Australian Capital Territory Current Regulations Australian Capital Territory Current Regulations(1) This section applies if the Minister is satisfied that the existing or forecasted weather conditions mean a fire would—
(a) cause excessive environmental harm; or
(b) unnecessarily increase pollutants in the air.
(2) The Minister may, in writing, declare that the lighting, using or maintaining of a fire in the open air is prohibited for the period stated in the declaration.
(3) A declaration may be expressed to apply to all or part of the ACT.
(4) The declaration must be—
(a) notified in a public notice ; or
(b) broadcast in the ACT by a national or commercial broadcasting service.
Note Public notice means notice on an ACT government website or in a daily newspaper circulating in the ACT (see href="http://www.legislation.act.gov.au/a/2001-14" title="A2001-14">Legislation Act
, dict, pt 1).
(5) A person commits an offence if the person contravenes a declaration.
Maximum penalty: 10 penalty units.
(6) Subsection (5) does not apply if the person had a reasonable excuse.
(7) This section does not apply to a fire only for cooking or heating food or drink.
(8) An offence against this section is a strict liability offence.