Coastal Waters (State Powers) Act 1980

Act No. 75 of 1980 as amended

This compilation was prepared on 1 July 2008 taking into account amendments up to Act No. 17 of 2006

The text of any of those amendments not in force on that date is appended in the Notes section

The operation of amendments that have been incorporated may be affected by application provisions that are set out in the Notes section

Prepared by the Office of Legislative Drafting and Publishing, Attorney-General’s Department, Canberra

Contents

An Act to extend the legislative powers of the States in and in relation to coastal waters

Preamble

BE IT THEREFORE ENACTED by the Queen, and the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Australia, as follows:

WHEREAS, in pursuance of paragraph (xxxviii) of section 51 of the Constitution of the Commonwealth, the Parliaments of all the States have requested the Parliament of the Commonwealth to enact an Act in, or substantially in, the terms of this Act:
1 Short title [see Note 1]

This Act may be cited as the Coastal Waters (State Powers) Act 1980.
2 Commencement [see Note 1]

This Act shall come into operation on a date to be fixed by Proclamation.
3 Interpretation 1

In this Act:

adjacent area in respect of the State means, in relation to each State, the area the boundary of which was described under the heading referring to that State in Schedule 2 to the repealed Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1967 as in force immediately before the commencement of this Act.

coastal waters of the State means, in relation to each State:

 a

the part or parts of the territorial sea of Australia that is or are within the adjacent area in respect of the State, other than any part referred to in subsection 4(2); and

 b

any sea that is on the landward side of any part of the territorial sea of Australia and is within the adjacent area in respect of the State but is not within the limits of the State or of a Territory.

 2

(2) The Acts Interpretation Act 1901, in the form in which it was in force, as amended, immediately before the day on which this Act received the Royal Assent, applies to the interpretation of this Act.
4 Extent of territorial sea and coastal waters 1

(1) For the purposes of this Act, the limits of the territorial sea of Australia shall be the limits existing from time to time, ascertained consistently with the Seas and Submerged Lands Act 1973 and instruments under that Act and with any agreement (whether made before or after the commencement of this Act) for the time being in force between Australia and another country with respect to the outer limit of a particular part of that territorial sea.

 2

If at any time the breadth of the territorial sea of Australia is determined or declared to be greater than 3 nautical miles, references in this Act to the coastal waters of the State do not include, in relation to any State, any part of the territorial sea of Australia that would not be within the limits of that territorial sea if the breadth of that territorial sea had continued to be 3 nautical miles.
5 Legislative powers of States

The legislative powers exercisable from time to time under the constitution of each State extend to the making of:

 a

all such laws of the State as could be made by virtue of those powers if the coastal waters of the State, as extending from time to time, were within the limits of the State, including laws applying in or in relation to the sea-bed and subsoil beneath, and the airspace above, the coastal waters of the State;

 b

laws of the State having effect in or in relation to waters within the adjacent area in respect of the State but beyond the outer limits of the coastal waters of the State, including laws applying in or in relation to the sea-bed and subsoil beneath, and the airspace above, the first-mentioned waters, being laws with respect to:

 i

subterranean mining from land within the limits of the State; or

 ii

ports, harbours and other shipping facilities, including installations, and dredging and other works, relating thereto, and other coastal works; and

 c

laws of the State with respect to fisheries in Australian waters beyond the outer limits of the coastal waters of the State, being laws applying to or in relation to those fisheries only to the extent to which those fisheries are, under an arrangement to which the Commonwealth and the State are parties, to be managed in accordance with the laws of the State.
6 International status of territorial sea

Nothing in this Act affects the status of the territorial sea of Australia under international law or the rights and duties of the Commonwealth in relation to ensuring the observance of international law, including the provisions of international agreements binding on the Commonwealth and, in particular, the provisions of the Convention on the Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone relating to the right of innocent passage of ships.
7 Savings

Nothing in this Act shall be taken to:

 a

extend the limits of any State;

 b

derogate from any power existing, apart from this Act, to make laws of a State having extra-territorial effect; or

 c

give any force or effect to a provision of a law of a State to the extent of any inconsistency with a law of the Commonwealth or with the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia or the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act.

Notes to the

Note 1

The Coastal Waters (State Powers) Act 1980 as shown in this compilation comprises Act No. 75, 1980 amended as indicated in the Tables below.

Table of Acts
Act Number and year Date of Assent Date of commencement Application, saving or transitional provisions
Coastal Waters (State Powers) Act 1980 75, 1980 29 May 1980 1 Jan 1982 (see Gazette 1981, No. G51)
Offshore Petroleum (Repeals and Consequential Amendments) Act 2006 17, 2006 29 Mar 2006 Schedule 2 (item 11): 1 July 2008 (see s. 2(1) and F2008L02273) —

Table of Amendments
ad. = added or inserted am. = amended rep. = repealed rs. = repealed and substituted ad. = added or inserted am. = amended rep. = repealed rs. = repealed and substituted
Provision affected How affected
S. 3 am. No. 17, 2006