Commonwealth Consolidated Acts

PROTECTION OF THE SEA (PREVENTION OF POLLUTION FROM SHIPS) ACT 1983 - SECT 3

             (1)  In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears:

"Antarctic Area" means the sea area south of 60º south latitude.

"Antarctic Protocol" means the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty.

"approved form" means a form approved by the Authority under section 3A.

"Australia" includes the external Territories.

"Australian ship" means:

                     (a)  a ship registered in Australia; or

                     (b)  an unregistered ship having Australian nationality.

"Authority" means the Australian Maritime Safety Authority established by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority Act 1990 .

"exclusive economic zone" means the exclusive economic zone, within the meaning of the Seas and Submerged Lands Act 1973 , adjacent to the coast of Australia or the coast of an external Territory.

"foreign ship" means a ship that is not an Australian ship.

"inspector" means a person who:

                     (a)  is a surveyor for the purpose of the   Navigation Act 1912 ; or

                    (aa)  is a member or a special member of the Australian Federal Police; or

                     (b)  is appointed by the Authority, in writing, to be an inspector for the purposes of this Act.

"Law of the Sea Convention" means the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea done at Montego Bay on 10 December 1982.

"master" , in relation to a ship, means the person having command or charge of the ship.

"State" includes the Northern Territory.

"territorial sea" means the territorial sea of Australia.

"the Convention" means the 1973 Convention as modified and added to by the 1978 Protocol.

the 1973 Convention means the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973, as corrected by the Proces-Verbal of Rectification dated 13 June 1978, and as affected by any amendments (other than an amendment that has not entered force for Australia) made under Article 16 of the Convention.

the 1978 Protocol means the Protocol of 1978 relating to the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973, being the Protocol as affected by any amendments (other than an amendment that has not entered force for Australia) made under Article VI of the Protocol.

"the regulations" , except in sections 33 and 34 or to the extent that the regulations provide otherwise, includes orders made under section 34.

"this Act" includes the regulations and orders made under section 34.

"Tonnage Measurement Convention" has the same meaning as in Part XA of the Navigation Act 1912 .

          (1A)  A reference in this Act to the sea near a State shall be read as a reference to:

                     (a)  the territorial sea of Australia adjacent to the State; and

                     (b)  the sea on the landward side of the territorial sea of Australia adjacent to the State.

       (1AA)  A reference in this Act to the sea near the Jervis Bay Territory shall be read as a reference to the sea in that Territory.

          (1B)  A reference in this Act to the sea near an external Territory shall be read as a reference to:

                     (a)  the territorial sea adjacent to the Territory; and

                     (b)  the sea on the landward side of the territorial sea adjacent to the Territory.

        (1BA)  For the purposes of this Act, the laws of the Jervis Bay Territory shall be taken to include laws, other than this Act, in force in that Territory.

             (2)  A reference in a section of this Act to a prescribed officer is a reference to the Authority or such person, or the holder of such office in the Authority, as is prescribed for the purposes of that section.

             (3)  Except in so far as the contrary intention appears, an expression that is used in this Act and in the Convention, otherwise than in an annex to the Convention, (whether or not a particular meaning is assigned to it by the Convention) has, in this Act, the same meaning as in the Convention.

             (4)  Where, at any time, the gross tonnage applicable to a ship has been determined otherwise than in accordance with the Tonnage Measurement Convention, then, in the application of this Act to the ship at that time, a reference in this Act to the gross tonnage of a ship not expressed in tons shall be taken to be a reference to the gross tonnage of the ship expressed in tons.