EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
STATUTORY ROLE NO. 277 OF 1983
ISSUED BY THE AUTHORITY OF THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR TRANSPORT NAVIGATION (FIRE APPLIANCES) REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT)
Sub-section 425(1) of the Navigation Act 1912 provides that the Governor-General may make regulations, not inconsistent with the Act, prescribing all matters which by the Act are required or permitted to be prescribed or which are necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to the Act or for the conduct of any business under the Act.
Sub-section 425(1) further provides, in particular, that the Governor-General may make regulations empowering the Minister to make orders for and in relation to specified matters to give prompt legislative effect to safety and technical requirements in respect of ships, their cargoes and persons on board. Those orders are known collectively as ‘Marine Orders’ and include provisions which would otherwise appear in regulations under the Act.
On 18 November 1983 the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974 (the Safety Convention) and the Protocol of 1978 amending the Safety Convention entered into force for Australia. In order to give effect to the Safety Convention and the 1978 Protocol, a package of 14 Parts of Marine Orders incorporating the provisions of the Safety Convention has been issued, under the provisions of the Navigation (Orders) Regulations.
Fire protection requirements for new ships as defined by the Safety Convention from 18 November 1983, are regulated by Part 15 of Marine Orders. The amendment to the Navigation (Fire Appliances) Regulations therefore confines application of those Regulations to existing ships as defined by the Safety Convention.
Details of the regulations are set out below:
Regulations 1 and 2 provide that the regulations came into operation on 18 November 1983 and provide the citation of the Principal Regulations.
Regulation 3 amends existing regulation 5 by adding a definition of the date of construction of a ship for the purpose of amended regulation 6 that limits the application of the Navigation (Fire Appliances) Regulations to ships constructed prior to 25 May 1980.
Regulation 4 amends existing regulation 6 to provide that the Regulations do not apply to a ship which is registered in a country other than Australia that is not a Safety Convention ship and to provide that the Regulations do not apply to a ship, the keel of which was laid or which was at a similar stage of construction on or after 25 May 1980.
Regulation 5 is a consequential amendment to existing regulation 7 deleting the definition of the date of construction of a ship from that regulation.
Regulations 6, 7, 8 and 9 repeal existing regulations 16, 30, 58 and 77 as the substance of those regulations has been taken up in Part 15 of Marine Orders and is expressed to apply to all ships regardless of date of construction.