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2019
THE PARLIAMENT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA
SENATE
MARINE SAFETY (DOMESTIC COMMERCIAL VESSEL) NATIONAL LAW
AMENDMENT (IMPROVING SAFETY) BILL 2019
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
(Circulated by authority of Senator Sterle)
Marine Safety (Domestic Commercial Vessel) National Law Amendment
(Improving Safety) Bill 2019
OUTLINE
The purpose of the Marine Safety (Domestic Commercial Vessel) National Law Amendment
(Improving Safety) Bill 2019 (the bill) is to guarantee the safety of passengers on domestic
commercial vessels. The passage of this bill will achieve exactly that by ensuring that masters
of domestic commercial vessels conduct two headcounts of their passengers at a minimum.
The two headcounts must be conducted at the commencement of the voyage and at the end,
to ensure that all passengers are present and accounted for.
This bill is needed to avoid a similar case occurring to that which happened with the tragic
loss of Mr Damien Mills when he fell off the back of a boat undetected and died in 2014. Had
the master of that vessel conducted a headcount when the boat got back to Fremantle, they
would have realised that Mr Mills was missing and they could have alerted the appropriate
authorities. WA Water Police, in giving evidence to the Senate's Rural and Regional Affairs
and Transport Legislation Committee's inquiry into the performance of the Australian
Maritime Safety Authority, stated that had they been made aware that Mr Mills had fallen
overboard at the time the vessel docked, they would have had a very strong chance of finding
him alive.
Current legislation only mandates that one headcount has to be conducted at any time by the
master of a vessel. The introduction of this bill will require masters of vessels to conduct two
headcounts, one at the commencement of a voyage and one at the end. The bill excludes
certain vessels from this requirement, including Class 4 vessels, vessels used for the purposes
of public transport and vessels which are more than 24 metres long,
NOTES ON CLAUSES
Clause 1: Short Title
1. This clause is a formal provision and specifies that the short title of the Act may be
cited as the Marine Safety (Domestic Commercial Vessel) National Law Amendment
(Improving Safety) Act 2019
Clause 2: Commencement
2. This clause clarifies when the Act commences.
Clause 3: Schedules
4. Each Act specified in a Schedule to this Act is amended or repealed as is set out in the
applicable items in the Schedule. Any other item in a Schedule to this Act has effect
according to its terms.
Schedule 1--Amendments
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Schedule 1 amends the Marine Safety (Domestic Commercial Vessel) National Law Act 2012.
Item 1 - After subsection 163(1) of Schedule 1
5. This item requires Australia's national maritime safety regulator, the Australian
Maritime Safety Authority, to create an instrument to require masters of vessels, other than
those used for the purpose of public transport and that are more than 24 metres long, to
conduct two headcounts, one at the commencement of a voyage and one at the end.
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Marine Safety (Domestic Commercial Vessel) National Law Amendment (Improving
Safety) Bill 2019
This Bill 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 Bill
The purpose of this bill is to guarantee the safety of passengers on domestic commercial
vessels. The passage of this bill will achieve exactly that by ensuring that masters of domestic
commercial vessels conduct two headcounts of their passengers, one at the commencement of
the voyage and one at the end, to ensure that all passengers are present and accounted for.
This bill is needed to avoid a similar case occurring to that which happened with the tragic
loss of Mr Damien Mills when he fell off the back of a boat undetected and died in 2014. Had
the master of that vessel conducted a headcount when the boat got back to Fremantle, they
would have realised that Mr Mills was missing and they could have alerted the appropriate
authorities. WA Water Police, in giving evidence to the Senate's Rural Regional Affairs and
Transport References Committee's inquiry into the performance of the Australian Maritime
Safety Authority, stated that had they been made aware that Mr Mills had fallen overboard at
the time the vessel docked, they would have had a very strong chance of finding him alive.
Current legislation only mandates that one headcount has to be conducted at any time by the
master of a vessel. The introduction of this bill will require Masters of vessels, other than
those used for the purpose of public transport and that are more than 24 metres long to
conduct two headcounts, one at the commencement of a voyage and one at the end.
Human rights implications
This Bill does not engage any of the applicable rights or freedoms.
Conclusion
This Bill is compatible with human rights as it does not raise any human rights issues.
Senator Glenn Sterle
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