EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
STATUTORY RULE NO. 318 OF 1985
ISSUED BY THE AUTHORITY OF THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR TRANSPORT
NAVIGATION ACT 1912
NAVIGATION (LIMITATION OF SHIPOWNERS’ LIABILITY) REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT)
Sub-section 336(1) of the Navigation Act 1912 (‘the Act’) provides, in part, that the regulations may prescribe matters that are necessary or convenient to be prescribed for the purposes of carrying out or giving effect to the applied provisions of the International Convention relating to the limitation of the liability of owners of sea-going ships (‘the Limitation Convention’).
Sub-section 336(1) of the Act further provides, in particular, that the regulations may make provision for and in relation to the conversion of amounts of money expressed in units of account in the Limitation Convention into amounts of money expressed in the currency of Australia. The Navigation (Limitation of Shipowners’ Liability) Regulations (‘the Regulations’) were made pursuant to that sub-section.
As a result of the amendment of the Act made by the proclamation of section 178 of the Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act (No. 2) 19 82 and the entry into force of the Protocol amending the Limitation Convention (refer Dept. Minute No. 17 of 1985), it is necessary to amend the Regulations.
The amendment relies on the new definition of ‘Convention’ in sub-section 330(1) of the Act, inserted by the commencement of section 178 of the Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act (No. 2) 1982 (‘the Amending Act’) (refer Dept. Minute No. 17 of 1985). The amendment, which commences on 3 December 1985, is made in pursuance of section 4 of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901. That Act provides that regulations may be made as if (the empowering provision of) the Act had come into operation but the regulations shall not come into effect until (the empowering provision of) the Act comes into operation.
Regulation 5 of the Regulations provides for the conversion of francs into special drawing rights and for the conversion of special drawing rights into Australian currency, at the official rate of exchange determined by the Reserve Bank of Australia, for the purpose of determining the amounts to which liability may be limited under Article 3 of the Limitation Convention.
The Reserve Bank of Australia no longer determines an official rate of exchange - the value of the Australian dollar in terms of special drawing rights being determined in accordance with the method of calculation applied by the International Monetary Fund.
The amending regulation amends regulation 5 to reflect the manner in which the value of the Australian dollar in terms of special drawing rights is determined and to include the term ‘unit of account’ instead of ‘francs’, in accordance with the provisions of the Protocol.