Victorian Current Acts Victorian Current ActsPreamble
In accordance with international law, Australia as a coastal State has sovereign rights over the continental shelf beyond the limits of Australian territorial waters for the purpose of exploiting it and exploiting its natural resources.
The Seas and Submerged Lands Act 1973 of the Commonwealth declared and enacted that the sovereignty in respect of the territorial sea of Australia, its seabed and subsoil, certain internal waters of Australia, the airspace over those waters and the seabed and subsoil beneath those waters, is vested in and exercisable by the Crown in right of the Commonwealth.
The Parliaments of the States and the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory have certain legislative powers in respect of the seabed and subsoil referred to in the preceding recital and the Parliament of the Commonwealth has vested in the Crown in right of each of the States and the Crown in right of the Northern Territory certain proprietary rights in respect of that seabed and subsoil.
It has been agreed between the Commonwealth, the States and the Northern Territory 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.
This agreement is known as the Offshore Constitutional Settlement. Various Acts of the Commonwealth affect the Offshore Constitutional Settlement.
Arrangements for offshore petroleum beyond the outer limits of State and
Northern Territory coastal waters are set out in the Offshore Petroleum and
Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006 of the Commonwealth. Arrangements for offshore
petroleum within the outer limits of Victorian coastal waters are set out in
the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1982 . It is expedient to amend the law
relating to Victorian coastal waters.
The Parliament of Victoria therefore enacts:
Chapter 1—Introduction