{"id":"harbours-and-jetties-act-1928","name":"Harbours and Jetties Act 1928","slug":"harbours-and-jetties-act-1928","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"wa","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":30617,"registerId":"wa-harbours-and-jetties-act-1928-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-01","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Harbours and Jetties Act 1928","content":"![Crest]()Western Australia\n\nHarbours and Jetties Act 1928\n\nWestern Australia\n\nHarbours and Jetties Act 1928\n\nContents\n\n1. Short title 1\n\n2. Liability of owner or master in the case of a vessel under pilotage 1\n\nSchedule — Acts under which owner or master is liable\n\nNotes\n\nCompilation table 3\n\n  \n\nWestern Australia\n\nHarbours and Jetties Act 1928\n\nAn Act to amend the law relating to the liability of owners of ships for damage to harbours and jetties, and works connected therewith.\n\n##### 1. Short title\n\nThis Act may be cited as the *Harbours and Jetties Act 1928* 1.\n\n##### 2. Liability of owner or master in the case of a vessel under pilotage\n\nThe owner of a vessel, and the master of a vessel, shall be answerable under the provisions of the Acts set out in the schedule to this Act, for any loss or damage caused by the vessel, or by any fault of the navigation of the vessel, notwithstanding that the vessel was in charge of a pilot and that pilotage was compulsory.\n\n[Section 2 amended: No. 25 of 1940 s. 2; No. 74 of 2003 s. 63.]\n\nSchedule — Acts under which owner or master is liable\n\n[s. 2]\n\n[Heading amended: No. 19 of 2010 s. 4.]\n\nThe *Jetties Act 1926* — Section 12.\n\nThe *Port Authorities Act 1999* — Section 113.\n\n[The Schedule amended: No. 5 of 1999 s. 21 and 22.]\n\nNotes\n\n1 This is a compilation of the *Harbours and Jetties Act 1928* and includes the amendments made by the other written laws referred to in the following table. The table also contains information about any reprint.\n\nCompilation table\n\n| **Short title** | | **Number and year** | | **Assent** | | **Commencement** | |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| *Harbours and Jetties Act 1928* | | 38 of 1928 | | 28 Dec 1928 | | 28 Dec 1928 | |\n| *Harbours and Jetties Act Amendment Act 1940* | | 25 of 1940 | | 29 Nov 1940 | | 29 Nov 1940 | |\n| **Reprint of the *Harbours and Jetties Act 1928* approved 12 Jul 1960 in Volume 15 of Reprinted Acts**  (includes amendments listed above) | | | | | | | |\n| *Port Authorities (Consequential Provisions) Act 1999* s. 21 & 22 | | 5 of 1999 | | 13 Apr 1999 | | 14 Aug 1999 (see s. 2 and *Gazette* 13 Aug 1999 p. 3823) | |\n| *Statutes (Repeals and Minor Amendments) Act 2003* s. 63 | | 74 of 2003 | | 15 Dec 2003 | | 15 Dec 2003 (see s. 2) | |\n| **Reprint 2: The *Harbours and Jetties Act 1928* as at 9 Apr 2004**  (includes amendments listed above) | | | | | | | |\n| *Standardisation of Formatting Act 2010* s. 4 | 19 of 2010 | | 28 Jun 2010 | | 11 Sep 2010 (see s. 2(b) and *Gazette* 10 Sep 2010 p. 4341) | |\n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation remains tightly focused on its original 1928 purpose: preserving owner/master liability for harbour damage despite compulsory pilotage. The only amendments have been mechanical updates to reflect renamed or replaced port legislation (Jetties Act 1926 → Port Authorities Act 1999) and formatting standardisation. The core scope has not expanded."},"complexity_factors":["Extremely short statute — only 2 operative sections plus a Schedule","No definitions section — relies entirely on definitions in other Acts","Simple, unqualified liability provision with no exceptions or defences stated","Cross-references only to two external Acts via the Schedule","No conditional logic, delegated legislation, or regulatory mechanisms","Straightforward amendment history updating references to modern port legislation"],"plain_english_summary":"**What this law does:**\n\nThis short Western Australian law makes ship owners and ship masters (captains) legally responsible for damage their vessels cause to harbours, jetties, and related structures — **even when a licensed pilot is steering the ship and even when using a pilot is mandatory**.\n\n**Why it matters:**\n\nNormally, you might think \"the pilot was in control, so the pilot (or their employer) should pay for any damage.\" This law overrides that idea. It says the buck stops with the owner and master regardless of who has the wheel.\n\n**Who it affects:**\n\n- **Ship owners** — companies or individuals who own vessels using WA ports\n- **Ship masters** — the captains commanding those vessels\n- **Port authorities** — who can claim compensation under the listed laws in the Schedule\n\n**How it works:**\n\nThe law piggybacks on two other Acts (listed in the Schedule):\n- The *Jetties Act 1926* (old legislation)\n- The *Port Authorities Act 1999* (current legislation)\n\nIf a ship damages harbour infrastructure, the owner and master remain liable under these Acts even though a pilot was navigating.\n\n**In simple terms:** You can't escape responsibility for damage by saying \"but we had a pilot on board.\""},"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"A positive credit balance is required for all requests, including BYOK, so fallback providers remain available. Add credits at https://vercel.com/d?to=%2F%5Bteam%5D%2F%7E%2Fai%3Fmodal%3Dtop-up to continue.","source":"analysis-cron"},"summary":{"complexity_score":1,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"Scope cannot be assessed. No legislative text was provided — the source URL returned a 'page not found' error message rather than the content of the Harbours and Jetties Act 1928."},"complexity_factors":["No legislative content was returned — only a website error/redirect notice","Cannot assess complexity of the underlying Act without its text","Score of 1 reflects the absence of any analysable legal material, not the simplicity of the Act itself"],"plain_english_summary":"**No legislative content could be retrieved.**\n\nThe page for the *Harbours and Jetties Act 1928* (Western Australia) is no longer available at the requested web address. The Western Australian Parliamentary Counsel's Office website has undergone system upgrades that have changed the URLs for some legislation pages.\n\n**What this means for you:**\n- The actual text of this Act **could not be analysed** — only an error page was returned.\n- If you need to read or rely on this Act, visit the [Western Australian legislation website](https://www.legislation.wa.gov.au) and search directly for the *Harbours and Jetties Act 1928*.\n- If you cannot locate it, contact the Parliamentary Counsel's Office Helpdesk as suggested on the error page."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The core scope — making owners and masters liable for harbour/jetty damage despite compulsory pilotage (s.2) — remains the same. Amendments and reprints have updated cross-references in the Schedule to reflect newer statutes (eg. Port Authorities Act 1999) but have not materially altered who is liable or the primary legal effect."},"complexity_factors":["Very short primary provision (s.2) but legal effect depends on cross-references to other statutes listed in the Schedule (Jetties Act 1926 s.12; Port Authorities Act 1999 s.113).","Interpretive uncertainty over what counts as a vessel 'fault' or 'fault of the navigation' and how liability interacts with pilot conduct (requires case law or further statutory context).","Multiple historical amendments and reprints (1940, 1999, 2003, 2010) update cross-references without substantially expanding text, complicating tracing of current operative provisions.","Enforcement mechanisms and remedies are located in the linked Acts, not in this short Act, so users must consult other statutes to see procedural and damages rules.","Potential interaction with compulsory pilotage rules creates mixed incentives for shipowners, masters, pilots and insurers, requiring synthesis across regulatory regimes."],"plain_english_summary":"This Act makes the owner and the master of a vessel legally liable for any loss or damage to harbours, jetties or related works caused by the vessel or by navigational fault, even if the vessel was under compulsory pilotage (s.2). It places financial and legal responsibility on vessel operators, so they must bear costs (or insure against) damage that occurs while a pilot was in charge."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/harbours-and-jetties-act-1928","history":"/api/acts/harbours-and-jetties-act-1928/history","analysis":"/api/acts/harbours-and-jetties-act-1928/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/harbours-and-jetties-act-1928/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/harbours-and-jetties-act-1928/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/harbours-and-jetties-act-1928/documents"}}