New South Wales Consolidated Acts

OFFSHORE MINERALS ACT 1999 - SECT 3

3 Commonwealth-State agreement (the Offshore Constitutional Settlement)

(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 the Offshore Minerals Act 1994 of the Commonwealth, 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 this State’s legislation by the Petroleum (Offshore) Act 1982 .

Note: Some sections of the Commonwealth Act contain provisions that are not relevant to the operation of this Act. To keep uniformity between this Act and the Commonwealth Act the numbers of the sections that are not relevant have not been used in the numbering of this Act.

(2) Other Acts that provide background in this State to the agreement (commonly referred to as the “Offshore Constitutional Settlement”) are:

(a) the Seas and Submerged Lands Act 1973 , the Coastal Waters (State Powers) Act 1980 , the Coastal Waters (State Title) Act 1980 and the Offshore Petroleum Act 2006 of the Commonwealth, and

(b) the Petroleum (Offshore) Act 1982 of this State.

Note: The Seas and Submerged Lands Act 1973 :

• declares and enacts 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, gives the Governor-General power to declare, by Proclamation, the limits of the territorial sea, declares and enacts 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, declares and enacts 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,

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

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

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

Note: The Offshore Petroleum Act 2006 of the Commonwealth and the Petroleum (Offshore) Act 1982 of this State make 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 coastal waters and offshore areas of this State.