9Application of laws in areas adjacent to States

#### 9 Application of laws in areas adjacent to States (1) Subject to this Act and the regulations, the provisions of the laws, whether written or unwritten, in force in a State for the time being (other than laws of the Commonwealth) and the provisions of any instrument having effect under any of those laws, apply, as provided by this section, in the adjacent area and so apply as if that area were part of that State and of the Commonwealth. (1A) Subject to section 73, if the gas pipelines access legislation of a State is not in force, whether with or without modifications, in the area referred to in subsection (1B), then, in spite of any law that is in force as a law of the Commonwealth in the adjacent area in respect of the State because of subsection (1), the Gas Pipelines Access (Commonwealth) Act 1998 applies as a law of the Commonwealth in that adjacent area. (1B) For the purposes of subsection (1A), the area referred to in this subsection in relation to a State is the part of the area described in Schedule 2 under the heading that refers to that State that is on the landward side of the adjacent area in respect of that State. (2) The laws referred to in subsection (1) do not include laws that are substantive criminal laws, or laws of criminal investigation, procedure and evidence, within the meaning of Schedule 1 to the Crimes at Sea Act 2000, but nothing in this Act derogates from the operation of that Act. Applied laws do not include State OHS laws (2A) Despite subsection (1), the laws or parts of laws of a State, as in force from time to time, that are prescribed in the regulations in relation to that State do not apply in relation to a facility located in the adjacent area of that State. (2B) Laws or parts of laws prescribed under subsection (2A) must be laws or parts of laws with respect to occupational health and safety. State OHS laws do not apply of their own force in adjacent areas (2C) The laws or parts of laws, as in force from time to time, that are prescribed in regulations made under subsection (2A) in relation to a State do not apply by force of the law of that State in relation to a facility located in the adjacent area of that State. Substantive criminal provisions of State OHS laws are not applied by Crimes at Sea Act 2000 in adjacent areas (2D) Despite subclauses 2(1) and (2) of Schedule 1 to the Crimes at Sea Act 2000, the laws or parts of laws of a State that are referred to in those subclauses and that are prescribed in the regulations in relation to that State do not apply in relation to a facility located in the adjacent area in respect of that State either: (a) by force of the law of the State; or (b) by force of subclause 2(2) of that Schedule. (2E) Laws or parts of laws prescribed under subsection (2D) must be laws or parts of laws relating to occupational health and safety. (2F) Laws or parts of laws of a State that are prescribed for the purposes of subsection (2A) or (2D) may be laws or parts of laws that relate to occupational health and safety and to other matters. (2G) A reference in subsections (2A) to (2F) to a law or a part of a law of a State includes a reference to an instrument or a part of an instrument made under a law of a State. Substantive criminal provisions of State section 140H OHS laws are not applied by Crimes at Sea Act 2000 in adjacent areas. (2H) Despite subclauses 2(1) and (2) of Schedule 1 to the Crimes at Sea Act 2000, the laws to which subsection (2I) applies do not apply in relation to a facility located in the adjacent area of the relevant State, either: (a) by force of the law of that State; or (b) by force of subclause 2(2) of that Schedule. (2I) This subsection applies to provisions of a State PSLA, or of regulations under a State PSLA, that substantially correspond to the terms of the section 140H OHS laws. (3) A law shall be taken to be a law in force in a State notwithstanding that that law applies to part only of the State. (4) The provisions referred to in subsection (1) apply in relation to all acts, omissions, matters, circumstances and things touching, concerning, arising out of or connected with: (a) the exploration of the sea‑bed or subsoil of the adjacent area for petroleum, and the exploitation of the natural resources (consisting of petroleum) of that sea‑bed or subsoil; or (b) the conveyance of petroleum (wherever recovered) across the adjacent area. (5) Without limiting the operation of subsection (4), the provisions referred to in subsection (1) apply: (a) to and in relation to: (i) an act or omission that takes place in, on, above, below or in the vicinity of; and (ii) a matter, circumstance or thing that exists or arises with respect to or in connection with; a vessel, aircraft, structure or installation, or equipment or other property, that is in the adjacent area for any reason touching, concerning, arising out of or connected with: (iii) the exploration of the sea‑bed or subsoil of the adjacent area for petroleum, or the exploitation of the natural resources (consisting of petroleum) of that sea‑bed or subsoil; or (iv) the conveyance of petroleum (wherever recovered) across the adjacent area; (b) to and in relation to a person who: (i) is in the adjacent area for a reason of the kind referred to in paragraph (a); or (ii) is in, on, above, below or in the vicinity of a vessel, aircraft, structure or installation, or equipment or other property, that is in the adjacent area for a reason of the kind referred to in paragraph (a); and (c) to and in relation to a person in respect of his carrying on any operation or doing any work in the adjacent area for a reason of the kind referred to in paragraph (a). (6) This section does not: (a) give to the provisions of a law of a State an operation, as law of the Commonwealth, that they would not have, as law of the State, if the adjacent area were within the part of the area described in Schedule 2 under the heading that refers to that State that is on the landward side of the adjacent area; (b) extend to the provisions of any law or instrument in so far as those provisions, as applied by this Act, would be inconsistent with a law of the Commonwealth, including this Act; (c) apply so as to impose any tax; (d) apply so as to confer or purport to confer any part of the judicial power of the Commonwealth on a court, tribunal, authority or officer of a State; or (e) apply so as to purport to confer on a court of a State any power that cannot, under the Constitution, be conferred by the Parliament on such a Court. (7) This section does not limit the operation that any law or instrument has apart from this section. (8) The regulations may provide that such of the provisions referred to in subsection (1) as are specified in the regulations do not apply by reason of this section or so apply with such modifications as are specified in the regulations. (9) For the purposes of subsection (8), modification includes the omission or addition of a provision or the substitution of a provision for another provision. (10) Notwithstanding anything in this section or in section 10, the regulations that may be made for the purposes of subsection (8) include regulations having the effect that provisions as modified by the regulations make provision for and in relation to investing a court of a State with federal jurisdiction. (11) If this section provides that laws or parts of laws do not apply in relation to a facility located in a particular adjacent area of a State, those laws or parts of laws do not apply in relation to: (a) a facility that is so located; or (b) persons at or near a facility that is so located; or (c) activities that take place on a facility that is so located. (12) In this section: > facility has the same meaning as in Schedule 7. > section 140H OHS laws has the same meaning as in section 140H. > State PSLA has the same meaning as it has for the purposes of Part IIIC.