Review of Domestic Commercial Vessel Safety legislation—Draft Interim Safety Report

Australia's diverse maritime industries include tourism, transport and fishing operations. These businesses are especially important in our coastal and regional communities, as well as to the whole Australian economy. The Australian Government is committed to having an effective system of safety regulation for vessels and seafarers across these industries.

There have been a number of recent inquiries into maritime safety regulation. In response to the Inquiry into the Performance of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA), the Government has committed to an independent review of the National System for Domestic Commercial Vessel Safety (National System) and the Marine Safety (Domestic Commercial Vessel) National Law Act 2012 (National Law). View the Terms of Reference for the independent review.

The National System is Australia's national regulatory framework to ensure the safe design, construction, equipping, crewing and operation of commercial, government and research vessels operating in Australian waters. Since mid-2018, the National System has been delivered by AMSA under National Law and related legislative instruments.

The review will be conducted in two phases, with the first to focus on the National Law framework (Phase 1) and the second to consider national system delivery costs and future funding options (Phase 2). This have your say is for the Draft Interim Safety Report released as part of Phase 1. You can view the other responses on the Review of Domestic Commercial Vessel Safety Legislation—Phase 1 webpage.

The lead panellist, Mr Michael Carmody, has withdrawn from the Panel for personal reasons. We would like to thank Mr Carmody for his significant contributions to Phase 1 of the Review.

Relevant documentation

• Independent Review of Domestic Commercial Vessel Safety Legislation and Costs and Charging
• Draft Interim Safety Report—Independent Review of Domestic Commercial Vessel Safety Legislation and Costs and Charging
  This draft report sets out the Independent Review Panel's findings on the extent to which the National Law framework is currently fit for purpose, and the challenges in existing arrangements under the National Law.