Crown authority exemptions – Public Health Act

To apply for a Crown exemption from a provision of the Public Health Act or its regulations, an exemption request form will need to be completed (available soon).

Exemption requests are to be submitted to the Department of Health, in accordance with the guidance document on applying for an exemption (available soon). The Department will then facilitate submission of the request to the Minister for Health.

An exemption cannot be provided for the following Parts of the Act:

• Part 9 – Notifiable infectious diseases and related conditions
• Part 11 – Serious public health incident powers
• Part 12 – Public Health emergencies 
• Part 15 – Inquiries
• Part 16 – Powers of entry, inspection and seizure
• Part 18 – Liability, evidentiary and procedural matters
• Part 19 – Miscellaneous matters.

The Minister is authorised to grant an exemption only if:  

“The Minister is satisfied that the Crown or, as the case requires, the Crown authority is unable to take the steps necessary to comply with the provision, whether because of a lack of financial or other resources or for any other reason.”

The Minister is required to obtain the advice and recommendations of the Chief Health Officer. The Minister must have regard to that advice and those recommendations, but is not required to act in accordance with that advice and those recommendations.

The Minister may also attach conditions to an exemption.

An exemption can be issued for a period of up to 10 years. An exemption cannot be extended. However a new exemption may be created with the same terms or different terms. 

Contents of an exemptions

An exemption must specify the following:

The Minister may attach a condition to an exemption requiring the exemption-holder to develop a compliance plan within a period specified in the exemption.

A compliance plan sets out the steps that the exemption-holder will take, by the time the exemption expires, to achieve full or partial compliance with the provisions of the Act or the regulations to which the exemption applies.

It is not a requirement to submit a compliance plan with a request for an exemption. However a draft compliance plan may support a case for exemption.

Exemption-holders must ensure that all current exemptions and compliance plans are readily available to the public without charge, including on a website maintained by or on behalf of the exemption holder and by any other means the exemption-holder considers appropriate.

The accountable authority of a Crown authority must include in its annual report submitted under Part 5 of the Financial Management Act 2006 details of each exemption held by the Crown authority and a report about the progress on the implementation of any compliance plan. 

If the exemption-holder does not have an accountable authority, the accountable authority of the department must include the specified information in its report submitted under Part 5 of the Financial Management Act 2006.