A1720, known as King’s Park, which has been surveyed as Perth Lot 955, containing 258 square metres, the boundaries of which are shown on Lands and Surveys Diagram No. 86382, for the purpose of a kiosk for the sale of refreshments, such lease to be for a term not exceeding 3 years at any one time and to be subject to such terms and conditions as the Governor may approve, which may include a provision for renewal from time to time.
(5)It is hereby declared that the portions of class “A” Reserve No. 1720 King’s Park, Perth, surveyed as Perth Town Lots 772, 786 and 801, that were respectively vested pursuant to the provisions of —
(a)section 22 of the Reserves Act 1952;
(b)section 13(2) of the Reserves Act 1955; and
(c)section 13 of the Reserves Act 1959,
in the Board constituted a body corporate under this Act under the name King’s Park Board, are vested under those provisions and shall be deemed to have been so vested on and from the commencement of those provisions, in trust for the purpose of a Public Park, with power to lease those lots for the purposes of a tearoom, restaurant, and kiosk for the sale of refreshments, for any term not exceeding 21 years and under such terms and conditions as the Governor may approve.
(5A)A lease granted under the power conferred by subsection (5) may include an option or options to renew that lease for a further term not exceeding 21 years in the aggregate.
(5B)A copy of a lease granted under the power conferred by subsection (5), whether originally or by way of an exercise of an option, shall be laid before each House of Parliament within 14 sitting days of approval.
6.A Board may delegate powers to committee
A Board may delegate any powers conferred on them by this Act to a committee of their body, and such committee shall, to the extent to which such powers are delegated, be deemed to be the Board within the meaning of this Act.
7.A Board may appoint officers and servants
(1)A Board may from time to time appoint a secretary, rangers, park‑keepers, and other officers and servants, and all persons so appointed shall hold their offices during the pleasure of the Board.
(2)A person appointed to the office of ranger under subsection (1) may hold that office in conjunction with any other office under that subsection.
(3)Notwithstanding anything in this section, to the extent that there is in the case of a person who is appointed under subsection (1) to be a secretary, ranger, park‑keeper or other officer and who is a member of the Senior Executive Service within the meaning of the Public Service Act 1978 an inconsistency between this Act and that Act that Act shall prevail.
7A.Powers of authorized persons
(1)An authorized person who is not a member of the Police Force and who finds a person committing an offence against any by‑law made by a Board, or who on reasonable grounds suspects that such an offence has been committed or is about to be committed, may without warrant other than the provisions of this section —
(a)remove any vehicle, animal or other thing from a park or reserve;
(b)stop, detain and search any vehicle, vessel or conveyance;
(c)enter and search any hut, tent, caravan or other erection which is not a permanent residence; and
(d)require any person to give to him the person’s name and address and detain the person if, when required to do so, he does not give to the authorized person his name and address, or gives to the authorized person a false name and address, until he can be delivered to a member of the Police Force, or the authorized person may take him into custody himself to be dealt with according to law pursuant to section 50 of the Police Act 1892, as if he had not given his name and address, or had given a false name and address to a member of the Police Force,
but an authorized person shall not exercise any power specified in paragraph (a), (b) or (c) unless he has first taken all reasonable steps to communicate to the owner or person in charge of the vehicle, animal, vessel, conveyance, hut, tent, caravan or other thing concerned his intention to exercise the power and his reasons for believing that he is authorized to exercise the power.
(2)An authorized person may examine any vehicle on a park or reserve and require the person apparently in charge of the vehicle to inform him whether the vehicle is the subject of a licence or permit under the Road Traffic Act 1974 and to give to him the name and address of the owner of the vehicle.
(3)An authorized person who has reason to believe that a vehicle has been used, driven, parked, stood or left in breach of any by‑law made by a Board may require the owner of the vehicle and any person to whom for the time being the possession or control of a vehicle may be entrusted to give any information which it is in his power to give, which may lead to the identification of any person who was driving or who was in charge of the vehicle when the offence is alleged to have been committed.
(4)As regards an authorized person who is a member of the Police Force, the provisions of this Act relating to authorized persons are not in derogation of but are in addition to those of other Acts relating to members of the Police Force.
7B.Certificate of authority
(1)A Board shall issue to —
(a)each of its members; and
(b)each ranger appointed by it pursuant to section 7,
a certificate in the form of the Schedule.
(2)An authorized person who is not a member of the Police Force shall produce the certificate issued to him under subsection (1) whenever required so to do by any person in respect of whom he has exercised or is about to exercise any of his powers under this Act.
(3)In any proceedings under this Act production of a certificate in the form of the Schedule is conclusive evidence in any court of the appointment by reason of which the person to whom the certificate relates became an authorized person within the meaning of this Act and of his authority to exercise the powers conferred on an authorized person under this Act.
7C.Speed measuring equipment
(1)In this section “speed measuring equipment” means apparatus of a type approved under section 98A(2) of the Road Traffic Act 1974.
(2)In any proceedings for an offence against any by‑law made under this Act, evidence may be given of the use of speed measuring equipment by an authorized person in relation to a vehicle and of the speed at which that vehicle was moving as ascertained by the use of that equipment, and that evidence is, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, proof of the speed at which that vehicle was moving at the time of the use of that equipment in relation to that vehicle.
(3)In any proceedings for an offence against any by‑law made under this Act, evidence by an authorized person that apparatus used by him was speed measuring equipment within the meaning of this section is, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, proof of that fact.
(4)Nothing in this section shall be construed as precluding or restricting the introduction of any competent evidence, whether in addition to, or independent of, any evidence for which provision is made by this section, bearing on the question of whether a person was or was not guilty of an offence.
8.A Board may make by‑laws
(1)A Board may, with the approval of the Governor, from time to time make, repeal, or alter by‑laws for giving effect to this Act in respect of the parks and reserves committed to them, and in particular for:
The regulation of the meetings and general business of the Board and where a Board is constituted a body corporate under the provisions of section 3 prescribing the manner in which the Seal of the Board may be affixed to documents, and the manner in which documents issued by the Board may be authenticated;
Keeping accounts of the receipts and expenditure of the Board;
The management and conservation of the park lands and reserves, including zoological gardens;
The appointment and guidance of keepers or servants employed therein;
Prescribing the time at which any such park lands and reserves shall be opened and closed;
The conduct of persons frequenting any such park lands and reserves;
Prescribing the days on which, and the bounds or limits within which, sports, games, and gymnastics may be permitted on the park lands and reserves, and otherwise regulating or prohibiting such sports, games and gymnastics;
Regulating traffic and the use of vehicles upon roads, and the use of footpaths, and in particular —
(a)prescribing the rules to be observed in respect of any vehicle being driven or used on roads, and the use of footpaths and bridle tracks on park lands and reserves;
(b)regulating, prohibiting or restricting the driving of any specified kinds of vehicles or of any vehicles of any specified weights or of any vehicles carrying any specified loads on any road, footpath or bridle track on park lands and reserves;
(c)prescribing the places where vehicles of any class or description may or may not be parked on park lands and reserves;
Preventing or regulating the admission of vehicles, birds, horses, dogs, asses, mules, camels, cattle, and animals of any other kind to the park lands and reserves;
Preventing or regulating shooting over, on, or in the park lands and reserves;
Preventing or regulating matches, or training for racing with horses, dogs, or otherwise upon the park lands and reserves;
Enabling authorized persons to remove persons who have committed any breach of any by‑law from the park lands and reserves;
Prohibiting the wilful obstruction of authorized persons acting in the execution of this Act and prescribing circumstances in which a person shall be treated as having wilfully obstructed an authorized person;
Prohibiting the impersonation of authorized persons;
Prescribing the circumstances in which where it is alleged that a vehicle has been used, driven, parked, stood or left in breach of any by‑law and where —
(a)the identity of the alleged offender is not known; and
(b)the owner of the vehicle fails within the prescribed time to either satisfy the Board that the vehicle had been stolen or unlawfully taken, or was being unlawfully used, at the time the offence is alleged to have been committed or inform the Board or an authorized person as to the identity and address of the person whom he believed was the driver or person in charge of the vehicle at the time the offence is alleged to have been committed,
the owner shall be deemed to have been the driver or person in charge of the vehicle at the time of the alleged offence;
Prohibiting any person other than the owner, driver or person in charge of a vehicle from removing any notice attached to, or left in or on, the vehicle pursuant to section 14;
Regulating or preventing the selling or exposing for sale goods, wares, or merchandise on the park lands and reserves;
Prohibiting damage or injury to and destruction of trees, shrubs, plants and flowers in the park lands and reserves;
The prevention of nuisances in the park lands and reserves, and the fouling of any ornamental water therein;
Prescribing the fees to be charged the public for admission to the park lands and reserves, or part thereof, and the occasions when such fees shall be payable, and prohibiting free admission thereto on such occasions; and
Regulating the payment of, and prescribing the method of the collection of, fees charged pursuant to any regulation; imposing on any prescribed class of persons the duty of collecting fees, on behalf of the Board; and, generally, prescribing all matters that may be necessary or expedient to be prescribed for the purpose of assuring that the fees are collected and paid to the Board.
(2)A Board may, by such by‑laws, impose pecuniary penalties, not exceeding a fine of $1 000, for breach of any by‑law and prescribe sums not exceeding $200 payable by way of penalty by persons who proceed in the manner described in section 14(2)(d).
(3)All pecuniary penalties for offences against any by‑laws made by a Board in pursuance of this Act shall go to the use of such Board.
9.By‑laws to be gazetted and tabled
Such by‑laws shall be published in the Government Gazette, and shall be laid before both Houses of Parliament within 14 days after such publication, if Parliament be then sitting, and if Parliament be not then sitting, within 14 days after its next meeting; and, in respect of the parks and reserves for the time being committed to the Board that made the by‑laws, such by‑laws, when published, shall have the effect of law, unless repealed or altered as aforesaid, or disallowed by both Houses of Parliament.
10.Penalties for trespass of cattle
The owner of any cattle within the meaning of the Trespass Act, hereinafter cited, which are found trespassing on any enclosed park or reserve, whether damage is proved to have been committed or not, shall forfeit and pay to the Board the like sums as mentioned in the “Trespass Scale” of the Cattle Trespass, Fencing, and Impounding Act 1882 2 in respect of trespass on a public street or thoroughfare in a town or city, or in an enclosed public cemetery.
11.Boards to act by majorities, and member presiding to have casting vote
A Board shall act by a majority of votes, and if at any meeting there is an equality of votes, the president or the member actually presiding shall have a second or casting vote.
12.Application of Financial Administration and Audit Act 1985
The provisions of the Financial Administration and Audit Act 1985 regulating the financial administration, audit and reporting of statutory authorities apply to and in respect of a Board and its operations.
12A.Liability of parents
(1)Where any loss is suffered by a Board as a result of any damage or destruction occasioned —
(a)in a park or reserve committed to the Board; or
(b)to any property owned by or under the care and control of the Board,
by the intentional or negligent act or omission of a child, the Board may recover the amount of that loss from the parent or guardian of that child by action in a court of competent jurisdiction unless the parent or guardian shows that he did not conduce to the act or omission of the child by neglecting to exercise due care and control of the child.
(2)In subsection (1) —
“child” means a person who has not attained the age of 18 years;
“parent” has the same meaning as that term has in and for the purposes of section 34E of the Child Welfare Act 1947.
(3)The provisions of subsection (1) are not in derogation of but are in addition to those of section 34E of the Child Welfare Act 1947.
12B.Provisions as to ownership and control of animals
(1)Where in any proceedings, whether civil or penal, instituted by a Board any animal, whether registered under any Act or not so registered, is shown to have been habitually in the apparent ownership of any person, that person is deemed, unless he can show cause to the contrary, to have been and to continue to be the owner of that animal and liable for the control of that animal.
(2)It shall not be a defence in any proceedings, whether civil or penal, instituted by a Board in relation to an animal for the person who is registered under any Act as, or is otherwise found to be, the owner to show that at the material time the animal was not in his possession or control unless he also shows that the animal in question was in the actual possession or control of some other person without his consent.
(3)Where in any proceedings instituted by a Board in relation to an animal a person is alleged to have permitted any act or thing it shall be a defence to any prosecution that the contravention or non‑compliance occurred without his knowledge, consent or connivance only if it is also shown that he exercised all due diligence to prevent it.
13.Incorporation of part of Interpretation Act 1918
Subject to section 14, offences against this Act, and against the by‑laws made thereunder, shall be summarily punishable upon conviction before 2 Justices of the Peace, not being members of a Board; and sections A, F, G and H of the Schedule of The Shortening Ordinance 1853 3, shall be incorporated with and taken to form part of this Act to all intents and purposes, and in as full and ample a manner as if the said sections had been introduced and fully set forth in this Act.
14.Proceedings by way of notice
(1)Where an authorized person finds a person committing an offence against any by‑law made by a Board or suspects on reasonable grounds that a person has committed such an offence and, having regard to the nature of the alleged offence and the circumstances in which the alleged offence occurs or occurred, the authorized person believes that proceedings under this section are adequate he may upon ascertaining the name and address of the person give the notice specified in this section.
(2)The notice —
(a)shall be identified by a serial number;
(b)shall identify the person to whom it is given by his name and address;
(c)shall state in general terms the offence that the person is alleged to have committed;
(d)shall inform the person in general terms that if he does not desire the matter to be determined in a court hearing he may complete the form attached to or appearing upon the notice and may forward or deliver that form together with a prescribed sum by way of penalty to the person named therein within the time appointed in the notice, which shall be not less than 10 days from the date of giving the notice, whereupon he will not be liable to further costs or penalty in the matter;
(e)shall inform the person in general terms that he has a right to decline to proceed in the manner described in paragraph (d) and to allow the matter to be determined in a court hearing —
(i)if he desires to contest the question whether the offence alleged was in fact committed; or
(ii)if he wishes to submit to the court matters in extenuation of penalty; or
(iii)for any other reason,
in which event he need not reply or take further action in respect of the notice and that in such case court process will issue against him in due course.
(3)Notwithstanding subsection (1) and subsection (2)(b), where it is alleged that a vehicle is being or has been used, driven, parked, stood or left in breach of any by‑law made by a Board and the identity of the driver or person in charge of the vehicle is not known and cannot immediately be ascertained a notice pursuant to subsection (1) may —
(a)in any case, be addressed and given to the owner of the vehicle within 30 days after the date on which the offence is alleged to have been committed; or
(b)where the allegation is of an offence of which the parking, standing or leaving of the vehicle is an element, be addressed to the owner of the vehicle, without naming him or stating his address, and be given to him by attaching it to the vehicle or leaving it in or on the vehicle.
(4)Where a person to whom notice is given pursuant to this section proceeds in the manner described in subsection (2)(d) within the time appointed in the notice a proceeding against him by way of prosecution for the offence alleged in the notice shall not be competent but otherwise such a proceeding may be commenced as if the notice had not been given.
