Commonwealth Consolidated Acts Commonwealth Consolidated Acts(1) This section explains the agreement known as the Offshore Constitutional Settlement, to the extent to which that agreement relates to exploring for, and exploiting, petroleum.
(2) The Commonwealth, the States and the Northern Territory have agreed that:
(a) Commonwealth offshore petroleum legislation should be limited to the area that is outside the coastal waters of the States and the Northern Territory; and
(b) for this purpose, the outer limits of State and Northern Territory coastal waters should start 3 nautical miles from the baseline of the territorial sea; and
(c) the States and the Northern Territory should share, in the manner provided by this Act, in the administration of the Commonwealth offshore petroleum legislation; and
(d) State and Northern Territory offshore petroleum legislation should apply to State and Northern Territory coastal waters; and
(e) the Commonwealth, the States and the Northern Territory should try to maintain, as far as practicable, common principles, rules and practices in regulating and controlling the exploration for, and exploitation of, offshore petroleum beyond the baseline of Australia's territorial sea.
(3) The table summarises other Acts that provide background to the Offshore Constitutional Settlement:
Other Acts | ||
Item | Act | Summary of Act |
1 | This Act: (a) declared and enacted 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; and (b) gave the Governor - General power to declare, by Proclamation, the limits of the territorial sea; and (c) declared and enacted 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; and (d) declared and enacted 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; and (e) gave the Governor - General power to declare, by Proclamation, the limits of the continental shelf of Australia. | |
2 | This Act was enacted following a request from the Parliaments of all the States under paragraph 51(xxxviii) of the Constitution of the Commonwealth and provided that the legislative powers exercisable under the Constitution of each State extended to the making of certain laws that would operate offshore. | |
3 | This Act makes similar provision to the Coastal Waters (State Powers) Act 1980 in relation to the Northern Territory. | |
4 | This Act vested in each State certain property rights in the seabed beneath the coastal waters of the State. | |
5 | This Act makes similar provision to the Coastal Waters (State Title) Act 1980 in relation to the Northern Territory. | |
6 | This Act makes provision, based on the Offshore Constitutional Settlement, for the licensing regime that applies to the exploration for, and recovery of, minerals (other than petroleum) in offshore areas. | |