{"id":"sa:constitutional-powers-coastal-waters-act-1979","name":"Constitutional Powers (Coastal Waters) Act 1979","slug":"sa-constitutional-powers-coastal-waters-act-1979","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"sa","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":438054,"registerId":"sa:constitutional-powers-coastal-waters-act-1979-seed-1775954630130-rjlcs2","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-12","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Constitutional Powers (Coastal Waters) Act 1979","content":"South Australia\nConstitutional Powers (Coastal Waters) Act 1979\nAn Act to request the Parliament of the Commonwealth to enact an Act to extend the legislative powers of the States in and in relation to coastal waters.\n\nContents\nPreamble\n1\tShort title\n2\tRequest for enactment of Commonwealth Act\nSchedule\nLegislative history\n\n\nPreamble\nWHEREAS it has been agreed between the Government of the Commonwealth and the Governments of the States of Australia that the legislative powers of the States in and in relation to coastal waters should be extended by an Act of Parliament of the Commonwealth enacted at the request of the Parliaments of the States in pursuance of paragraph (xxxviii.) of section 51 of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia:\n\nThe Parliament of South Australia enacts as follows:\n1—Short title\nThis Act may be cited as the Constitutional Powers (Coastal Waters) Act 1979.\n2—Request for enactment of Commonwealth Act\nThe Parliament requests the enactment by the Parliament of the Commonwealth of an Act in, or substantially in, the terms set out in the Schedule.\nSchedule\n\t\nAn Act to extend the legislative powers of the States in and in relation to coastal waters.\n\tPreamble\nWHEREAS, in pursuance of paragraph (xxxviii.) of 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:\n\t\nBe it therefore enacted by the Queen, and the Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Australia, as follows:\n1—Short title\nThis Act may be cited as the Coastal Waters (State Powers) Act 1979.\n2—Commencement\nThis Act shall come into operation on a date to be fixed by Proclamation.\n3—Interpretation\n\t(1)\tIn this Act—\nadjacent 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;\ncoastal waters of the State means, in relation to each State—\n\t(a)\tthe 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\t(b)\tany 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\t(2)\tThe 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.\n4—Extent of territorial sea and coastal waters\n\t(1)\tFor 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.\n\t(2)\tIf at any time the breadth of the territorial sea of Australia is determined or declared to be greater than 3 international 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 international nautical miles.\n5—Legislative powers of States\nThe legislative powers exercisable from time to time under the constitution of each State extend to the making of—\n\t(a)\tall 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\t(b)\tlaws 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\t(i)\tsubterranean mining from land within the limits of the State; or\n\t(ii)\tports, harbours and other shipping facilities, including installations, and dredging and other works, relating thereto, and other coastal works; and\n\t(c)\tlaws 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.\n6—International status of territorial sea\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.\n7—Savings\nNothing in this Act shall be taken to—\n\t(a)\textend the limits of any State;\n\t(b)\tderogate from any power existing, apart from this Act, to make laws of a State having extra-territorial effect; or\n\t(c)\tgive 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.\nLegislative history\nNotes\n\t•\tFor further information relating to the Act and subordinate legislation made under the Act see the Index of South Australian Statutes or www.legislation.sa.gov.au.\nPrincipal Act\nYear\nNo\nTitle\nAssent\nCommencement\n1979\n68\nConstitutional Powers (Coastal Waters) Act 1979\n16.11.1979\n16.11.1979\n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]},"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"},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":6,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The Act does not change scope from its stated original purpose. It is a State request that the Commonwealth enact a model Act (the Schedule) to extend State legislative powers over adjacent coastal waters (Schedule, s.1; s.2 of the principal Act). The schedule itself sets definitions, limits (including international-law and Commonwealth-law savings) and specific subject areas for State laws (Schedule, ss.3–7), consistent with the Preamble's stated aim."},"complexity_factors":["Constitutional mechanism: relies on paragraph (xxxviii.) of s.51 and a formal request from State Parliaments (Preamble; s.2)","Layered statutory definitions and cross-references: 'adjacent area' and 'coastal waters' refer to Schedule 2 of the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1967 and the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 for interpretation (Schedule, s.3(1); s.3(2))","Interaction with other Commonwealth instruments: territorial sea limits tied to the Seas and Submerged Lands Act 1973 and international agreements (Schedule, s.4(1))","Conditional limits and exceptions: clause excluding parts if breadth exceeds 3 nautical miles and savings preserving state boundaries and Commonwealth supremacy (Schedule, s.4(2); s.7(a)–(c))","Overlap and allocation of regulatory competence: extends State powers to seabed, subsoil and airspace and to certain fisheries/ports/mining activities, creating potential overlap with Commonwealth laws and requiring intergovernmental arrangements (Schedule, s.5(a)–(c))","Preservation of international obligations and executive responsibility for international law observance, limiting State action (Schedule, s.6)","Commencement by proclamation adds administrative discretion about when new regime starts (Schedule, s.2)"],"plain_english_summary":"This Act asks the Commonwealth Parliament to pass a law that extends State law-making so States can make and apply their laws to coastal waters adjacent to them (including the seabed, subsoil and airspace). It defines the coastal-waters area, preserves international-law obligations and Commonwealth supremacy, and sets limits on how far State laws can reach. It matters to States, the Commonwealth, and businesses and people using or operating in coastal waters because it decides which level of government can regulate those activities."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation remains tightly focused on its original purpose: requesting Commonwealth legislation to extend State legislative powers over coastal waters. The scope has not expanded beyond this specific constitutional mechanism and the substantive provisions in the Schedule directly address only coastal waters, seabed mining, ports, and fisheries as originally contemplated."},"complexity_factors":["Nested definitions: 'coastal waters' depends on 'adjacent area' which depends on Schedule 2 of a separate Commonwealth Act (Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1967)","Temporal conditionality in section 4(1): limits of territorial sea are dynamic ('existing from time to time') and must be ascertained consistently with multiple external instruments","Hypothetical counterfactual in section 4(2): applies a 'what if' test (if territorial sea were still 3 nautical miles) to exclude certain waters if Australia expands its territorial sea beyond that","Cross-references to constitutional provisions (Constitution s 51(xxxviii)) and multiple Commonwealth Acts (Seas and Submerged Lands Act 1973, Acts Interpretation Act 1901, Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1967)","Savings provisions in section 7 create three separate negative limitations that must be read alongside the positive grants of power","The Schedule contains a complete mirror Act with its own interpretation section and commencement mechanism, effectively nesting one statute within another"],"plain_english_summary":"This is a reference request: South Australia asks the Australian Parliament to enact the Coastal Waters (State Powers) Act 1979 so States can make laws for coastal waters (about 3 nautical miles), the seabed, airspace and nearby offshore activities. \n\nIt affects State governments, coastal businesses (fishing, ports, offshore mining, shipping) and the Commonwealth — clarifying State regulatory power while preserving Commonwealth primacy and international obligations, and not extending State territorial borders."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/sa-constitutional-powers-coastal-waters-act-1979","history":"/api/acts/sa-constitutional-powers-coastal-waters-act-1979/history","analysis":"/api/acts/sa-constitutional-powers-coastal-waters-act-1979/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/sa-constitutional-powers-coastal-waters-act-1979/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/sa-constitutional-powers-coastal-waters-act-1979/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/sa-constitutional-powers-coastal-waters-act-1979/documents"}}