3Interpretation

##### 3 Interpretation (1) In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears: > act includes: (a) a failure to do an act; and (b) any circumstance or state of affairs. > Area A of the Zone of Cooperation has the same meaning as in the Petroleum (Timor Gap Zone of Cooperation) Act 1990. > Australian fishing zone has the same meaning as in the Fisheries Management Act 1991. > Australian ship means: (a) a ship registered in Australia or an external Territory under an Act or Imperial Act relating to the registration of ships that is applicable throughout the whole of Australia and the external Territories, not being an Act or Imperial Act relating to the registration of ships for a particular purpose or purposes only; or (b) any other ship (not being a ship registered in a foreign country) the operations of which are based in a place or places in Australia or an external Territory or which is wholly owned by a person who, or persons each of whom, is a natural person resident in, or a company incorporated in, Australia or an external Territory. > authority means: (a) in relation to a State: (i) the Governor, a Minister or a member of the Executive Council of the State; (ii) a person who holds office as a member of a court of the State; (iii) a body created by or under the law of the State; and (iv) an officer or employee of the State or of a body referred to in subparagraph (iii); and (b) in relation to the Northern Territory: (i) the Administrator or a Minister of the Territory; (ii) a person who holds office as a member of a court of the Territory; (iii) a body created by or under the law of the Territory; and (iv) an officer or employee of the Territory or of a body referred to in subparagraph (iii). > committal, in relation to an offence, means the committal of a person for trial, or to be sentenced or otherwise dealt with, for the offence. > criminal laws means any laws, whether written or unwritten and whether substantive or procedural, and as in force from time to time, that make provision for or in relation to offences (whether punishable on conviction on indictment or on summary conviction) or for or in relation to the investigation of offences or punishment of offenders, and includes any laws providing for the interpretation of those laws. > East Timor: (a) during the period of the administration of the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) means: (i) when referred to in a geographic sense—the territory administered by UNTAET under United Nations Security Council Resolution 1272 (1999) of 25 October 1999 at New York; and (ii) when referred to as a body politic—UNTAET; and (b) after the territory ceases to be administered by UNTAET—has the meaning given by the regulations. > fishing has the same meaning as in the Fisheries Management Act 1991. > foreign country means a country other than: (a) Australia; or (b) an external Territory. > foreign ship means a ship other than an Australian ship. > proceedings includes proceedings with a view to the committal of a person for an offence. > ship means a vessel or boat of any description and includes: (a) any floating structure; and (b) any hovercraft or other similar craft. (2) In this Act: (a) a reference to the commission of an act shall: (i) in the case of a failure to do an act—be construed as a reference to the failure; and (ii) in the case of an act being a circumstance or state of affairs—be construed as a reference to the occurrence or coming into existence of the circumstance or state of affairs; (b) a reference to a person who committed an act shall: (i) in the case of a failure to do an act—be construed as a reference to a person who failed to do the act; and (ii) in the case of an act being a circumstance or state of affairs—be construed as a reference to a person who was party to or concerned in, or otherwise has the responsibility for, the occurrence or existence of the circumstance or state of affairs; (c) a reference to an act committed from a ship includes a reference to an act committed in, on or below, or in the airspace above, the sea by a person from a ship; and (d) a reference to the criminal laws in force in a State or Territory does not include a reference to any laws of the Commonwealth in force in that State or Territory. (3) For the purposes of this Act: (a) subject to paragraph (b), the place at which a ship’s voyage commences constitutes a place of call of the ship; (b) a reference to a place of call does not include a place that is not in a State or Territory and is not in a foreign country or the territorial sea of a foreign country; and (c) a place in the territorial sea adjacent to a State or Territory shall be deemed to be a place in that State or Territory, as the case may be. (4) For the purposes of this Act, a person ceases to be a survivor of a wreck or sinking of a ship when he is rescued.