EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Issued by the authority of the Minister for Resources
Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006
Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Regulatory Levies) Act 2003
Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Legislation (Repeal and Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2025
Purpose and Operation
The Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Legislation (Repeal and Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2025 (the Regulations) repeal the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Resource Management and Administration) Regulations 2011 (2011 RMA Regulations) and make consequential amendments to other regulations to support the commencement of the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Resource Management and Administration) Regulations 2025 (2025 RMA Regulations).
Further details of the Regulations are outlined in Attachment A.
Authority
Section 781 of the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006 (the OPGGS Act) provides that the Governor-General may make regulations prescribing matters required or permitted by the OPGGS Act to be prescribed, or necessary or convenient to be prescribed, for carrying out or giving effect to the OPGGS Act.
Section 11 of Part 5 of the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Regulatory Levies) Act 2003 provides that the Governor-General may make regulations for the purposes of sections 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 10A, 10B, 10C, 10D, 10E, 10F and 10G.
Commencement
The whole of the Regulations commence at the same time as the 2025 RMA Regulations. However, the provisions do not commence at all if that instrument does not commence.
Consultation
Consultation was undertaken in relation to the 2025 RMA Regulations. The Regulations support the 2025 RMA Regulations through technical and machinery measures.
Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights
A Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights is set out in Attachment B.
Attachment A
Details of the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Legislation (Repeal and Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2025
Section 1 - Name
This section provides for the title of the Regulations to be the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Legislation (Repeal and Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2025.
Section 2 - Commencement
This section sets out in a table the commencement provisions for the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Legislation (Repeal and Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2025 (the Regulations).
Table item 1 provides that the whole of the Regulations commence at the same time as the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Resource Management and Administration) Regulations 2025. However, the provisions do not commence at all if that instrument does not commence.
A note explains that the commencement table relates only to the provisions of the Regulations as made and will not be amended to deal with any later amendments of the Regulations.
Section 3 - Authority
This section provides that the Regulations are made under the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006 and the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Regulatory Levies) Act 2003.
Section 4 - Schedules
This section is a machinery provision that provides that each instrument that is specified in a Schedule to the instrument is amended or repealed as set out in the applicable items in that Schedule, and any other item in that Schedule has effect according to its terms.
Schedule 1—Repeals
Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Resource Management and Administration) Regulations 2011
Item 1 – The whole of the instrument
Item 1 of Schedule 1 to the instrument repeals the whole of the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Resource Management and Administration) Regulations 2011.
Schedule 2—Amendments
Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Greenhouse Gas Injection and Storage) Regulations 2023
Item 1 – Section 55 (note)
Item 1 of Schedule 2 to the instrument amends the note to section 55 of the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Greenhouse Gas Injection and Storage) Regulations 2023 to omit the wording: “regulation 11B.01 of the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Resource Management and Administration) Regulations 2011”, and substitute “section 221 of the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Resource Management and Administration) Regulations 2025”.
This technical amendment is consequential to the repeal of the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Resource Management and Administration) Regulations 2011 (2011 RMA Regulations) and the renumbering of provisions in the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Resource Management and Administration) Regulations 2025 (2025 RMA Regulations).
Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Regulatory Levies) Regulations 2022
Item 2 – Section 4 (definition of Resource Management and Administration Regulations)
Item 2 of Schedule 2 to the instrument amends the definition of ‘Resource Management and Administration Regulations’ in section 4 of the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Regulatory Levies) Regulations 2022 (the Regulatory Levies Regulations) by omitting the wording “Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Resource Management and Administration) Regulations 2011”, and substituting “Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Resource Management and Administration) Regulations 2025”.
This technical amendment is consequential to the repeal of the 2011 RMA Regulations and the making of the 2025 RMA Regulations.
Item 3 – Section 51
Item 3 of Schedule 2 to the instrument amends section 51 of the Regulatory Levies Regulations to omit the reference to “regulation 5.17(c)” and substitute a reference to “paragraph 73(2)(c)”.
This technical amendment is consequential to the repeal of the 2011 RMA Regulations and the renumbering of provisions in the 2025 RMA Regulations.
Item 4 – Subsection 54(1)
Item 4 of Schedule 2 to the instrument amends subsection 54(1) of the Regulatory Levies Regulations to omit the reference to “regulation 5.06” and substitute a reference to “section 78”.
This technical amendment is consequential to the repeal of the 2011 RMA Regulations and the renumbering of provisions in the 2025 RMA Regulations.
Item 5 – Subsection 54(2)
Item 5 of Schedule 2 to the instrument amends subsection 54(2) of the Regulatory Levies Regulations to omit the reference to “regulation 5.13” and substitute a reference to “section 87”.
This technical amendment is consequential to the repeal of the 2011 RMA Regulations and the renumbering of provisions in the 2025 RMA Regulations.
Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Safety) Regulations 2024
Item 6 – Section 5.1 (note)
Item 6 of Schedule 2 to the instrument amends the note to section 5.1 of the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Safety) Regulations 2024 to omit the wording: “regulation 11B.01 of the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Resource Management and Administration) Regulations 2011”, and substitute “section 221 of the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Resource Management and Administration) Regulations 2025”.
This technical amendment is consequential to the repeal of the 2011 RMA Regulations and the renumbering of provisions in the 2025 RMA Regulations.
Attachment B
STATEMENT OF COMPATIBILITY WITH HUMAN RIGHTS
Prepared in accordance with Part 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011
Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Legislation (Repeal and Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2025
This Legislative Instrument 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.
Overview of the Legislative Instrument
The Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Legislation (Repeal and Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2025 repeal the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Resource Management and Administration) Regulations 2011 and make consequential amendments to other regulations to support the commencement of the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Resource Management and Administration) Regulations 2025.
Human rights implications
This Legislative Instrument does not engage any of the applicable rights or freedoms.
Conclusion
This Legislative Instrument is compatible with human rights as it does not raise any human rights issues.
The Hon Madeleine King MP
Minister for Resources