{"id":"F2024L00425","name":"Work Health and Safety (Operation Sovereign Borders) Declaration 2024","slug":"work-health-and-safety-operation-sovereign-borders-declaration-2024","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":105163,"registerId":"commonwealth-F2024L00425-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-03","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Name","content":"#### 1 Name\n\n  This instrument is the Work Health and Safety (Operation Sovereign Borders) Declaration 2024.","sortOrder":0},{"sectionNumber":"2","sectionType":"section","heading":"Commencement","content":"#### 2 Commencement\n\n  This instrument commences on the day after the instrument is registered.","sortOrder":1},{"sectionNumber":"3","sectionType":"section","heading":"Authority","content":"#### 3 Authority\n\n  This instrument is made under subsection 12D(2) of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011.","sortOrder":2},{"sectionNumber":"4","sectionType":"section","heading":"Definitions","content":"#### 4 Definitions\n\n  In this instrument:\n\n> Act means the Work Health and Safety Act 2011.\n\n> illegal maritime arrival means:\n\n    (a) an unauthorised maritime arrival; or\n    (b) a person who would be an unauthorised maritime arrival if the person enters Australia.\n\n> unauthorised maritime arrival has the same meaning as in the Migration Act 1958.","sortOrder":3},{"sectionNumber":"5","sectionType":"section","heading":"Provisions of Act declared not to apply to specified activity","content":"#### 5 Provisions of Act declared not to apply to specified activity\n\n  (1) For subsection 12D(2) of the Act, the following provisions of the Act do not apply in relation to an activity mentioned in subsection (2) or (3):\n    (a) paragraphs 28(a) and (b);\n    (b) paragraphs 29(a) and (b);\n    (c) section 39.\n  (2) An activity is the interception, boarding, control or movement, under Operation Sovereign Borders, of a vessel suspected of carrying an illegal maritime arrival as part of:\n    (a) deciding whether to move the vessel to a place outside Australia; or\n    (b) moving the vessel to a place outside Australia.\n  (3) An activity is the control or movement at sea, under Operation Sovereign Borders, of a person suspected of being an illegal maritime arrival as part of:\n    (a) deciding whether to move the person to a place outside Australia; or\n    (b) moving the person to a place outside Australia; or\n    (c) moving the person to or from a vessel in the course of paragraph (a) or (b).\n  (4) However, the transfer or movement of a person suspected of being an illegal maritime arrival to an offshore regional processing centre is not part of an activity described in subsection (2) or (3).\n\n  \n\nSchedule 1—Repeals\n\nWork Health and Safety (Operation Sovereign Borders) Declaration 2013\n\n1 The whole of the instrument\n\nRepeal the instrument","sortOrder":4}],"analysis":{"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The instrument maintains the same narrow, targeted scope as its 2013 predecessor. It applies only to specific maritime interception activities under Operation Sovereign Borders and explicitly excludes offshore processing centre transfers. There is no expansion beyond the original purpose of exempting border protection operations from standard WHS consultation and notification requirements."},"complexity_factors":["Very short instrument (only 5 substantive sections plus repeal schedule)","Minimal defined terms (only 3 definitions, all straightforward)","Simple conditional structure: basic exemption with single carve-out in subsection (4)","No cross-references beyond the enabling Act and Migration Act 1958 for one defined term","Clear, linear drafting with no nested exceptions or complex temporal provisions"],"plain_english_summary":"This instrument carves out certain Work Health and Safety Act 2011 obligations for Australian personnel (ADF, Border Force and other staff) carrying out Operation Sovereign Borders activities at sea — intercepting, boarding, controlling or returning boats and people suspected of being illegal maritime arrivals. It suspends worker consultation, health-and-safety representative election and serious-incident notification duties during those operations, but not once people are transferred to offshore processing centres.\n\nThe change prioritises operational speed and secrecy over normal workplace safety processes."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"This instrument repeals the 2013 Declaration (Schedule 1) and re‑states a targeted non‑application of specific WHS duties to OSB maritime interception, boarding, control and movement activities when deciding or moving vessels or people to places outside Australia (see s5(1)–(3)). It also adds an explicit exclusion that the transfer or movement to an offshore regional processing centre is not within that non‑application (see s5(4)), changing the legal boundary compared with having only the earlier instrument in force."},"complexity_factors":["Narrow, technical carve‑out of specific WHS duties (paras 28(a),(b); 29(a),(b); s39) rather than wholesale repeal — requires users to map duties precisely (see s5(1)).","Relies on defined term 'illegal maritime arrival' which itself depends on the Migration Act 1958 (see s4), creating cross‑statute dependency.","Scope defined by specific activities (interception, boarding, control, movement) and purposes (deciding or moving to a place outside Australia) — operational facts determine application (see s5(2)–(3)).","Explicit exception: transfers to offshore regional processing centres are not covered by the non‑application, adding a boundary that must be operationally identified (see s5(4)).","Repeals earlier instrument entirely (Schedule 1) — legal continuity and transitional compliance depend on differences between instruments.","Authority point: instrument relies on s12D(2) of the WHS Act (see s3), so applicability is constrained by that statutory power and any limits in that subsection."],"plain_english_summary":"This declaration, made under s12D(2) of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011, says that specified WHS duties (paras 28(a),(b); 29(a),(b); s39) do not apply to certain Operation Sovereign Borders (OSB) maritime activities: intercepting, boarding, controlling or moving vessels or people suspected of being illegal maritime arrivals when deciding or moving them to a place outside Australia. Transfers to offshore regional processing centres are expressly excluded from that non‑application. It also repeals the 2013 declaration. It therefore changes which WHS duties apply to OSB maritime operations and who bears those legal duties."},"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"}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/work-health-and-safety-operation-sovereign-borders-declaration-2024","history":"/api/acts/work-health-and-safety-operation-sovereign-borders-declaration-2024/history","analysis":"/api/acts/work-health-and-safety-operation-sovereign-borders-declaration-2024/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/work-health-and-safety-operation-sovereign-borders-declaration-2024/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/work-health-and-safety-operation-sovereign-borders-declaration-2024/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/work-health-and-safety-operation-sovereign-borders-declaration-2024/documents"}}