Victorian Consolidated Legislation

Constitutional Powers (Coastal Waters) Act 1980 - SCHEDULE

AN ACT To extend the legislative powers of the States in and in relation to
coastal waters. Preamble WHEREAS, in pursuance of paragraph (xxxviii.) section
51 of the Constitution of the Commonwealth, the Parliaments of all the States
have requested the Parliament of the Commonwealth to enact an Act in, or
substantially in, the terms of this Act: BE IT THEREFORE ENACTED by the Queen,
and the Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Australia,
as follows:

1. Short title

This Act may be cited as the Coastal Waters (State Powers) Act 1979.

2. Commencement

This Act shall come into operation on a date to be fixed by Proclamation.

3. Interpretation



(1) In this Act-

adjacent area in respect of the State means, in relation to each State, the
area the boundary of which is described under the heading referring to that
State in Schedule 2 to the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1967 as in force
immediately before the commencement of this Act;

coastal waters of the State means, in relation to each State-

   (a)  the part or parts of the territorial sea of Australia that is or are
        within the adjacent area in respect of the State, other than any part
        referred to in subsection 4(2); and

   (b)  any sea that is on the landward side of any part of the territorial
        sea of Australia and is within the adjacent area in respect of the
        State but is not within the limits of the State or of a Territory.

(2) The Acts Interpretation Act 1901, in the form in which it was in force, as
amended, immediately before the day on which this Act received the Royal
Assent, applies to the interpretation of this Act.

4. Extent of territorial sea and coastal waters



(1) For the purposes of this Act, the limits of the territorial sea of
Australia shall be the limits existing from time to time, ascertained
consistently with the Seas and Submerged Lands Act 1973 and instruments under
that Act and with any agreement (whether made before or after the commencement
of this Act) for the time being in force between Australia and another country
with respect to the outer limit of a particular part of that territorial sea.

(2) If at any time the breadth of the territorial sea of Australia is
determined or declared to be greater than 3 nautical miles, references in this
Act to the coastal waters of the State do not include, in relation to any
State, any part of the territorial sea of Australia that would not be within
the limits of that territorial sea if the breadth of that territorial sea had
continued to be 3 nautical miles.

5. Legislative powers of States

The legislative powers exercisable from time to time under the constitution of
each State extend to the making of-

   (a)  all such laws of the State as could be made by virtue of those powers
        if the coastal waters of the State, as extending from time to time,
        were within the limits of the State, including laws applying in or in
        relation to the sea-bed and subsoil beneath, and the airspace above,
        the coastal waters of the State;

   (b)  laws of the State having effect in or in relation to waters within the
        adjacent area in respect of the State but beyond the outer limits of
        the coastal waters of the State, including laws applying in or in
        relation to the sea-bed and subsoil beneath, and the airspace above,
        the first-mentioned waters, being laws with respect to-

   (i)  subterranean mining from land within the limits of the State; or

   (ii) ports, harbours and other shipping facilities, including
        installations, and dredging and other works, relating thereto, and
        other coastal works; and

   (c)  laws of the State with respect to fisheries in Australian waters
        beyond the outer limits of the coastal waters of the State, being laws
        applying to or in relation to those fisheries only to the extent to
        which those fisheries are, under an arrangement to which the
        Commonwealth and the State are parties, to be managed in accordance
        with the laws of the State.



6. International status of territorial sea

Nothing in this Act affects the status of the territorial sea of Australia
under international law or the rights and duties of the Commonwealth in
relation to ensuring the observance of international law, including the
provisions of international agreements binding on the Commonwealth and, in
particular, the provisions of the Convention on the Territorial Sea and the
Contiguous Zone relating to the right of innocent passage of ships.

7. Savings

Nothing in this Act shall be taken to-

   (a)  extend the limits of any State;

   (b)  derogate from any power existing, apart from this Act, to make laws of
        a State having extra-territorial effect; or

   (c)  give any force or effect to a provision of a law of a State to the
        extent of any inconsistency with a law of the Commonwealth or with the
        Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia or the Commonwealth of
        Australia Constitution Act.

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