{"id":"F2018L00214","name":"Sea Installations Regulations 2018","slug":"sea-installations-regulations-2018","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":439511,"registerId":"F2018L00214-fast-fetch-1775955510281","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-12","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Sea Installations Regulations 2018","content":"---\nmeta-content-style-type: text/css\nmeta-content-type: application/xhtml+xml; charset=utf-8\n---\n\n?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"utf-8\" standalone=\"no\"?>\n\n![Commonwealth Coat of Arms of Australia](image.001.jpeg)\n\n \n\nSea Installations Regulations 2018\n\nI, General the Honourable Sir Peter Cosgrove AK MC (Ret’d), Governor‑General of the Commonwealth of Australia, acting with the advice of the Federal Executive Council, make the following regulations.\n\nDated 02 March 2018\n\nPeter Cosgrove\n\nGovernor‑General\n\nBy His Excellency’s Command\n\nJosh Frydenberg\n\nMinister for the Environment and Energy\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nContents\n\nPart 1—Preliminary\n\n1 Name\n\n2 Commencement\n\n3 Authority\n\n4 Schedules\n\n5 Definitions\n\n6 Cost of installing, or adding to, a sea installation\n\n7 Meaning of sea installation\n\nPart 2—Renewal of permits\n\n8 Applications to renew permits\n\nPart 3—Variations to permits\n\n9 Applications to vary permits—all sea installations\n\n10 Applications to vary permits—sea installations other than prescribed vessels\n\n11 Applications to vary permits—prescribed vessels\n\nPart 4—Other rules about fees and permits\n\n12 Maximum fees\n\n13 Time for payment of fees\n\n14 Duration of permits\n\nSchedule 1—Repeals\n\nSea Installations Regulations\n\n \n\nPart 1—Preliminary\n\n \n\n1  Name\n\n  This instrument is the Sea Installations Regulations 2018.\n\n2  Commencement\n\n (1) Each provision of this instrument specified in column 1 of the table commences, or is taken to have commenced, in accordance with column 2 of the table. Any other statement in column 2 has effect according to its terms.\n\n \n\n- Commencement information\n- Column 1 Column 2 Column 3\n- Provisions Commencement Date/Details\n- 1. The whole of this instrument The day after this instrument is registered. 8 March 2018\n\n\nNote: This table relates only to the provisions of this instrument as originally made. It will not be amended to deal with any later amendments of this instrument.\n\n (2) Any information in column 3 of the table is not part of this instrument. Information may be inserted in this column, or information in it may be edited, in any published version of this instrument.\n\n3  Authority\n\n  This instrument is made under the Sea Installations Act 1987.\n\n4  Schedules\n\n  Each instrument that is specified in a Schedule to this instrument is amended or repealed as set out in the applicable items in the Schedule concerned, and any other item in a Schedule to this instrument has effect according to its terms.\n\n5  Definitions\n\n  In this instrument:\n\nAct means the Sea Installations Act 1987.\n\ncost, in relation to an application for a permit to install, or add to, a sea installation, has the meaning given by section 6.\n\nmoorings means a structure in physical contact with the seabed, to which vessels or other floating structures may be secured.\n\npontoon means a floating structure, without the power of self‑propulsion, that is attached to moorings.\n\nprescribed pontoon means a pontoon in respect of which a relevant permission is in force.\n\nprescribed vessel means a navigable vessel that is equipped with sleeping accommodation provided on a commercial basis for more than 8 persons.\n\nrelevant permission has the same meaning as in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Regulations 1983.\n\n6  Cost of installing, or adding to, a sea installation\n\n (1) The cost of installing, or adding to, a sea installation, means the cost of constructing, transporting and installing the installation or addition.\n\n (2) Subsection (1) applies to costs incurred before and after an application is made for a permit to install or add to the sea installation.\n\n7  Meaning of sea installation\n\n  For the purposes of paragraph (r) of the definition of sea installation in subsection 4(1) of the Act, the following classes of structure are prescribed:\n\n (a) moorings;\n\n (b) navigable vessels, other than prescribed vessels or pontoons;\n\n (c) meteorological aids, or wave data recording stations, operated by the Commonwealth.\n\nPart 2—Renewal of permits\n\n \n\n8  Applications to renew permits\n\nInstallations other than prescribed vessels\n\n (1) The fee prescribed for an application to renew a permit to operate a sea installation other than a prescribed vessel is the amount worked out using the following table.\n\n \n\n- Applications to renew permits—other than prescribed vessels\n- Item If the installation cost … the amount of the fee is …\n- 1 no more than $6,000 the greater of the following:(a) 0.75% of the cost of the installation;(b) $17.\n- 2 more than $6,000 but no more than $60,000 $50 plus 0.5% of the amount by which the cost of the installation exceeded $6,000.\n- 3 more than $60,000 but no more than $250,000 $345 plus 0.2% of the amount by which the cost of the installation exceeded $60,000.\n- 4 more than $250,000 $755 plus 0.1% of the amount by which the cost of the installation exceeded $250,000.\n\n\n \n\nPrescribed vessels\n\n (2) The fee prescribed for an application to renew a permit to operate a prescribed vessel is the greater of the following amounts:\n\n (a) $17;\n\n (b) the amount worked out using the following formula:\n\n![](image.002.png)\n\nwhere:\n\nN is the maximum number of nights per year that the vessel is stated in the application as being expected to be used for the provision of sleeping accommodation on a commercial basis.\n\nP is the number of persons for whom sleeping accommodation on the vessel is provided on a commercial basis.\n\nPart 3—Variations to permits\n\n \n\n9  Applications to vary permits—all sea installations\n\n (1) The fee prescribed for an application to vary a permit to authorise additions to a sea installation is the amount worked out using the following table.\n\n \n\n- Applications to vary permits to authorise additions to sea installations\n- Item If the additions cost … the amount of the fee is …\n- 1 no more than $6,000 the greater of the following:(a) 0.75% of the cost of the additions;(b) $10.\n- 2 more than $6,000 but no more than $60,000 $50 plus 0.5% of the amount by which the cost of the additions exceeded $6,000.\n- 3 more than $60,000 but no more than $250,000 $345 plus 0.2% of the amount by which the cost of the additions exceeded $60,000.\n- 4 more than $250,000 $755 plus 0.1% of the amount by which the cost of the additions exceeded $250,000.\n\n\n \n\n (2) A fee of $100 is prescribed for an application, other than an application covered by subsection (1), to vary a permit to authorise:\n\n (a) an increase of not more than 50 in the number of members of the public permitted to visit the sea installation per day; or\n\n (b) the operation of the sea installation for another environment‑related activity.\n\n (3) The fee prescribed for an application to vary a permit to authorise the removal of part of a sea installation is the lesser of the following amounts:\n\n (a) the amount of the fee paid for the application for the permit;\n\n (b) $100.\n\n10  Applications to vary permits—sea installations other than prescribed vessels\n\n (1) This section applies to sea installations that are not prescribed vessels.\n\n (2) The fee prescribed for an application to vary a permit to authorise an increase of more than 50 in the number of members of the public permitted to visit the sea installation per day is the amount of the fee paid for the application for the permit.\n\n (3) The fee prescribed for an application to vary a permit to authorise both:\n\n (a) an increase of more than 50 in the number of members of the public permitted to visit the sea installation per day; and\n\n (b) additions to the sea installation;\n\nis the amount worked out using the following table.\n\n \n\n- Applications to vary permits to authorise increased use and additions\n- Item If the installation and the additions in total cost … the amount of the fee is …\n- 1 no more than $6,000 the greater of the following:(a) 0.75% of the cost of the additions;(b) $17.\n- 2 more than $6,000 but no more than $60,000 $50 plus 0.5% of the amount by which the cost of the additions exceeded $6,000.\n- 3 more than $60,000 but no more than $250,000 $345 plus 0.2% of the amount by which the cost of the additions exceeded $60,000.\n- 4 more than $250,000 $755 plus 0.1% of the amount by which the cost of the additions exceeded $250,000.\n\n\n \n\n11  Applications to vary permits—prescribed vessels\n\n (1) This section applies to sea installations that are prescribed vessels.\n\n (2) The fee prescribed for an application to vary a permit to authorise an increase of more than 50 in the number of members of the public permitted to visit the sea installation per day, or to stay overnight on the sea installation, is the greater of the following amounts:\n\n (a) $17;\n\n (b) the amount worked out using the following formula:\n\n![](image.002.png)\n\nwhere:\n\nN is:\n\n (a) the maximum number of nights per year on which the permit authorises the vessel to be used for the provision of sleeping accommodation on a commercial basis; or\n\n (b) if the application seeks an increase in that maximum number of nights—the number sought.\n\nP is the number of persons for whom sleeping accommodation on the vessel is provided on a commercial basis.\n\nPart 4—Other rules about fees and permits\n\n \n\n12  Maximum fees\n\n (1) The maximum fee payable for an application to renew a permit is $1,000.\n\n (2) The fee payable for a single application for 2 or more variations of a permit is the greater, or greatest, of the fees that would be payable for separate applications for the variations.\n\n13  Time for payment of fees\n\n  A fee prescribed by this instrument in respect of an application must be paid within 30 days after the application is made.\n\n14  Duration of permits\n\n (1) Subject to subsection (2), for the purposes of subparagraph 22(b)(iii) and paragraph 27(4)(c) of the Act, the period referred to in that subparagraph or paragraph is:\n\n (a) for a permit, or the renewal of a permit, to operate a sea installation other than a prescribed pontoon—5 years; or\n\n (b) for a permit, or the renewal of a permit, to operate a sea installation that is a prescribed pontoon—the period that ends on the expiration of the relevant permission that is in force for the operation or use of the pontoon.\n\n (2) This section does not apply to a permit to operate a sea installation that is a floating structure used as a residential hotel.\n\nSchedule 1—Repeals\n\n \n\nSea Installations Regulations\n\n1  The whole of the instrument\n\nRepeal the instrument.\n\n \n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation appears consistent with its original intent as a fee-setting and administrative machinery instrument under the Sea Installations Act 1987. It replaces the 1993 regulations with updated fee structures but does not expand beyond the established regulatory framework for permitting sea installations."},"complexity_factors":["Multiple overlapping categories creating conditional logic: 'sea installations' are subdivided into 'prescribed vessels' (commercial sleep-aboard boats) and 'prescribed pontoons' (GBRMP-permitted pontoons), each with different fee structures and permit durations","Tiered fee calculation tables with 4 cost brackets ($0-6k, $6k-60k, $60k-250k, $250k+) requiring percentage calculations","Mathematical formulas with variables (N for nights, P for persons) for prescribed vessel fees, including conditional definitions of N depending on whether the application seeks an increase","Cross-references to external legislation: Sea Installations Act 1987, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Regulations 1983","Nested conditions for variation fees depending on: (a) type of installation, (b) type of variation (additions vs increased visitors vs removal), (c) magnitude of change (≤50 vs >50 visitors)","Special exception for 'floating structures used as residential hotels' regarding permit duration (excluded from standard 5-year rule)"],"plain_english_summary":"These regulations set the fees, cost formulas and administrative rules for permits to operate sea installations in Australian waters — moorings, pontoons, research platforms and certain long-stationary vessels. They fix permit lengths (generally five years), include special treatment for Great Barrier Reef pontoons and commercial overnight vessels, and repeal the 1993 rules. Operators of marinas, floating accommodation, research platforms and similar installations need these permits and must pay the prescribed, tiered fees."},"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"},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"This instrument replaces and repeals the previous Sea Installations Regulations (Schedule 1) and expressly prescribes which structures fall within the Act’s definition of a sea installation (s7). It therefore alters operational scope by clarifying the classes captured and by setting specific fee, payment and duration mechanics (ss7–14), moving implementation detail from the former instrument into these regulations."},"complexity_factors":["Tiered fee schedules based on installation or addition cost with multiple breakpoints and percentage rates (ss8(1), 9(1)).","Separate fee formula for prescribed vessels based on nights and passenger capacity (ss8(2), 11(2)).","Different rules for variations depending on type of change (additions, visitor-number increases, removals) and whether the installation is a prescribed vessel or not (ss9–11).","Caps and aggregation rules: $1,000 maximum for renewal fees and multi‑variation charging (s12).","Timing and payment obligation (30 days) and interaction with application processing (s13).","Definitions and scope limits—specific classes prescribed as sea installations (moorings, most navigable vessels, Commonwealth meteorological aids) that determine who is captured (s5, s7).","Duration rules with a special rule for prescribed pontoons and an exclusion for floating residential hotels (s14).","Express repeal of the prior instrument (Schedule 1) which requires mapping prior arrangements to the new rules."],"plain_english_summary":"These regulations prescribe which structures count as ‘sea installations’ and set the fees, payment timing and permit durations for installing, operating, varying and renewing permits under the Sea Installations Act 1987. Fees generally scale with the cost of construction or additions, or with vessel occupancy, subject to a $1,000 cap on renewals; applicants must pay within 30 days and permits usually run five years (ss7–11,12–14). Larger or higher‑use installations therefore face higher direct compliance costs and applicants bear the administrative burden."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/sea-installations-regulations-2018","history":"/api/acts/sea-installations-regulations-2018/history","analysis":"/api/acts/sea-installations-regulations-2018/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/sea-installations-regulations-2018/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/sea-installations-regulations-2018/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/sea-installations-regulations-2018/documents"}}