51Declaration of ownership of other underwater cultural heritage

51 Declaration of ownership of other underwater cultural heritage

(1) If the Minister is satisfied that it is necessary to do so for the purpose of giving effect to this Act or any relevant agreement (other than the Australia‑Netherlands Agreement), the Minister may, by legislative instrument, declare the ownership of a specified article of underwater cultural heritage to be vested in: (a) the Commonwealth; or (b) a specified authority of the Commonwealth; or (c) a specified State or Territory; or (d) a specified authority of a State or Territory; or (e) the government of a foreign country; or (f) any other specified person.

Note: The Commonwealth is entitled to all unclaimed wreck found in Australia (see section 228 of the Navigation Act 2012).

(2) If a declaration is made under subsection (1), the person specified in the declaration becomes, by force of this subsection, the owner of the article (free of any charges or other encumbrances) at the start of the day after the day the declaration is registered on the Federal Register of Legislation. (3) The making of a declaration under subsection (1) in relation to an article does not affect the application of any other provision of this Act to, or in relation to, the article. (4) Nothing in this section affects any power of the Commonwealth otherwise than under this Act to dispose of or otherwise deal with articles that are the property of the Commonwealth.