{"id":"seacarriage-of-goods-act-1909","name":"Sea-Carriage of Goods Act 1909","slug":"sea-carriage-of-goods-act-1909","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"wa","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":110151,"registerId":"wa-seacarriage-of-goods-act-1909-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-03","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Sea-Carriage of Goods Act 1909","content":"![Crest]()Western Australia\n\nSea-Carriage of Goods Act 1909\n\nWestern Australia\n\nSea-Carriage of Goods Act 1909\n\nContents\n\n1. Short title 1\n\n2. Commencement of Act 1\n\n3. Term used: goods 1\n\n4. Application of Act 1\n\n5. Certain clauses prohibited in bills of lading 2\n\n6. Penalties 2\n\n7. Implied clauses in bills of lading 3\n\nNotes\n\nCompilation table 4\n\nDefined terms\n\n  \n\nWestern Australia\n\nSea‑Carriage of Goods Act 1909\n\nAn Act relating to the sea‑carriage of goods.\n\n##### 1. Short title\n\nThis Act may be cited as the *Sea‑Carriage of Goods Act 1909* 1.\n\n##### 2. Commencement of Act\n\nThis Act shall commence on 1 January 1910.\n\n##### 3. Term used: goods\n\nIn this Act, goods includes every description of wares, merchandise, and things, except live animals.\n\n##### 4. Application of Act\n\n(1) This Act shall apply only in relation to ships carrying goods from any place in Western Australia to some other place in Western Australia, and in relation to goods so carried, or received to be so carried, in those ships.\n\n(2) This Act shall not apply to any bill of lading or document made before 31 March 1910, in pursuance of a contract or agreement entered into before 1 September 1909.\n\n##### 5. Certain clauses prohibited in bills of lading\n\nWhere any bill of lading or document contains any clause, covenant, or agreement whereby —\n\n(a) the owner, charterer, master, or agent of any ship, or the ship itself, is relieved from liability for loss or damage to goods arising from the harmful or improper condition of the ship’s hold, or any other part of the ship in which goods are carried, or arising from negligence, fault, or failure in the proper loading, stowage, custody, care, or delivery of goods received by them or any of them to be carried in or by the ship; or\n\n(b) any obligations of the owner or charterer of any ship to exercise due diligence, and to properly man, equip, and supply the ship, to make and keep the ship seaworthy, and to make and keep the ship’s hold, refrigerating, and cool chambers, and all other parts of the ship in which goods are carried, fit and safe for their reception, carriage, and preservation, are in any wise lessened, weakened, or avoided; or\n\n(c) the obligations of the master, officers, agents, or servants of any ship to carefully handle and stow goods, and to care for, preserve, and properly deliver them, are in any wise lessened, weakened, or avoided,\n\nthat clause, covenant or agreement shall be illegal, null and void, and of no effect.\n\n##### 6. Penalties\n\nAny owner, charterer, master, or agent of a ship who —\n\n(a) inserts in any bill of lading or document any clause, covenant, or agreement declared by this Act to be illegal; or\n\n(b) makes, signs, or executes any bill of lading or document containing any clause, covenant, or agreement declared by this Act to be illegal,\n\nshall be guilty of an offence, and liable, on summary conviction, to a penalty of not exceeding $200.\n\n[Section 6 amended: No. 113 of 1965 s. 8(1).]\n\n##### 7. Implied clauses in bills of lading\n\n(1) In every bill of lading with respect to goods a warranty shall be implied that the ship shall be, at the beginning of the voyage, seaworthy in all respects and properly manned, equipped, and supplied.\n\n(2) In every bill of lading with respect to goods, unless the contrary intention appears, a clause shall be implied whereby, if the ship is at the beginning of the voyage seaworthy in all respects and properly manned, equipped, and supplied, neither the ship nor her owner, master, agent, or charterer shall be responsible for damage to or loss of the goods resulting from —\n\n(a) faults or errors in navigation; or\n\n(b) perils of the sea or navigable waters; or\n\n(c) acts of God or the King’s enemies; or\n\n(d) the inherent defect, quality, or vice of the goods; or\n\n(e) the insufficiency of package of the goods; or\n\n(f) the seizure of the goods under legal process; or\n\n(g) any act of omission of the shipper or owner of the goods, his agent or representative; or\n\n(h) saving or attempting to save life or property at sea; or\n\n(i) any deviation in saving or attempting to save life or property at sea.\n\n![dline]()\n\nNotes\n\n1 This is a compilation of the *Sea‑Carriage of Goods Act 1909* 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| *Sea‑Carriage of Goods Act 1909* | 26 of 1909 (9 Edw. VII No. 22) | 29 Oct 1909 | 1 Jan 1910 (see s. 2) |\n| *Decimal Currency Act 1965* | 113 of 1965 | 21 Dec 1965 | Act other than s. 4‑9: 21 Dec 1965 (see s. 2(1));   s. 4‑9: 14 Feb 1966 (see s. 2(2)) |\n| **Reprint of the *Sea-Carriage of Goods Act 1909* as at 2 Aug 2002**   (includes amendments listed above) | | | |\n| **Reprint 2: The *Sea-Carriage of Goods Act 1909* as at 5 Jun 2015** (includes  amendments listed above) | | | |\n\n\nDefined terms\n\n*[This is a list of terms defined and the provisions where they are defined. The list is not part of the law.]*\n\n**Defined term Provision(s)**\n\ngoods 3\n\nBy Authority: JOHN A. STRIJK, Government Printer\n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"summary":{"complexity_score":1,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"Scope cannot be assessed as no legislative text was available for analysis. The page hosting the Act has been removed from the Western Australian Parliamentary Counsel's Office website, and no content could be retrieved to determine whether the Act's scope changed over time through amendments."},"complexity_factors":["No legislative content was retrievable — the source page returned a 'page unavailable' error","Unable to assess complexity of actual provisions, definitions, or regulatory mechanisms","The 1909 vintage suggests potentially archaic drafting style if content were available, which would normally increase complexity","Interaction with federal sea-carriage legislation adds theoretical complexity but cannot be assessed without the text"],"plain_english_summary":"The Sea‑Carriage of Goods Act 1909 (WA) was a Western Australian statute—now unavailable online—that historically governed rights and duties of shipowners, cargo owners and freight operators when goods were carried by sea. It would have mattered for liability, contract terms and claim limits for lost or damaged cargo.\n\nIt may have been superseded by federal law (notably the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1991 (Cth)); check current federal law or get legal advice if you handle sea shipments to or from WA."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The Act’s substantive scope remains the original, narrow intrastate carriage remit — covering WA-to-WA sea carriage and excluding specified pre-1910 documents (s.4(1)‑(2)). Amendments shown in the compilation table and the note to s.6 reflect technical updates (currency/penalty wording) and reprints rather than a substantive expansion or narrowing of who or what the Act covers (see compilation table; note to s.6)."},"complexity_factors":["Narrow territorial and temporal application: applies only to carriage from one place in Western Australia to another (s.4(1)) and excludes certain bills/documents made before 31 March 1910 under contracts before 1 September 1909 (s.4(2)).","Clear prohibitions on exclusion clauses: any clause relieving owners/charterers/masters/agents from liability for specified faults is declared illegal and void (s.5) — low statutory ambiguity about the ban itself.","Implied obligations and exceptions: an implied warranty of seaworthiness at voyage start (s.7(1)) and an implied exception regime if the ship was seaworthy (s.7(2)) create legal effects even where not written.","Who pays / who risks penalty: owners, charterers, masters, or agents who insert or sign illegal clauses face summary conviction and a penalty not exceeding $200 (s.6).","Behavioural effects on private parties: carriers must avoid prohibited wording in bills of lading and ensure seaworthiness and proper manning/equipment at voyage start (s.5; s.7(1)).","Compliance burden on document drafting and operational standards: drafting bills of lading consistent with the Act and maintaining seaworthiness impose recurring operational and legal compliance costs (s.5; s.7).","Discretion and interpretation exposure: phrases such as 'seaworthy in all respects' and 'unless the contrary intention appears' are fact‑sensitive and likely require judicial interpretation (s.7(1)‑(2)).","Enforcement mode: summary conviction process for offences (s.6) concentrates enforcement in criminal/summary courts rather than civil claims, affecting evidentiary and procedural pathways."],"plain_english_summary":"This Act regulates bills of lading for sea carriage of goods on voyages within Western Australia. It forbids clauses that absolve owners, charterers, masters, or agents from liability for loss, damage, or negligent loading, stowage, custody or delivery, implies a warranty that the ship is seaworthy at the start of a voyage, and lists specified exceptions to liability. A summary penalty (up to $200) applies for inserting illegal clauses. The Act excludes live animals and certain pre‑1910 documents."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation remains tightly focused on its original purpose: regulating bills of lading for coastal shipping within Western Australia. The only amendment in over a century updated the penalty amount from pounds to dollars (1965). The scope has not expanded beyond domestic sea-carriage, and the core prohibitions in sections 5-7 remain unchanged from the 1909 intent."},"complexity_factors":["Only 7 operative sections covering a discrete, narrow subject matter","Single defined term ('goods' in section 3)","No cross-references to other legislation","Simple conditional structure (if clause X exists, it is void)","Straightforward penalty provision with fixed maximum","Minimal amendments over 115+ years (only one substantive amendment updating currency in 1965)"],"plain_english_summary":"This is a Western Australian law from 1909 that protects people shipping goods by sea within the state. It stops shipping companies from using unfair contract terms to avoid responsibility for damaged or lost cargo.\n\n**What it does:**\n- **Bans unfair clauses** in bills of lading (shipping contracts) that let ship owners, captains, or agents escape liability for:\n  - Damage caused by poorly maintained ship holds or storage areas\n  - Negligence in loading, storing, caring for, or delivering goods\n  - Failing to keep the ship seaworthy (safe and fit for sailing)\n  - Failing to properly staff and equip the vessel\n\n- **Makes those unfair clauses illegal** — they are automatically void and unenforceable\n\n- **Sets penalties** — up to $200 (a significant sum in 1909, updated in 1965) for anyone who tries to include these banned clauses in shipping documents\n\n- **Adds automatic protections** into every shipping contract:\n  - Ships must be seaworthy and properly equipped at the start of the voyage\n  - Ship owners ARE protected from liability for certain unavoidable risks like storms at sea, navigation errors, defective packaging, or acts of God\n\n**Who it affects:**\n- Anyone shipping goods by sea between Western Australian ports\n- Ship owners, charterers (companies leasing ships), captains, and shipping agents\n\n**Why it matters:**\nBefore this law, powerful shipping companies could force customers to sign contracts saying \"we're not responsible for anything, even if we're negligent.\" This law levels the playing field, ensuring shippers can't contract out of basic duties to care for cargo and maintain safe vessels. It's essentially consumer protection for the freight industry — though it only applies to domestic shipping within Western Australia, not international trade."},"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"},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/sea-carriage-of-goods-act-1909","history":"/api/acts/sea-carriage-of-goods-act-1909/history","analysis":"/api/acts/sea-carriage-of-goods-act-1909/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/sea-carriage-of-goods-act-1909/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/sea-carriage-of-goods-act-1909/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/sea-carriage-of-goods-act-1909/documents"}}