Commonwealth Numbered Acts

MINERALS (SUBMERGED LANDS) ACT 1981 No. 81, 1981 - SECT 79

79. (1) The Designated Authority may, at any time, make available to a
Minister or a Minister of State of a State -

   (a)  any information in a record, or in a report, return or other document,
        that has been furnished to the Designated Authority under this Part,
        being information that relates to a part of the adjacent area; and

   (b)  any cores or cuttings from, or samples of, the sea-bed or subsoil of
        the adjacent area that have been so furnished to the
        Designated Authority.

(2) The Designated Authority shall, as and when required by the Commonwealth
Minister, make available to the Commonwealth Minister any information or thing
referred to in sub-section (1) and copies of any correspondence with, or
document received or issued by, the Designated Authority in connection with
this Act.

(3) The Designated Authority or a Minister may, at any time after the relevant
day -

   (a)  make publicly known; or

   (b)  on request by a person, make available to that person, any information
        in a record, or in a report, return or other document, that has been
        furnished to the Designated Authority or has been made available to
        that Minister under sub-section (1) or (2), being information that
        relates to the seabed or subsoil in a part of the adjacent area, but
        not including any matter in the record, or in the report, return or
        other document, that, in the opinion of the Designated Authority or
        that Minister, is a conclusion drawn, in whole or in part, from, or an
        opinion based, in whole or in part, on, any such information.

(4) The Designated Authority or a Minister may, at any time after the relevant
day -

   (a)  make publicly known any particulars of; or

   (b)  on request by a person, permit that person to inspect, any cores or
        cuttings from, or samples of, the sea-bed or subsoil in a part of
        the adjacent area that have been furnished to the Designated Authority
        or have been made available to that Minister under sub-section (1) or
        (2).

(5) Where the registered holder of a permit, licence or works authority who
has furnished to the Designated Authority a record, or a report, return, other
document, core, cutting or sample, referred to in sub-section (1) has, before
the relevant day -

   (a)  made publicly known any information contained in the record, or in the
        report, return or other document, or consented in writing to any of
        that information being made publicly known; or

   (b)  made publicly known any particulars of that core, cutting or sample,
        or has consented in writing to any particulars of that core, cutting
        or sample being made publicly known or to that core, cutting or sample
        being made available for inspection, the Designated Authority or a
        Minister to whom that information or those particulars have been made
        available under sub-section (1) or (2) may, at any time after that
        information has, or those particulars have, been made publicly known
        or after that consent has been given -

   (c)  make that information available to any other person; or

   (d)  make those particulars available to any other person or permit any
        other person to inspect that core, cutting or sample, as the case may
        be.

(6) For the purposes of sub-section (3), (4) and (5), the relevant day is -

   (a)  the last day of the period of 12 months that commenced on the day on
        which the record, or the report, return, other document, core, cutting
        or sample, was furnished to the Designated Authority;

   (b)  the last day of the period of 12 months that commenced on the day on
        which, in the opinion of the Designated Authority, the work or
        operation in connection with which the record, or the report, return,
        other document, core, cutting or sample, was furnished was completed;
        or

   (c)  the last day of the term of the permit, licence or works authority
        that relates to the block or blocks in, on or above which, or to the
        part of the adjacent area in which, was carried out the work or
        operation in connection with which the record, or the report, return,
        other document, core, cutting or sample, was furnished, whichever is
        the earliest.

(7) Notwithstanding sub-sections (3) and (4), the Designated Authority, a
Minister or a Minister of State of a State may, at any time, make available to
any person -

   (a)  any information in a record, or in a report, return or other document,
        that has been furnished to the Designated Authority in accordance with
        an instrument under section 74, being information that relates to a
        part of the adjacent area; and

   (b)  any cores or cuttings from, or samples of, the sea-bed or subsoil in a
        part of the adjacent area that have been so furnished to the
        Designated Authority.

(8) Except as provided by the preceding provisions of this section or for the
purposes of the administration of this Act, an associated Act or the
regulations, the Designated Authority or a Minister to whom any information,
core, cutting or sample has been made available under sub-section (1) or (2)
shall not -

   (a)  make publicly known, or make available to any person, any information
        contained in a record, or in a report, return or other document,
        referred to in any of those provisions; or

   (b)  make publicly known or available any particulars of, or permit any
        person to inspect, any core, cutting or sample so referred to.

(9) In this section, a reference to a core, cutting or sample includes a
reference to a portion of a core, cutting or sample.