National Maritime Safety Regulator

The exposure draft of the Marine Safety (Domestic Commercial Vessel) National Law Bill 2012 (the national law) is now available for public comment at www.nationalsystem.amsa.gov.au

The national law will implement the 19 August 2011 decision of the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) for the establishment of a single national regulator for domestic commercial vessel safety in Australia. The historic Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) approved by First Ministers in August will see the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) become the national regulator for maritime safety from 1 January 2013.

The IGA formalises the agreement of all Australian governments to the operating arrangements under which the single national system will operate. Agreement on the provisions of the IGA is as a result of extensive negotiation between the Commonwealth, states and territories. 

The reform was first initiated in July 2009 when COAG decided to take a national approach to regulating the safety of all domestic commercial vessels in Australian waters by 2013.  COAG's decision reflects recommendations put forward to it by the Australian Transport Council (ATC) in May 2009.

ATC's recommendations were informed by a Regulation Impact Statement (RIS) that discussed perceived problems with the current regulatory framework and considered alternate options for national reform of maritime safety regulation. The RIS incorporated feedback provided in over 90 written submissions and 22 public meetings held around Australia.  A copy of the final RIS is available here [DOC: 1312 KB][PDF: 2884 KB], and submissions from industry stakeholders may be accessed here [PDF: 9731 KB].

Benefits

The national law is intended to replace current state and territory laws governing the operational safety of domestic commercial vessels. Although the national law is being developed using existing state and territory laws as a base, it will be implemented nationally through separate legislation in each jurisdiction and will be applied as if it were a law of that jurisdiction. This will ensure that standards, rules and subordinate legislation such as regulations and Marine Orders are applied consistently around the country.

The national law is also designed to apply the National Standard for Commercial Vessels (NSCV) throughout Australia. The NSCV is a set of standards covering commercial vessel operation, construction and crew qualifications developed by state and territory transport agencies and agreed by Transport Ministers. The NSCV will be implemented through subordinate legislation made under the national law.

As the National Regulator, AMSA will be responsible for the development and implementation of commercial vessel standards nationally covering vessel construction, operation and crew qualifications.  However, under the national law, AMSA will delegate certain functions to state and territory maritime safety agencies which undertake day-to-day interaction with the domestic commercial vessel industry.

Consultation

Formal consultations on the national reform have been conducted in three phases:

Phase 1: Face-to-face consultation with stakeholders on the proposed regulatory framework for this reform. This included workshops and Open Days in each state and territory to enable maritime industry stakeholders discuss the national law with Departmental and AMSA representatives and understand how the national system will work in relation to different vessels and operations.

Phase 2: Public comment and feedback on the national law is being sought by making the exposure draft of the Marine Safety (Domestic Commercial Vessel) National Law Bill 2012 available on-line [DOC: 421 KB][PDF: 541 KB].

Phase 3: AMSA, in consultation with states and territories maritime agencies, is developing streamlined standards for design, construction and certification and consults with industry on an ongoing basis.

It should be noted that Australian Transport Ministers are yet to formally agree the exposure draft of the National Law Bill. 

For further information, please contact Maritime Safety Reform Section on +61 (02) 6274 7746 or email: nmsr@infrastructure.gov.au.