{"id":"nsw:act-1979-138","name":"Constitutional Powers (Coastal Waters) Act 1979","slug":"constitutional-powers-coastal-waters-act-1979","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"nsw","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":"138 of 1979","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":108180,"registerId":"nsw-act-1979-138-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-03","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Name of Act","content":"#### 1 Name of Act\n\n1 Name of Act\n\n> This Act may be cited as the [Constitutional Powers (Coastal Waters) Act 1979](/view/html/inforce/current/act-1979-138).","sortOrder":0},{"sectionNumber":"2","sectionType":"section","heading":"Request for enactment of Commonwealth Act","content":"#### 2 Request for enactment of Commonwealth Act\n\n2 Request for enactment of Commonwealth Act\n\n> The Parliament requests the enactment by the Parliament of the Commonwealth of an Act in, or substantially in, the terms set out in Schedule 1.","sortOrder":1},{"sectionNumber":"Schedule 1","sectionType":"schedule","heading":"AN ACT","content":"# Schedule 1 AN ACT\n\nSchedule 1\n\nSection 2\n\n**AN ACT**\n\nTo extend the legislative powers of the States in and in relation to coastal waters\n\n**Preamble**\n\nWHEREAS, in pursuance of paragraph (xxxviii) of section 51 of the [Constitution of the Commonwealth](http://www.legislation.gov.au/), 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:\n\nBE IT THEREFORE ENACTED by the Queen, and the Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Australia, as follows:\n\n**1.**\n\n**Short title**\n\nThis Act may be cited as the [Coastal Waters (State Powers) Act 1979](http://www.legislation.gov.au/).\n\n**2.**\n\n**Commencement**\n\nThis Act shall come into operation on a date to be fixed by Proclamation.\n\n**3.**\n\n**Interpretation**\n\n> **(1)**\n> \n> In this Act:\n> \n> **“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](http://www.legislation.gov.au/) as in force immediately before the commencement of this Act;\n> \n> **“coastal waters of the State”** means, in relation to each State:\n> \n> > (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 sub-section 4 (2); and\n> \n> > (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.\n\n> (2)\n> \n> The [Acts Interpretation Act 1901](http://www.legislation.gov.au/), 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.\n\n**4.**\n\n**Extent of territorial sea and coastal waters**\n\n> **(1)**\n> \n> 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](http://www.legislation.gov.au/) 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.\n\n> **(2)**\n> \n> 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.\n\n**5.**\n\n**Legislative powers of States**\n\nThe legislative powers exercisable from time to time under the constitution of each State extend to the making of:\n\n> (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;\n\n> (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:\n> \n> > (i) subterranean mining from land within the limits of the State; or\n> \n> > (ii) ports, harbours and other shipping facilities, including installations, and dredging and other works, relating thereto, and other coastal works; and\n\n> (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.\n\n**6.**\n\n**International status of territorial sea**\n\nNothing 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.\n\n**7.**\n\n**Savings**\n\nNothing in this Act shall be taken to:\n\n> (a) extend the limits of any State;\n\n> (b) derogate from any power existing, apart from this Act, to make laws of a State having extra-territorial effect; or\n\n> (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.","sortOrder":2}],"analysis":{"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"Unauthenticated. Configure AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY or use a provider module. Learn more: https://ai-sdk.dev/unauthenticated-ai-gateway","source":"analysis-cron"},"summary":{"complexity_score":6,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The Act has remained in its original form since commencement on 28 November 1979 with no amendments recorded. It appears to have operated as intended — as a foundational constitutional instrument confirming NSW's powers over adjacent coastal waters as part of a cooperative Commonwealth-state arrangement. There is no evidence of scope creep or narrowing."},"complexity_factors":["Rooted in Australian constitutional law, which requires understanding of the federal division of powers under the Constitution","Requires knowledge of the High Court's Seas and Submerged Lands case (1975) to understand the Act's purpose","Interacts with Commonwealth legislation (Coastal Waters (State Powers) Act 1980) and equivalent state laws in a cooperative federal framework","Deals with abstract concepts of legislative and executive jurisdiction rather than straightforward rules of conduct","The actual substantive content of the Act is not reproduced in the provided text, making full analysis impossible from the source material alone","Involves international law concepts such as territorial sea boundaries (three nautical miles/12 nautical miles) which underpin the constitutional settlement","The Act has never been amended, suggesting it serves a foundational/constitutional role rather than an operational one, which can make its practical effect less obvious"],"plain_english_summary":"The Constitutional Powers (Coastal Waters) Act 1979 is an NSW response to High Court uncertainty about who controlled the sea adjacent to the shore. As part of a national package, it restores and confirms NSW’s authority to make and apply laws in coastal waters (generally to three nautical miles), allowing the state to regulate fishing, shipping, resource use and environmental protection. It affects operators, industries and agencies working in near‑shore waters by ensuring NSW laws validly apply there."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation remains tightly focused on its original purpose: clarifying and extending state legislative powers over coastal waters through the specific constitutional mechanism of state referral. It has not expanded beyond this maritime federalism framework."},"complexity_factors":["Nested definitions: 'coastal waters' depends on 'adjacent area', which depends on Schedule 2 of the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1967, creating a chain of cross-references","Temporal conditionality: References to laws 'as in force immediately before commencement' and 'from time to time' create multiple time-based reference points","Geospatial complexity: The 3-nautical-mile limit vs. potential broader territorial sea claims creates a conditional exclusion in section 4(2)","Dual-layer structure: The Act is a request for another Act (Schedule 1), creating a meta-legislative framework where the substantive content is in the requested Commonwealth legislation","Specific exceptions in section 5(b) and (c) limiting state powers to particular subject matters (subterranean mining, ports/harbours, fisheries with agreements) beyond the 3-mile zone"],"plain_english_summary":"This legislation is a **request from the NSW Parliament to the Australian Federal Parliament** asking it to pass a law that gives Australian states more power over their coastal waters.\n\n**What it does:**\n\n*   **The Problem:** Under Australia's Constitution, the Federal Government (Commonwealth) has power over the sea, but states traditionally only had power over land within their borders. Before 1979, it was unclear if states could make laws about things happening in the water up to 3 nautical miles from the coast (the \"territorial sea\").\n\n*   **The Solution:** This Act asks the Federal Parliament to pass the *Coastal Waters (State Powers) Act 1979*, which would:\n    *   Let states make laws for the water, seabed, and airspace up to 3 nautical miles from their coasts (called \"coastal waters\"), as if that water were actually land within the state.\n    *   Allow states to regulate certain activities beyond that 3-mile limit, specifically:\n        *   Undersea mining that starts from land within the state.\n        *   Ports, harbours, shipping facilities, and coastal works.\n        *   Fisheries management (but only where there's a specific agreement between the state and the Commonwealth).\n\n*   **Important Limits:**\n    *   If Australia ever claims territorial waters beyond 3 nautical miles (which it later did, extending to 12 miles), the states don't automatically get power over that extra area.\n    *   Federal law still wins if there's a conflict between state and federal laws.\n    *   This doesn't actually change the map or expand the physical boundaries of any state.\n    *   Australia's international obligations (like allowing innocent passage of foreign ships) are protected.\n\n**Who it affects:**\n\n*   **State governments** – gain clearer authority to regulate offshore activities like fishing, ports, and coastal development.\n*   **Businesses and individuals** – operating in coastal waters (fishing, shipping, mining, tourism) become subject to state laws in addition to federal laws.\n\n**Why it matters:**\nThis is a classic example of **cooperative federalism** – the states working together to ask the Commonwealth to use a specific constitutional power (Section 51(xxxviii), which lets the Commonwealth legislate on matters referred by the states) to clarify who makes the rules for Australia's coastline. It settled a long-standing uncertainty about whether states could police their own backyards (or rather, their own shorelines)."},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":5,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"No. The Act's operative effect, as drafted, is to extend State legislative authority over coastal waters and specified adjacent areas while explicitly not altering State boundaries, not affecting Commonwealth international obligations, and preserving inconsistency rules (see s.5, s.6 and s.7)."},"complexity_factors":["Cross-references to other legislation that must be read with this Act (Seas and Submerged Lands Act 1973 cited in s.4; Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1967 referenced in s.3(1)).","Definitions that depend on external schedules and changing geographic limits (the term \"adjacent area\" tied to Schedule 2 of the Petroleum Act; s.3(1)).","Dynamic territorial limits: the Act applies to limits \"from time to time\" and contains a 3-nautical-mile preservation rule that requires tracking later legal or declaratory changes (s.4(1)–(2)).","Broad grant of State legislative competence with potential overlap with Commonwealth powers and extraterritorial effect (scope of State laws in s.5(a)–(c)).","Interaction with international law and navigation rights which the Commonwealth must protect, creating intergovernmental coordination needs (s.6).","Savings and inconsistency clauses that preserve Commonwealth supremacy and existing extraterritorial powers, requiring constitutional interpretation when conflicts arise (s.7(b)–(c)).","Operational detail such as commencement by proclamation (s.2) and the request-for-enactment mechanism (main Act s.2 and Schedule 1) introduce implementation timing and federal-process dependencies.","Targeted delegations (for fisheries under intergovernmental arrangements, s.5(c)) create conditional regulatory regimes contingent on agreements."],"plain_english_summary":"This Act extends State parliaments' power to make laws applying to their coastal waters, seabed, subsoil and airspace, and to certain adjacent sea areas, treating those waters as if they lay within the State. It affects State governments and businesses operating in ports, fisheries, offshore mining and coastal infrastructure by shifting regulatory authority (and compliance costs) toward States while preserving Commonwealth international obligations and constitutional supremacy."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/constitutional-powers-coastal-waters-act-1979","history":"/api/acts/constitutional-powers-coastal-waters-act-1979/history","analysis":"/api/acts/constitutional-powers-coastal-waters-act-1979/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/constitutional-powers-coastal-waters-act-1979/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/constitutional-powers-coastal-waters-act-1979/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/constitutional-powers-coastal-waters-act-1979/documents"}}