National Maritime Safety Regulator

On 2 July 2009, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) agreed to implement national regulation for maritime safety with the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) becoming the national safety regulator for all commercial shipping in Australian waters. COAG's decision reflects recommendations put forward to it by the Australian Transport Council (ATC) on 22 May 2009.

ATC's recommendations were informed by a Regulation Impact Statement (RIS). The RIS included discussion of perceived problems with the current regulatory framework and considered alternate options for national reform of maritime safety regulation. The recommended option in the RIS was for a single national regulator. The RIS incorporated feedback received from stakeholders in over 90 written submissions and during 22 public meetings held around Australia attended by over 1400 industry stakeholders. A copy of the final RIS is available here [PDF: 2884 KB]. Submissions received during second round consultations are available here [PDF: 9731 KB]. The RIS considered by COAG in July 2009 was to inform its consideration of national transport regulatory reform proposals. As such, the RIS does not necessarily represent the final outcomes that will be developed and agreed as Governments progress the reform process.

A Cost Recovery Impact Statement will now be prepared for the consideration of governments and will detail proposed funding arrangements and the impact on industry of different funding options. Stakeholders will be invited to input into this process. The CRIS will be prepared in line with the Australian Government Cost Recovery Guidelines. Negotiations on a National Partnership Agreement (NPA) for national regulation of maritime safety have commenced. The purpose of the NPA is to signify the commitment of jurisdictions to implement COAG's decision.

Work on national maritime safety regulatory reforms will be taken forward by the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government and AMSA in close collaboration with the states and territories. An implementation plan will be finalised in 2010. A diagram illustrating national maritime policy governance arrangements is available here [PDF: 65 KB].

For further information, please contact Marcus Cahill, Acting Section Head for Maritime Safety Reform on +61 (0)2 6274 7003, email: marcus.cahill@infrastructure.gov.au. A fact sheet concerning the reforms is available here [PDF: 114 KB]

COAG is also progressing similar reform initiatives in other transportation sectors including:

• A single national system of heavy vehicle regulation, registration and driver licensing
• A single national rail safety regulatory and investigation framework