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Commonwealth act
This law sets up a system for registering ships in Australia — think of it like a national title registry for vessels, similar to how land titles work for property. It establishes who must register their ship, how to do it, and what rights and obligations come with registration.
The Act creates two separate registers:
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Direct links to the current provisions in Shipping Registration Act 1981.
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View on official registerSourced from the Federal Register of Legislation (legislation.gov.au), CC BY 4.0.
The Act has detailed rules about this. Broadly, a ship is 'Australian-owned' if:
To get onto the International Register, ship owners must:
Once on the International Register, the ship must at all times have an Australian national or resident as either the master (captain) or chief mate, AND as either the chief engineer or first engineer. This is designed to protect Australian maritime jobs and skills.