Review of Section 11 of Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1991

Some stakeholders in the maritime trade sector have raised concerns with Section 11 of the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1991. Their concerns relate to the way Section 11 prevents them from using international arbitration to settle shipping disputes, and creating uncertainty in contractual arrangements.

The department has put together a discussion paper which identifies three potential policy concerns in Section 11:

• Whether 'sea carriage document' needs to be better defined
• If interstate voyages should also be protected from foreign arbitration clauses
• Whether the location and seat of arbitration should be in Australia.

We want to hear the sector's views on these policy concerns.

To help guide feedback, the department has included a list of questions under each policy concern set out in the discussion paper.

For example, under Concern 1: Definition of a Sea Carriage Document, there is a question box which asks questions such as:

See page 6 of the discussion paper.

Relevant documentation

• Discussion paper—Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1991—Potential amendments to Section 11