Contents

Part I--Preliminary                                                                                                                 1

1............ Short title [see Note 1] ....................................................................... 1

2............ Commencement and application of Act [see Note 1] ......................... 1

3............ Interpretation ...................................................................................... 4

3A......... Wrecks etc. partly in Australian waters and partly in State waters ... 7

3B......... Application and extension of Act ....................................................... 7

4............ Act to bind Crown .............................................................................. 7

4AA...... Application of the Criminal Code ...................................................... 8

Part II--Protection of historic shipwrecks and relics                                          9

4A......... Shipwrecks and relics associated with State or Territory may be declared to be historic        9

5............ Certain shipwrecks and relics may be declared to be historic .......... 12

6............ Provisional declaration that shipwrecks and relics are historic ........ 13

7............ Protected zones ................................................................................ 14

8............ Further publication of notices. ......................................................... 15

9............ Notice of location of historic shipwrecks and relics ......................... 15

10.......... Power of Minister to ascertain location of historic shipwrecks and relics               17

11.......... Power of Minister to give directions in relation to custody etc. of historic shipwrecks and relics          18

12.......... Register of Historic Shipwrecks ....................................................... 19

13.......... Prohibition of certain action in relation to historic shipwrecks and relics                19

14.......... Regulations may prohibit certain activities in protected zone ......... 20

15.......... Permits for exploration or recovery of shipwrecks and relics .......... 21

16.......... Defences ........................................................................................... 23

17.......... Discovery of shipwrecks and relics to be notified ........................... 23

18.......... Rewards ............................................................................................ 23

Part III--Miscellaneous                                                                                                    25

19.......... Arrangements for State and Northern Territory authorities to perform certain functions       25

20.......... Declaration as to ownership of remains of ships or relics ................ 25

21.......... Compensation ................................................................................... 26

22.......... Appointment of inspectors .............................................................. 27

23.......... Powers of inspectors ........................................................................ 27

24.......... Arrest without warrant ..................................................................... 29

25.......... Seizure and forfeiture ........................................................................ 29

26.......... Certain offences indictable ................................................................ 30

27.......... Jurisdiction of courts ........................................................................ 31

28.......... Operation of Act .............................................................................. 31

29.......... Certificate by Minister to be evidence ............................................. 31

30.......... Delegation ......................................................................................... 31

31.......... Notices .............................................................................................. 32

32.......... Regulations ....................................................................................... 32

Schedules                                                                                                                                    33

Schedule 1--Agreement between the Netherlands and Australia concerning old Dutch shipwrecks         33

Schedule 2--Dutch shipwrecks off the coast of Western Australia          38

Notes                                                                                                                                             39

An Act relating to the Protection of Certain Shipwrecks and Relics of Historic Significance

WHEREAS, by an Agreement between the Netherlands and Australia Concerning Old Dutch Shipwrecks that was signed on 6 November 1972 (being the agreement a copy of the text of which is set out in Schedule 1 to this Act), the Netherlands, as successor to the property and assets of the Dutch "Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie", transferred to Australia all its right, title and interest in and to wrecked vessels of the Dutch "Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie" lying on or off the coast of the State of Western Australia and in and to any articles thereof and Australia accepted that right, title and interest:

AND WHEREAS it is desirable that the Commonwealth and the States, in co‑operation, should protect those wrecked vessels and articles, and the remains of, and any articles associated with, other ships of historic significance, being remains or articles that are situated in, or have been removed from, Australian waters or waters above the continental shelf of Australia:

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

Notes to the Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976

Note 1

The Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976 as shown in this compilation comprises Act No. 190, 1976 amended as indicated in the Tables below.

All relevant information pertaining to application, saving or transitional provisions prior to 24 November 2000 is not included in this compilation. For subsequent information see Table A.

Table of Acts

Act	Number and year	Date of Assent	Date of commencement	Application, saving or transitional provisions
Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976	190, 1976	15 Dec 1976	15 Dec 1976
Jurisdiction of Courts (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act 1979	19, 1979	28 Mar 1979	Parts II--XVII (ss. 3--123): 15 May 1979 (see Gazette 1979, No. S86) Remainder: Royal Assent		S. 124
Historic Shipwrecks Amendment Act 1980	88, 1980	29 May 1980	29 May 1980		S. 6(2)
Statute Law Revision Act 1981	61, 1981	12 June 1981	Part XIII (ss. 56, 57): 19 June 1981 (a)		--
Torres Strait Treaty (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act 1984	22, 1984	26 Apr 1984	Part X (ss. 29, 30): 15 Feb 1985 (see s. 2(2) and Gazette 1985, No. S38) Remainder: 15 Feb 1985 (see s. 2(1) and Gazette 1985, No. S38)		--
Statute Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act (No. 1) 1985	65, 1985	5 June 1985	S. 3: 3 July 1985 (b)		--
as amended by
Statute Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act (No. 2) 1985	193, 1985	16 Dec 1985	S. 3: 3 July 1985 (c)		S. 16
Criminal Code Amendment (Theft, Fraud, Bribery and Related Offences) Act 2000	137, 2000	24 Nov 2000	Ss. 1‑3 and Schedule 1 (items 1, 4, 6, 7, 9--11, 32): Royal Assent Remainder: 24 May 2001		Sch. 2 (items 418, 419) [see Table A]
Environment and Heritage Legislation Amendment (Application of Criminal Code) Act 2001	15, 2001	22 Mar 2001	S. 4 and Schedule 1 (items 96--103): 24 May 2001 (d)		S. 4 [see Table A]
Offshore Petroleum (Repeals and Consequential Amendments) Act 2006	17, 2006	29 Mar 2006	Schedule 2 (item 37): 1 July 2008 (see s. 2(1) and F2008L02273)		--

(a)     The Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976 was amended by Part XIII (sections 56 and 57) only of the Statute Law Revision Act 1981, subsection 2(6) of which provides as follows:

                 (6)   Part XIII shall come into operation, or shall be deemed to have come into operation, as the case requires, on the day after the day on which Part II of the Petroleum (Submerged Lands--Miscellaneous Amendments) Act 1981 comes or came into operation.

(b)    The Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976 was amended by section 3 only of the Statute Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act (No. 1) 1985, subsection 2(1) of which provides as follows:

                 (1)   Subject to this section, this Act shall come into operation on the twenty‑eighth day after the day on which it receives the Royal Assent.

(c)     The Statute Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act (No. 1) 1985 was amended by section 3 only of the Statute Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No. 2) Act 1985, subsection 2(15)(b) of which provides as follows:

                              (b)   in the case of the other amendments--on the twenty‑eighth day after the day on which that Act received the Royal Assent.

(d)     The Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976 was amended by Schedule 1 (items 96--103) only of the Environment and Heritage Legislation Amendment (Application of Criminal Code) Act 2001, subsection 2(1)(c) of which provides as follows:

                 (1)   Subject to this section, this Act commences on the latest of the following days:

                              (c)   the day on which item 15 of Schedule 1 to the Criminal Code Amendment (Theft, Fraud, Bribery and Related Offences) Act 2000 commences.

Table of Amendments

ad. = added or inserted     am. = amended     rep. = repealed     rs. = repealed and substituted
Provision affected	How affected
Preamble.............................	am. No. 88, 1980
S. 2......................................	am. No. 88, 1980; No. 22, 1984; No. 65, 1985
S. 3......................................	am. No. 88, 1980; No. 61, 1981; No. 22, 1984; No. 65, 1985; No. 15, 2001; No. 17, 2006
Ss. 3A, 3B...........................	ad. No. 65, 1985
S.4.......................................	rs. No. 65, 1985
S. 4AA................................	ad. No. 15, 2001
S. 4A...................................	ad. No. 65, 1985
S. 5......................................	am. No. 22, 1984; No. 65, 1985
Ss. 6--9................................	am. No. 65, 1985
S. 10....................................	am. No. 65, 1985; No. 137, 2000
Ss. 11, 12............................	am. No. 65, 1985
S. 13....................................	am. No. 65, 1985; No. 15, 2001
S. 15....................................	am. No. 65, 1985; No. 15, 2001
S. 16....................................	am. No. 88, 1980
S. 17....................................	am. No. 65, 1985; No. 137, 2000
S. 18....................................	am. No. 65, 1985
S. 19....................................	am. No. 88, 1980
S. 20....................................	am. No. 65, 1985
S. 21....................................	am. No. 19, 1979
S. 22....................................	am. No. 65, 1985
S. 23....................................	am. No. 65, 1985 (as am. by No. 193, 1985); No. 137, 2000; No. 15, 2001
Ss. 24, 25............................	am. No. 65, 1985
S. 26....................................	rs. No. 65, 1985
	am. No. 137, 2000
Ss. 29, 30............................	am. No. 65, 1985

Table A

Application, saving or transitional provisions

Criminal Code Amendment (Theft, Fraud, Bribery and Related Offences) Act 2000 (No. 137, 2000)

Schedule 2

418  Transitional--pre‑commencement offences

(1)        Despite the amendment or repeal of a provision by this Schedule, that provision continues to apply, after the commencement of this item, in relation to:

                     (a)  an offence committed before the commencement of this item; or

                     (b)  proceedings for an offence alleged to have been committed before the commencement of this item; or

                     (c)  any matter connected with, or arising out of, such proceedings;

as if the amendment or repeal had not been made.

(2)        Subitem (1) does not limit the operation of section 8 of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901.

419  Transitional--pre‑commencement notices

If:

                     (a)  a provision in force immediately before the commencement of this item required that a notice set out the effect of one or more other provisions; and

                     (b)  any or all of those other provisions are repealed by this Schedule; and

                     (c)  the first‑mentioned provision is amended by this Schedule;

the amendment of the first‑mentioned provision by this Schedule does not affect the validity of such a notice that was given before the commencement of this item.

Environment and Heritage Legislation Amendment (Application of Criminal Code) Act 2001 (No. 15, 2001)

4  Application of amendments

             (1)  Each amendment made by this Act applies to acts and omissions that take place after the amendment commences.

             (2)  For the purposes of this section, if an act or omission is alleged to have taken place between 2 dates, one before and one on or after the day on which a particular amendment commences, the act or omission is alleged to have taken place before the amendment commences.