ATTCAHMENT A
EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Issued by the Authority of the
Australian Fisheries Management Authority
Fisheries Management Act 1991
Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery Management Plan 2003
Fisheries Management (E-monitoring Great Australian Bight Trawl Fishery) Direction 2025
Subsection 40A(1) of the Fisheries Management Act 1991 (the Management Act) provides that the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (the Authority) may make a written direction requiring any person who holds a fishing concession, or a scientific permit, of a class prescribed in the direction, to comply with:
- Under subsection 40A(1)(a) of the Management Act - obligations that are prescribed in the direction relating to the electronic monitoring (e-monitoring) of fishing-related activity; or
- Under subsection 40A(1)(b) of the Management Act - prescribed restrictions on engaging in fishing if any obligation prescribed under subsection 40A(1)(a) has not been, or is not being, complied with.
Subsection 40A(2) of the Management Act sets out some examples of obligations that may be prescribed under subsection 40A(1) of the Management Act. Subsection 40A(2) of the Management Act does not limit subsection 40A(1)(a) of the Management Act.
The Fishery
The Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery (SESSF) is a large multi-sector fishery that covers the area of waters from approximately 80 nautical miles off the coast near Fraser Island in Queensland, south around Tasmania and west to Cape Leeuwin in Western Australia. The Great Australian Bight Fishery (GAB) extends from Cape Jervis in South Australia westward to Cape Leeuwin in southern Western Australia. The fishery operates in both Commonwealth and state waters under complex jurisdictional arrangements, due to different Offshore Constitutional Settlement arrangements with each state. This area includes the Great Australian Bight Trawl Sector (GABTS) also known as the Great Australian Bight Trawl Fishery.
The GABTS is a small fishery (restricted to no more than 10 boats) that targets Bight Redfish (Centroberyx gerrardi) and Deepwater Flathead (Neoplatycephalus conatus) in the Great Australian Bight in southern Australia.
Management in the GABTS of the SESSF is mainly through output controls in the form of Total Allowable Catch limits set under the Commonwealth Fisheries Harvest Strategy Policy and Guidelines 2018 and the specific fishery Harvest Strategy Framework. Input controls used include a limit on the number of boats that operate in each sector, as well as gear restrictions such as limits on mesh size, the amount of fishing gear that may be used and spatial closures.
Closures serve to place restrictions on effort to protect spawning grounds, minimise impacts on deepwater species, facilitate the recovery of certain species and protect Endangered, Threatened and Protected (ETP) species.
Background to the Direction
The Authority is established under the Fisheries Administration Act 1991 (the FA Act) and, in the performance of its functions, it must pursue the objectives contained in section 6 of the FA Act. The functions of the Authority are contained in section 7 of the FA Act and relevantly include functions relating to the collection and disclosure of personal information within the parameters of section 7 and other relevant legislation including the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).
Under the above legislative framework, AFMA is required to ensure that the exploitation of fisheries resources is ecologically sustainable, to implement efficient and cost-effective fisheries management and to collect information about possible breaches of the law and the management of, and research into, fisheries and the marine environment. To effectively carry out its legislative objectives and functions, AFMA requires accurate and comprehensive data on fishing activity.
E-monitoring is the electronic recording of fishing and related activities with the use of specialised equipment installed on boats for data collection and compliance purposes. E-monitoring equipment can include cameras, global positioning systems or sensors, and vessel monitoring systems, thereby generating a range of visual and non-visual data. E-monitoring complements other monitoring techniques, such as catch and effort logbooks and human observers.
E-monitoring is currently used in the Small Pelagic Fishery and the Gillnet, Hook and Trap (GHaT) sector of the SESSF to monitor catch composition including interactions with ETP species.
Since 2015, through the E-Monitoring (Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery) Direction 2015 (no longer in force), e-monitoring has been mandatory for prescribed fishing methods and sectors of the SESSF.
AFMA was provided $10.1 million over the forward years in the 2021–22 budget to reduce regulatory burden, increase productivity and improve environmental outcomes across Commonwealth fisheries. Specifically, the funding was provided for “E-monitoring to be expanded across Commonwealth fisheries to collect fine-scale at-sea fishing data”. Sub-projects were developed to achieve this, and expansion trials were subsequently undertaken in the GABTS and Commonwealth Trawl Sector of the SESSF, Northern Prawn Fishery, Sub-Antarctic Fishery and Northwest Slope Trawl Fishery. Previous trials of e-monitoring in the CTS showed the potential to use this equipment to collect data, however they were limited in scope and did not provide enough information for AFMA to make decisions at the time.
A trial of e-monitoring in GABTS was undertaken from December 2023 until December 2024 to examine the feasibility of using this equipment as an independent data collection and monitoring tool along with any risks and issues associated with its use. Industry was supportive of the trial, and it was assumed there would be limited impact on operators. Based on the outcome of the trial, at its meeting on 12 May 2025 the AFMA Commission made the decision to implement e-monitoring in the fishery on a permanent basis from 1 July 2025.
The Direction
The Fisheries Management (E-monitoring Great Australian Bight Trawl Fishery) Direction 2025 (the Direction) prescribes obligations on concession holders or persons acting on behalf of concession holders. These obligations include:
- under clause 5 of the Direction, the obligation to install and operate an e-monitoring system; and
- under clause 6 of the Direction, the obligation to take all reasonable steps to maintain their e-monitoring system in good working order, including reporting suspected issues with the e-monitoring system to the Authority as soon as practicable and notifying the Authority as soon as the concession holder becomes aware that the e-monitoring system is not functioning under subclauses 6(1)(b) and (6)(2)(b) respectively.
- Under clause 7 of the Direction, the Authority may require a concession holder or person acting on behalf of a concession holder to give a statement to the Authority setting out the information prescribed in subclauses 7(1)(a) to (e). Under each of these subclauses, the prescribed information may include personal information as defined in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), such as the names and addresses of individuals, and other information or an opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable.
The Direction is a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislation Act 2003.
Consultation
AFMA consulted with the Great Australian Bight Management Advisory Committee (GABMAC) on the proposal to implement the electronic monitoring direction (by 1 May 2025) when this committee met on 20 November 2024. A draft of the proposed direction was subsequently sent to all GABTS concession holders and members of GABMAC for comment (with a revised implementation date of 1 July 2025). A review period of five days was provided, a meeting of GABMAC members was held on 5 May 2025 and to consider comments received on the proposed direction. The consultation for this direction satisfies the criteria in section 40A(4) of the Act.
Regulation Impact Statement
The Office of Impact Analysis advised that the implementation of E-monitoring would be regarded as “Vessel Monitoring” under the OIA Carve-out for the Australian Fisheries Management Authority and therefore a Regulation Impact Statement would not be required as this Direction would be considered consistent with the agreement in place to cover all regulatory changes deemed to be of a minor or machinery nature OIA reference numbers OIA 23-06107.
Statement of compatibility prepared in accordance with Part 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011
The Direction is compatible with the human rights and freedoms recognised or declared in the international instruments listed in section 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011. The Direction places limitations on the prohibition on interference with privacy; however, those limitations are reasonable, necessary and proportionate.
Article 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) prohibits unlawful or arbitrary interferences with a person's privacy. The prohibition is engaged by the Direction because information obtained by the Authority under the Direction may include personal information under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).
Under the ICCPR, the right to privacy can be limited, provided the limitation is not unlawful or arbitrary. The limitation the Direction places on the right to privacy, being the provision of information including personal information to the Authority, is lawful, being authorised by section 40A(1) of the Management Act. In addition, this limitation is not arbitrary, because it is consistent with the provisions, aims and objectives of the ICCPR and is reasonable because it is confined in scope to concession holders or persons acting on behalf of concession holders, and also confined to the information prescribed in subclauses 7(1)(a) to (e). Clause 7 of the Direction is considered necessary and appropriate in light of the Authority’s functions and objectives as set out in the FA Act.
The information obtained by the Authority will be collected, stored, used and disclosed by the Authority in accordance with all relevant legislation, including the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth).
Details of the direction are set out below:
Clause 1 | Provides for the instrument to be cited as the Fisheries Management (E-monitoring Great Australian Bight Trawl Fishery) Direction 2025. |
Clause 2 | Provides that the instrument commences on 1 July 2025. |
Clause 3 | Provides that the instrument is made under section 40A(1) of the Management Act. |
Clause 4 | Provides for definitions used in the instrument. The Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery Management Plan 2003 has been incorporated by reference. Section 10 of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 (as applied by section 13(1)(a) of the Legislation Act 2003) has the effect that references to Commonwealth disallowable legislative instruments can be taken to be references to versions of that instrument as in force from time to time. The Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery Management Plan 2003 in 2025 is available to view free of charge on the website of the Federal Register of Legislation. |
Clause 5 | Provides for an obligation on concession holders or persons acting on behalf of concession holders fishing in the GABTS to install and operate an e-monitoring system on a nominated boat. |
Clause 6 | Provides for an obligation on concession holders or persons acting on behalf of concession holders to take all reasonable steps to maintain their e-monitoring system in good working order.. |
Clause 7 | The Authority may require concession holders or persons acting on behalf of concession holders, to provide prescribed information to the Authority. Clause 7 of the Direction provides that the Authority may require a concession holder or person acting on behalf of a concession holder to give a statement to the Authority setting out the information prescribed in subclauses 7(1)(a) to (e). Under each of these subclauses, the prescribed information may include personal information as defined in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), such as the names and addresses of individuals, and other information or an opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable. Under subclause 7(1)(e), the “any other matters” prescribed are limited to those matters which relate to the circumstances, time, place or manner of installation, carriage, use, handling, maintenance or monitoring of use of the e-monitoring system or data drive. The Authority must comply with all relevant legislation in relation to its collection, use and disclosure of information, including personal information. More specifically, the Authority is required to comply with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and is bound by the Australian Privacy Principles (APP). The Authority’s Privacy Policy provides that the Authority, or its contracted service providers, may collect personal information directly from the individual, their authorised representative or from other sources such as e-monitoring. Similarly, the Authority’s APP 5 Collection Notice, available on its website, includes the collection of personal information from an e-monitoring system installed on a boat. The Authority has undertaken a Privacy Impact Assessment in relation to its e-monitoring program, and will continue to monitor privacy reforms, in the context of e-monitoring. By way of example, information collected under subclause 7(1) may be disclosed to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions in relation to potential breaches of section 97A (e-monitoring equipment and e-monitoring data offences) of the Management Act. Various safeguards can apply to the disclosure of personal information that forms part of information that the Authority is authorised or required to collect. For example, the Authority may prevent or limit secondary disclosure of information that it has disclosed and, where personal information is not relevant to the purpose of the disclosure, the personal information component could be obscured. |