A 'sea change' in Queensland's marine safety laws - Recent marine safety reforms in Queensland

• Author: Shane Bosma
• Position: MA (Hons), LLB (Hons). Research Associate, Centre for Maritime Law, National University of Singapore. My sincere thanks to Professor Kate Lewins for her guidance and wisdom when supervising the original version of this paper and to Associate Professor Paul Myburgh for his comments and advice on this later version. All errors, are of course, my own
• Pages: 37-44

(2017) 31 ANZ Mar LJ

37

A "SEA CHANGE" IN QUEENSLAND'S MARINE SAFETY LAWS: RECENT

MARINE SAFETY REFORMS IN QUEENSLAND

Shane Bosma*

1 Introduction

On February 2016 the Queensland Government passed the Transport Operations (Marine Safety-Domestic

Commercial Vessel National Law Act Application) Act 2016 (Qld) (‘National Law Application Act’) and the

Transport Operations (Marine Safety) and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2016 (Qld) (‘Marine Safety

Amendment Act’). They came into effect on 1 September 2016. This legislation has a practical effect on

approximately 5% of Queensland's commercial vessels.1

The purpose of this legislative reform is to implement the Marine Safety (Domestic Commercial Vessel) National

Law Act 2012 (Cth) (‘National Law Act’) in all Queensland waters and to transfer all regulatory power to the

Australian federal government over registration, licensing and other safety-related matters for "domestic

commercial vessels" operating in Queensland waters under the National Law Act.

This article considers the changes made by this legislative reform and canvasses the likely operation of this reform

in practice. Firstly, a broad overview of the legislative framework applicable to the regulation of vessels in

Australian and Queensland waters will be provided. Against this context, the reasons for, and the specific changes

effected by, the National Law Application Act and Marine Safety Amendment Act will then be explained. Lastly,

the article will consider the practical impact that this legislative reform is likely to have on ves sels operating in

Queensland waters.

2 Regulation of vessels in Australian and Queensland waters

Vessels in Australian waters are regulated by both state and federal legislation. The interaction between the

jurisdictions of the Australian federal government and the Australian state governments within the area of

maritime law is inherently complex. In essence, both the federal government and the states have jurisdiction from

the low water mark, however, the states' jurisdiction ends after three nautical mile s.2 Where both the federal

government and states have legislated on a particular point within three nautical miles, the federal legislation is

"rolled back" so that it only applies beyond the three nautical mile limit.3

2.1 Federal maritime regulatory framework

The key pieces of federal legislation relevant to the regulation of vessels in Australian waters are the Shipping

Registration Act 1981 (Cth), Navigation Act 2012 (Cth), the Protection of the Sea (Prevention of Pollution from

Ships) Act 1983 (Cth) and the National Law Act.

2.1.1 Shipping Registration Act 1981

The Shipping Registration Act 1981 (Cth) (‘Shipping Registration Act’) presc ribes what vessels are required to

be, or may be, registered in Australia as Australian "flagged" vessels. This is then relevant to how the vessel is

regulated under other applicable legislation.

Under the Shipping Registration Act a vessel is required to be registered in Australia (unless exempt from

registration) if it is "Australian-owned".4 An "Australian-owned" vessel is one that:

(a) is owned by an Australian national or Australian nationals, and by no other perso n;

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* Counsel, Ashurst Australia, Brisbane; LLB (Hons), BA, MBA, MIB, LLM (Maritime Law). The author acknowledges the valued

assistance of Ms Amanda Wu and Mr Zackary George with the footnote referencing in this article.

1 Explanatory Notes, Transport Operations (Marine Safety-Domestic Commercial Vessel National Law Application) Bill 2016 (Qld) 3.

2 See Coastal Waters (State Powers) Act 1980 (Cth) s 4(1), which gives effect to the Offshore Constitutional Settlement concluded between

the Commonwealth and the States in 1979.

3 Ibid s 4(2).

4 Shipping Registration Act 1981 (Cth) s 12(1).