74Responsible party’s liability to the Commonwealth

74 Responsible party’s liability to the Commonwealth

(1) This section applies if, in accordance with the Liability Convention or otherwise under international law: (a) a foreign country has presented a claim against Australia for compensation for damage covered by this Part; and (b) Australia becomes liable to any extent to pay compensation for the damage. (2) The responsible party for the relevant launch or return is liable to pay the Commonwealth an amount equal to the lesser of the following amounts: (a) the amount of that compensation; (b) if the launch or return of the space object concerned was authorised by an Australian launch permit or overseas payload permit, and section 69 applies—the insured amount for the permit.

Note: A foreign country could not present a claim against Australia under the Liability Convention if proceedings under this Part were already in progress in respect of the same damage: see Article XI.2 of the Convention.