Rights conferred on the Territory: Section 4(1) confers on the Territory "the same right and title" to the property in the sea‑bed beneath the coastal waters of the Territory and the same rights in respect of the space above that sea‑bed as would belong to the Territory if the sea‑bed were the seabed beneath waters within Territory limits. This creates a comprehensive proprietary right, including rights in subsoil minerals (other than prescribed substances) and attached structures, as captured by s 3(2).
Disposal and dealing with vested rights: Section 4(4) records Parliament’s intention that, subject to the reservations of s 4(2), the Territory may dispose of or otherwise deal with vested rights according to Territory law. That places decision‑making about alienation, leasing, licensing, or encumbrance of those rights within the Territory’s legislative and administrative competence, subject to the Commonwealth reservations.
Preserved pre‑existing rights: Section 4(2)(a) preserves any right or title of other persons, including the Commonwealth, that subsisted immediately before commencement, except for Commonwealth rights that subsisted only by reason of the sovereignty referred to in the Seas and Submerged Lands Act 1973. That provision imposes a duty on the Territory to respect subsisting private rights and certain Commonwealth titles unless they are of the excluded sovereign origin.
Reserved Commonwealth uses and powers: Section 4(2)(b) gives the Commonwealth, and Commonwealth authorities authorised by the Commonwealth or by Commonwealth law, the continuing right to use the sea‑bed and overlying space for communications, safety of navigation, quarantine and defence purposes, and the right to place, construct and maintain equipment and structures for those uses. Section 4(2)(c) preserves the Commonwealth’s right to authorise construction and use of pipelines across the sea‑bed for transporting petroleum recovered under Commonwealth law from areas beyond the coastal waters of the Territory. Those provisions function as statutory easements or overriding rights that limit the Territory’s full exclusivity.
Ministerial notice power for occupied parts: Section 5 gives the Minister power, by Gazette notice, to fix a commencement date for the operation of ss 4(1) and (2) in relation to parts of the sea‑bed occupied by the Commonwealth or Commonwealth authorities immediately before commencement. This is a substantive administrative power affecting the timing of when the Territory’s rights in those areas will arise. Section 5(2) further provides that, where such a date is fixed, paragraph 4(2)(a) will not preserve any right or title of the Commonwealth or a Commonwealth authority that may have subsisted in respect of that part immediately before the date fixed. That mechanism therefore allows the Minister, by notice, to bring Commonwealth‑occupied areas within the Territory’s title and to extinguish the pre‑existing Commonwealth title in those parts.
Dynamic boundaries: Section 4(3) ties the operation of the vesting to changes in the baseline used to measure territorial sea breadth. If a baseline change causes the coastal waters of the Territory to extend to new areas, the vesting operates in respect of those new areas from the date of the change (s 4(3)(a)). If a baseline change makes coastal waters cease to extend to a previously included area, the Territory and anyone claiming through it cease to have rights in that area by virtue of this Act (s 4(3)(b)).
Exclusions from vesting: The interpretation provisions exclude “prescribed substances” from the minerals that vest in the Territory (s 3(1)-(2)). “Prescribed substances” is given the statutory meaning it had in the Atomic Energy Act 1953 immediately before commencement (s 3(1)). The Act therefore limits the Territory’s subsoil rights in respect of those specifically identified substances.
International law preservation and limits: Section 6 provides that nothing in the Act affects the territorial sea’s status under international law or the Commonwealth’s obligations to ensure observance of international law and agreements. That places a continuing external constraint on exercise of rights under the Act, for example in relation to innocent passage and other internationally regulated uses of the territorial sea.
No penal regime in this Act: The Act does not create offences, fines or explicit enforcement mechanisms. It confers and preserves rights and sets administrative rules for vesting dates. Enforcement of rights and resolution of conflicting claims would proceed under the general property and administrative law frameworks or other statutes; the Act does not itself set out duties of conduct beyond the statutory reservations and vestings.