Commonwealth Consolidated Acts

OFFSHORE MINERALS ACT 1994 - SECT 3

  (1)   The Commonwealth and the States have agreed that:

  (a)   Commonwealth offshore mining legislation should be limited to the area that is outside State coastal waters; and

  (b)   the States should share, in the manner provided by this Act, in the administration of the Commonwealth offshore mining legislation; and

  (c)   State offshore mining legislation should apply to State coastal waters beyond the baseline for the territorial sea (that is, the first 3 nautical miles of the territorial sea); and

  (d)   the Commonwealth and the States should try to maintain, as far as practicable, common principles, rules and practices in regulating and controlling offshore mining beyond the baseline of Australia's territorial sea.

Note:   So far as the agreement relates to petroleum, it is reflected in Commonwealth legislation by the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006 .

  (2)   Other Acts that provide background to the agreement (commonly referred to as the Offshore Constitutional Settlement ) are:

  (a)   the Seas and Submerged Lands Act 1973 ; and

  (b)   the Coastal Waters (State Powers) Act 1980 ; and

  (c)   the Coastal Waters (State Title) Act 1980 ; and

  (d)   the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006 ; and

  (e)   the Coastal Waters (Northern Territory Powers) Act 1980 ; and

  (f)   the Coastal Waters (Northern Territory Title) Act 1980 .

Note 1:   The Seas and Submerged Lands Act 1973:

• declared and enacted that the sovereignty in respect of the territorial sea and the associated airspace, seabed and subsoil is vested in and exercisable by the Crown in right of the Commonwealth;
• gave the Governor - General power to declare, by Proclamation, the limits of the territorial sea;

• declared and enacted that the sovereignty in respect of waters of the sea that are on the landward side of the baseline of the territorial sea (but not within the limits of a State) and in respect of the associated airspace, seabed and subsoil is vested in and exercisable by the Crown in right of the Commonwealth;

• declared and enacted that the sovereign rights of Australia as a coastal State in respect of the Continental Shelf of Australia (for the purpose of exploring it and exploiting its natural resources) are vested in and exercisable by the Crown in right of the Commonwealth;

• gave the Governor - General power to declare, by Proclamation, the limits of the Continental Shelf of Australia.

Note 2:   The Coastal Waters (State Powers) Act 1980 was enacted following a request from the Parliaments of all the States under paragraph   51(xxxviii) of the Constitution of the Commonwealth and provided that the legislative powers exercisable under the Constitution of each State extended to the making of certain laws that would operate offshore.

Note 3:   The Coastal Waters (State Title) Act 1980 vested in each State certain property rights in the seabed beneath the coastal waters of the State.

Note 4:   The Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006 makes provision, based on the agreement referred to in subsection   (1), for the licensing regime that applies to the exploration for and recovery of petroleum in offshore areas.

Note 5:   The Coastal Waters (Northern Territory Powers) Act 1980 makes similar provision to the State Powers Act in relation to the Northern Territory.

Note 6:   The Coastal Waters (Northern Territory Title) Act 1980 makes similar provision to the State Title Act in relation to the Northern Territory.