1The Seas and Submerged Lands Act 1973—

1 The Seas and Submerged Lands Act 1973— • declares and enacts that the sovereignty in respect of the territorial sea and the associated airspace, seabed and subsoil is vested in and exercisable by the Crown in right of the Commonwealth; • gives the Governor-General power to declare, by proclamation, the limits of the territorial sea; • declares and enacts that the sovereignty in respect of waters of the sea that are on the landward side of the baseline of the territorial sea (but not within the limits of a State) and in respect of the associated airspace, seabed and subsoil is vested in and exercisable by the Crown in right of the Commonwealth; • declares and enacts that the sovereign rights of Australia as a coastal State in respect of the Continental Shelf of Australia (for the purpose of exploring it and exploiting its natural resources) are vested in and exercisable by the Crown in right of the Commonwealth; • gives the Governor-General power to declare, by proclamation, the limits of the Continental Shelf of Australia. 2 The Coastal Waters (State Powers) Act 1980 was enacted following a request from the Parliaments of all the States under paragraph 51 (xxxviii) of the Constitution of the Commonwealth and provides that the legislative powers exercisable under the Constitution of each State extend to the making of certain laws that would operate offshore. 3 The Coastal Waters (State Title) Act 1980 vests in each State certain property rights in the seabed beneath the coastal waters of the State. 4 The Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1967 of the Commonwealth and the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1982 of this State make provision, based on the agreement referred to in subsection (1), for the licensing regime that applies to the exploration for and recovery of petroleum in coastal waters and offshore areas of this State. Part 1.2—Interpretation 4—Notes in the text Notes in this Act are provided to assist understanding and do not form part of the Act. 5—Interpretation In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears— approved means approved by the Minister under section 41; associate has the meaning given by section 26(1); associated agent of a holder has the meaning given by section 26(3); associated agent of an associated contractor has the meaning given by section 26(4); associated contractor of a holder has the meaning given by section 26(2); associated employee of an associated contractor has the meaning given by section 26(6); associated employee of a holder has the meaning given by section 26(5); block means a portion of the coastal waters constituted according to section 17; caveat on a licence means a caveat against— (a) the registration of dealings in relation to the licence; or (b) the registration of a person as a holder of the licence under section 340; coastal waters has the meaning given by section 16(1) and (2); Commonwealth Act means the Offshore Minerals Act 1994 of the Commonwealth; Commonwealth Minister means a Minister of State for the Commonwealth; compliance inspection has the meaning given by section 377; confidential information has the meaning given by section 27; confidential sample has the meaning given by section 28; consent area means the block or blocks specified in a special purpose consent; dealing in a licence means a transaction that creates, transfers, affects or otherwise deals with an interest in the licence and includes— (a) a transfer of the licence; and (b) a transfer of a share in the licence, but does not include a document that comes within section 337(1) other than a document by which a block or a licence is surrendered; discrete area has the meaning given by section 21; document file means a document file kept for the purposes of Part 3.1; exploration has the meaning given by section 23; holder of a licence has the meaning given by section 25(1); hydrocarbon means a hydrocarbon whether in a gaseous, liquid or solid state; inspector means an inspector appointed under section 421; interest in relation to a licence, includes— (a) an equitable interest in the licence; and (b) a security interest in the licence; licence means— (a) an exploration licence; or (b) a retention licence; or (c) a mining licence; or (d) a works licence; licence area means the block or blocks covered by a licence; licence holder has the meaning given by section 25(1); mineral has the meaning given by section 22; offshore exploration or mining activities means— (a) the exploration for minerals in coastal waters; or (b) the recovery of minerals from coastal waters; or (c) activities carried out in coastal waters under a works licence; offshore mining register means a register kept for the purposes of Part 3.1; petroleum means— (a) a hydrocarbon or a mixture of hydrocarbons; or (b) a mixture of one or more hydrocarbons and one or more of the following— (i) hydrogen sulphide; (ii) nitrogen; (iii) helium; (iv) carbon dioxide; primary payment period for the provisional grant or provisional renewal of a licence means the period of 30 days after the day on which the applicant is given a written notice— (a) in the case of the grant of an exploration licence, under section 66; and (b) in the case of the renewal of an exploration licence, under section 110; and (c) in the case of the grant of a retention licence, under section 147; and (d) in the case of the renewal of a retention licence, under section 169; and (e) in the case of the grant of a mining licence, under section 210; and (f) in the case of the renewal of a mining licence, under section 246; and (g) in the case of the grant of a works licence, under section 279; and (h) in the case of the renewal of a works licence, under section 296; provisional holder means a person who has been provisionally granted a licence; recovery has the meaning given by section 24; registered means registered in an offshore mining register; reserved block means a block that is declared to be reserved under section 18; responsible Commonwealth Minister means the Commonwealth Minister who is responsible for the administration of the Commonwealth Act; sample of the seabed or subsoil includes a core or cutting from the seabed or subsoil; secondary payment period for the provisional grant or provisional renewal of a licence means the period of 30 days after the day on which an extension of the primary payment period for the grant or renewal concerned ends; share in a licence has the meaning given by section 6(1), (2) and (3); special purpose consent means a consent granted under Part 2.6; standard block has the meaning given by section 19; State Minister means— (a) a Minister of State for a State; or (b) a Minister of State for the Northern Territory; successor licence to a licence has the meaning given by section 8; surrender day for an exploration licence means— (a) the day on which the initial term of the licence ends; or (b) a day on which the term of a renewal of the licence ends; tender block has the meaning given by section 20; transfer— (a) when used in relation to a licence, has the meaning given by section 7(1); and (b) when used in relation to a share in a licence, has the meaning given by section 7(2) and (3); vary a licence condition includes revoke or suspend. 5A—Licence or other right is not personal property for the purposes of Commonwealth Act A right, entitlement or authority granted by or under this Act is not personal property for the purposes of the Personal Property Securities Act 2009 of the Commonwealth. 6—Shares in a licence (1) A person has a share in a licence if the person is the holder, or one of the holders, of the licence. (2) If a holder is entitled to a particular percentage of the value of the rights conferred by a licence, that percentage is the holder's share in the licence. A sole holder has a 100 per cent share in the licence. (a) a person is a registered holder of a licence; and (b) the person is shown in an offshore mining register as being entitled to a specified percentage of the value of the rights conferred by the licence, the person's share in the licence is taken to be the percentage specified in the register. 7—Transfer of a licence (1) For the purposes of this Act, a licence is transferred if— (a) the licence has only one holder and the holder transfers the whole of the licensee's interest in the licence to another person or other persons; or (b) the licence has 2 or more holders and the holders all transfer the whole of their interests in the licence to another person or other persons. (2) For the purposes of this Act, a share in a licence is transferred if— (a) the licence has only one holder and the holder transfers a part of the holder's share in the licence to another person or other persons; or (b) the licence has 2 or more holders and— (i) some, but not all, of the holders transfer the whole of their shares in the licence to another person; or (ii) some or all of the holders transfer a part of their shares in the licence to another person. (3) The other person referred to in subsection (2)(b) may be an existing licence holder. 8—Successor licences (a) a mining licence takes effect immediately after an exploration licence expires; and (b) the holder of the mining licence immediately after it takes effect was the holder of the exploration licence immediately before it expired, the mining licence is a successor licence to the exploration licence. (a) a retention licence takes effect immediately after an exploration licence expires; and (b) the holder of the retention licence immediately after it takes effect was the holder of the exploration licence immediately before it expired, the retention licence is a successor licence to the exploration licence. (a) a mining licence takes effect immediately after a retention licence expires; and (b) the retention licence took effect immediately after an exploration licence expired; and (c) the holder of the mining licence immediately after it takes effect was the holder of the retention licence immediately before it expired; and (d) the holder of the retention licence immediately after it took effect was the holder of the exploration licence immediately before it expired, the mining licence is a successor licence to the exploration licence and the retention licence. 9—Section number not used 10—Position on the Earth's surface (1) This is how the position of a point, line or area on the Earth's surface is to be worked out for the purposes of this Act and subordinate instruments— (a) the position is to be worked out by reference to a spheroid that— (i) has a major (equatorial) radius of 6,378,160 metres; and (ii) has a flattening of 100/29825; and (b) the Johnston Geodetic Station in the Northern Territory is taken to be located 571.2 metres above the point on the surface of the spheroid that is at— (i) 133°12′30.0771″ East Longitude; and (ii) 25°56′54.5515″ South Latitude. (2) In subsection (1)— subordinate instrument means— (a) the regulations; and (b) instruments made under this Act and the regulations. 11—Section number not used 12—Power to vary and revoke instruments (1) A provision of this Act that confers a power to do something in writing is also taken to confer the power to revoke or amend the written document by which that thing is done. (2) The power to revoke or amend— (a) must also be exercised in writing; and (b) is subject to the same procedural requirements as the original power; and (c) is subject to the same conditions as those that governed the exercise of the original power.