Clause 51(ix) of the Australian Constitution empowered the federal government to make laws in relation to quarantine.
[2] When the Act was passed, sea travel was the only way that people and goods could reach Australia, and the main concern was protecting the country from outbreaks of "quarantinable disease", such as the bubonic plague, yellow fever, smallpox, cholera and leprosy.
The Act was amended more than 50 times in its 108 years of existence, as biosecurity risks in Australia changed over time, and the broader concept of biosecurity came to include "protection of the economy, environment and human health from negative impacts associated with entry, establishment or spread of exotic pests and diseases"; a more proactive approach.
44, June 2016) provided for:[7] It also specified the scope of "quarantine" and defined various terms used in the Act; administration arrangements, including arrangements with states and territories; the relationship with the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 and the Environment Minister; general provisions; quarantining of vessels, persons, goods, animals and plants; monitoring and control; powers for enforcement of the Act, and a number of miscellaneous matters.
[6] New requirements included how the then Department of Agriculture and Water Resources would manage biosecurity risks associated with goods, people and vessels entering Australia.