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Commonwealth legislation
This Act has been repealed and is no longer in force. It is retained for historical reference.
These Regulations establish the rules for licensing, equipping and operating wireless telegraphy in Australia: ship, land and experimental licences; operator certification; equipment standards; message tariffs; and record-keeping. They apply to shipowners, station operators, amateur experimenters and message senders, and give the Postmaster-General and Governor‑General powers to inspect, revoke licences and control communications in emergencies.
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Direct links to the current provisions in Wireless Telegraphy Regulations 1920.
Sourced from the Federal Register of Legislation (legislation.gov.au), CC BY 4.0.
STATUTORY RULES.
1920. No. 256.
REGULATIONS UNDER THE WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY ACT 1905-1919.
I, THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL in and over the Commonwealth of Australia, acting with the advice of the Federal Executive Council, hereby make the following Regulations under the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1905-1919, to come into operation forthwith.
Dated this ninth day of December, 1920.
FORSTER,
Governor-General.
By His Excellency’s Command,
GEO. H. WISE,
Postmaster-General.
WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY REGULATIONS.
Short Title.
1. These Regulations may be cited as the Wireless Telegraphy Regulations 1920.
Definitions.
2. In these Regulations, unless the contrary intention appears—
“Australian ship” means a ship registered in Australia;
“British ship” means a British ship other than an Australian ship;
“Coast station” means a station which is established on land or on board a ship permanently moored, and which is open for the transmission and receipt of messages by means of wireless telegraphy between the land and ships at sea;
“Department” means the Postmaster-General’s Department;
“Foreign ship” means a ship other than an Australian ship or a British ship;
“Harbor” includes any harbor properly so called, whether natural or artificial, or any estuary, navigable river, pier, jetty, or other work in or at which a ship can obtain shelter, or ship or unship goods or passengers;
“Land station” means a station, not being a coast station, established on land for the purpose of communicating by means of wireless telegraphy with the Government-controlled wireless system;
“Licensee” means any person to whom a licence has been granted under these Regulations;
“Ship station” means a ship (not permanently moored) having installed thereon appliances for the transmission and receipt of messages by means of wireless telegraphy;
“Station” means a station for the transmission or receipt of messages by means of wireless telegraphy;
“Territorial Waters” means the territorial waters of the Commonwealth and those of any territory of the Commonwealth, and includes harbors;
“The Act” means the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1905-1919;
“The Minister” means the Postmaster-General or the Minister for the time being administering the Act;
“The Radio-telegraphic Convention” means the Convention signed at London on the fifth day of July, 1912, and the Service Regulations made thereunder, and includes any modification of the Convention or Regulations made from time to time.
“The Secretary” means the Secretary, Postmaster-General’s Department;
“Wireless Telegraphy” includes all systems of transmitting, and receiving telegraphic and telephonic messages by means of electricity without a continuous metallic connexion between the transmitter and the receiver.
Classes of Licences.
3. (1) Licences under section 5 of the Act may be (a) ship’s licences; (b) experimental and instructional licences; or (c) land station licences. Licences shall be in accordance with the forms contained in the Schedule.
(2) A ship’s licence shall be granted only in respect of a ship station on an Australian ship.
(3) An experimental and instructional licence may be granted to technical schools and similar institutions, and to persons for instructional purposes or scientific investigation of wireless telegraphy or wireless telephony phenomena, subject to the applicant producing satisfactory proof that he is a natural-born British subject resident in Australia and that he is competent to conduct experiments scientifically.
(4) A land station licence may be granted in respect of a privately owned and operated station for the purpose of communication between the land station and the nearest Government-controlled station, provided there is no telegraph or telephone communication already in existence between those stations.
(5) A licence shall be for a period of one year from the date thereof, and may be renewed from time to time.
Fees for Licences.
4. (1) The following fees shall be payable for each year or portion of a year during which any licence is in force:—
(a) for a ship’s licence—One pound;
(b) for an experimental and instructional licence—Two pounds;
(c) for a land station licence—One pound.
(2) The fees under this regulation shall be paid in advance.
Applications for Licences—How Made.
5. (1) An application for a ship’s licence shall be in writing, and contain the following particulars:—
(a) The name of the ship in respect of which the licence is applied for;
(b) The port in Australia at which the ship is registered;
(c) The system of wireless telegraphy to be used on the ship.
(2) An application for an experimental and instructional licence shall be in writing, and set out the following particulars:—
(a) Name in full, age, residence, previous training and present occupation, nationality, and parents’ nationality.
(b) The scientific, technical, practical, or other grounds upon which it is desired to obtain a licence;
(c) Complete diagram of connexion and description of the apparatus it is intended to use.
(3) An application for a land station licence shall be in writing, and contain the following particulars:—
(a) The locality of the station in respect of which the licence is applied for.
(b) The name of the owner of the land on which the station is situated, and whether the applicant is owner or lessee.
(c) The system of wireless telegraphy to be used, and a declaration that the applicant is the bonâ fide owner of the apparatus.
(4) Before granting any licence the Minister may require the applicant to furnish such additional particulars as he thinks necessary.
Condition as to Syntony, etc.
6. Before any licence is granted, the applicant shall satisfy the Minister that the wireless telegraphy apparatus or appliances to be worked in pursuance of the licence complies with the regulations for the time being in force governing syntony and wave length.
Issue of Licences.
7. (1) Every ship’s licence and land station licence shall be made out in triplicate. Two parts shall be issued to the licensee, and the other retained in the Postmaster-General’s Department.
(2) Before the licence is issued to the applicant he shall execute the part of the licence to be retained in the Department.
Renewal of a Licence.
8. (1) A licence may be renewed by writing thereon or attaching thereto a memorandum stating the period for which it is renewed and signed by the Minister or by the Secretary.
(2) The renewal may be made at any time within one month before or one month after the expiry of the licence.
(3) The memorandum shall be written on each part of the licence, but in the case of the licensee’s parts it shall be in the form of an official receipt for the renewal fee signed by the Minister or the Secretary, or by any person authorized to receive moneys on behalf of the Postmaster-General’s Department. Such receipts shall be attached by the licensee to the parts of the licence in his possession.
Revocation of Licence.
9. The Minister may, by notice in writing, revoke and determine any licence, on the ground of the licensee having failed to comply with any regulation for the time being in force under the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1905-1919, or on any other ground specified in the licence.
Tuned Crystallite Receivers.
10. All vessels licensed under the Act, which are fitted with wireless telegraphy installations, and which trade in the territorial waters of the Commonwealth or adjacent islands under the Commonwealth control, shall be equipped with tuned crystallite receivers or receivers of the thermionic valve or electrolytic type. Other receivers suitable for connecting to the detector terminals of the “Marconi” multiple tuner may be utilized when fitted with suitable transformer, and provided that the tuning and sensitivity are of equal efficiency to that obtained from a receiver specially designed for use with crystallite detectors.
Powers of Inspection.
11. The Minister or any person authorized in writing by the Minister or the Secretary may at all reasonable times enter upon any station on which wireless telegraphy appliances are installed, or are in course of being installed, in pursuance of a licence, and may inspect such appliances and the working and user thereof.
Communications between Ship and Coast Stations.
12. When communications are made by means of wireless telegraphy between a ship (whether British, foreign, or Australian) in territorial waters and a coast station, the rules in force for the working of wireless telegraphy at the coast station shall be observed.
Application of the Radio-telegraphic Convention and Regulations.
13. The provisions of the Radio-telegraphic Convention and the Service Regulations for the time being in force thereunder, so far as such Convention and Regulations are applicable, shall apply to all wireless telegraphy installations available for the transmission or receipt of private messages, whether installed by the Commonwealth or under licence, and to all messages handled by such installations, and every licensee shall comply therewith.
Appliances to be Worked so as to Avoid Interference with other Appliances.
14. (1) The wireless telegraphy appliances on board any ship (whether an Australian ship, a British ship, or a foreign ship) in territorial waters or in any land station shall be worked in such a way as not to interrupt or interfere with—
(a) Naval or Military signalling; or
(b) the transmission of messages between other wireless telegraph stations.
(2) In this regulation Naval or Military signalling includes signalling or communicating, by means of any system of wireless telegraphy, by the King’s Imperial or Dominion Naval or Military Forces.
Appliances not to be Worked while Ship Moored to any Wharf or Pier.
15. Except by permission of the Minister, the wireless telegraphy appliances on board any Australian ship, British ship, or foreign ship (other than a ship of war) shall not be worked or used while the ship is moored to any wharf or pier in Australia:
Provided that any ship anchored or moored under quarantine regulations may use wireless apparatus for purposes of communication with a coast station when no alternative method of electrical communication is available.
Use of Appliances by Foreign Ships of War in Harbors.
16. The use of wireless telegraphy appliances, on board any foreign ship of war while in any harbor in Australia, shall be subject to such rules (whether prohibitive or regulative) as the Governor-General may think fit to make.
Powers of Governor-General in Emergencies.
17. If at any time an emergency has arisen in which it is expedient that the Commonwealth Government should have control over the transmission of all messages by wireless telegraphy, the Governor-General may by notice in the Gazette prohibit for such period as he thinks necessary the use of wireless telegraphy on board foreign ships in territorial waters.
Control of Communications and Appliances in Emergencies.
18. (1) In case of emergency, of which the Minister shall be the sole judge, the Naval Board or any officer in command of any ship of war of His Majesty’s Navy (whether Imperial or Dominion), or any officer in command of any part of the Defence Force, may—
(a) take possession of any wireless telegraph appliances installed on any ship in pursuance of a licence, and use such appliances for the King’s service; or.
(b) place any person in control of any such appliances; or
(c) direct the licensee or person in charge of such appliances to submit to him all or any messages tendered for transmission or received by means of such appliances; or
(d) stop or delay or direct the licensee or person in charge of such appliances to stop or delay the transmission or delivery of any such messages or to deliver them to him; or
(e) direct the licensee or person in charge of such appliances to comply with all such directions as he thinks fit to give with reference to the transmission or receipt of messages by means of such appliances.
(2) Every licensee and every person in charge of any wireless telegraphy appliances installed in pursuance of a licence shall comply with this regulation, and all directions issued in pursuance thereof.
(3) Reasonable compensation shall be payable to the licensee for any damage to the appliances arising in consequence of the exercise of the powers conferred by this regulation.
(4) The Minister may notwithstanding anything contained in a licence issued to a licensee under these Regulations, by order published in the Gazette, prohibit for such time as he directs any licensee from communicating with any station licensed by, or belonging to, or in any country which is at war with His Majesty the King or the possessions thereof.
(5) Any order under sub-regulation (4) of this regulation may prohibit all communications whatever or may prohibit communications to particular stations or under special circumstances.
Operators’ Proficiency Certificates.
19. (1) Every ship station and land station in respect of which a licence is issued shall be operated by a person or persons holding a certificate of competency or certificates of competency issued by the Minister after examination, or by the Postmaster-General of the United Kingdom, or by the proper authority in any part of the British Empire.
(2) A certificate of competency shall not be issued to any person other than a natural-born British subject, both of whose parents are natural-born British subjects:
Provided that a certificate of competency may be issued or withheld by the Minister as he determines, according to the merits of the case.
(3) Certificates of competency shall be of two classes, namely:—
(a) 1st class—issued to persons over eighteen years of age capable of receiving and transmitting by sound at a speed which must not be less than twenty words per minute; and
(b) 2nd class—issued to persons over eighteen years of age capable of receiving and transmitting by sound at a speed which must not be less than twelve words per minute.
(4) A fee of Ten shillings shall be paid by the candidate on each occasion on which such candidate is examined. A certificate of competency may be issued at a charge of Five shillings to each candidate who satisfactorily passes the prescribed examination, and in the event of a certificate being lost a fee of Ten shillings shall be paid for the first copy of such certificate, One pound for the second copy and Two pounds for any subsequent copies:
Provided that the Minister may authorize the issue of a duplicate or copy of a certificate without charge where it has been shown that the original certificate has been lost or destroyed in circumstances over which the holder had no control.
In case of failure a candidate shall not be re-examined in any system or under any circumstances until after the lapse of three months.
(5) If a person to whom a certificate of competency has been issued by the Minister—
(a) is convicted of a criminal offence; or
(b) is, on account of incompetence, or for any other reason, considered by the Minister to be unsuitable to continue to hold the certificate,
the Minister may withdraw, cancel, or suspend the certificate.
(6) Certificates of competency and licences issued by the Naval Board of Administration appointed under the Naval Defence Act 1910-1918, and in force at the date of the commencement of these Regulations, shall continue in force as if issued in pursuance of these Regulations.
Use of Wireless Telegraphy for Military Purposes.
20. These Regulations shall not prevent the use, without licence, by the military authorities of wireless telegraphy for military purposes:
Provided that each wireless telegraphy installation (other than a mere temporary installation) to be used shall be authorized in writing by the Minister.
Charges.
21. The total charges
This is an opening excerpt, not the complete document.