Australian National Maritime Museum Act 1990

if this Act receives the Royal Assent before 1 July 1989—on 1 July 1989; or

if this Act receives the Royal Assent on or after 1 July 1989—one month after it receives the Royal Assent.

In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears:

the sea above the continental shelf adjacent to the coast of Australia and the bed of that sea; and

the waters and beds of the lakes, rivers and other internal waters of Australia.

the history, including biological and geological history, of the Australian marine environment;

the history of the interaction of human beings with the Australian marine environment;

the history of sea travel by Australians, and by persons to and from Australia, whether for the purpose of migration, trade, exploration, defence or otherwise; and

the history of research into, and the recovery of materials related to, any of the matters referred to in paragraphs (a), (b) and (c).

Where, during a period, a place was a Territory referred to in section 122 of the Constitution (including a Territory administered by Australia under a Trusteeship Agreement), then, for the purposes of the definitions of Australian marine environment and Australian maritime history in subsection (1), a reference in those definitions to Australia includes a reference to the place during the period when it was such a Territory.

There is established by this section a museum by the name of the Australian National Maritime Museum.

The Museum:

is a body corporate;

shall have a seal; and

may sue and be sued.

The Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 applies to the Museum. That Act deals with matters relating to corporate Commonwealth entities, including reporting and the use and management of public resources.

The seal of the Museum shall be kept in such custody as the Council directs and shall not be used except as authorised by the Council.

All courts, judges and persons acting judicially shall take judicial notice of the imprint of the seal of the Museum appearing on a document and shall presume the document was duly sealed.

to exhibit, or to make available for exhibition by others, in Australia or elsewhere, material included in the national maritime collection or maritime historical material that is otherwise in the possession of the Museum;

to co‑operate with other institutions (whether public or private) in the exhibiting, or in the making available for exhibition, of such material;

to develop, preserve and maintain the national maritime collection in accordance with section 9;

to disseminate information relating to Australian maritime history and information relating to the Museum and its functions;

to conduct, arrange for and assist research into matters relating to Australian maritime history; and

to develop sponsorship, marketing and other commercial activities relating to the Museum’s functions.

Subject to this Act, the Museum has power to do all things necessary or convenient to be done for or in connection with the performance of its functions and, in particular, has power:

to purchase, commission the creation of or take on hire, deposit or loan, maritime historical material;

to lend or hire out or otherwise deal with maritime historical material;

to recover, or to arrange for or assist in the recovery of, maritime historical material from the Australian marine environment and from other areas;

to dispose of, in accordance with section 10, material included in the national maritime collection and to dispose of maritime historical material that is otherwise in the possession of the Museum;

from time to time as the occasion requires, to exhibit in Australia or elsewhere, material, whether in written form or in any other form and whether relating to Australia or to a foreign country;

to accept gifts, devises, bequests or assignments made to the Museum, whether on trust or otherwise, and whether unconditionally or subject to a condition and, if a gift, devise, bequest or assignment is accepted by the Museum on trust or subject to a condition, to act as trustee or to comply with the condition, as the case may be;

to acquire and operate vessels, whether in Australian waters or otherwise and whether or not the vessels are maritime historical material;

to collect, and make available (whether in writing or in any other form and whether by sale or otherwise), information relating to Australian maritime history;

to make available information relating to the Museum and its functions;

to make available (whether by sale or otherwise) reproductions, replicas or other representations (whether in writing or in any other form) of maritime historical material;

to arrange for the manufacture and distribution of (whether by sale or otherwise), any article or thing bearing a mark, symbol or writing that is associated with the Museum;

to enter into contracts;

to acquire, hold and dispose of real or personal property;

to erect buildings and structures and carry out works;

to take on leases of land or buildings and to grant leases and sub‑leases of land or buildings;

to fix charges for entry onto any land or water, or into any building, structure or vessel, owned by, or under the control of the Museum, being charges that:

are in addition to the charges fixed by the regulations; and

relate to special exhibitions or other special events;

to purchase or take on hire, deposit or loan, and to dispose of or otherwise deal with, furnishings, equipment and other goods;

to raise money for the purposes of the Museum by appropriate means, having regard to the proper performance of the functions of the Museum;

to charge such fees and impose such charges (in addition to the charges fixed by regulations) as are reasonable in respect of services rendered by the Museum;

to act on behalf of the Commonwealth or of an authority of the Commonwealth in the administration of a trust relating to maritime historical material or related matters; and

to appoint agents and attorneys and act as an agent for other persons.

The Museum may exercise its powers either alone or jointly with another person or other persons.

The Minister may make available to the Museum for the purposes of the Museum:

such areas of land (including any buildings, structures or other improvements on those areas); and

such areas of water;

The Minister may:

where the Council so requests, transfer or cause to be transferred to the Museum maritime historical material owned by the Commonwealth; and

transfer or cause to be transferred to the Museum such other goods or equipment owned by the Commonwealth as the Minister considers would be of use to the Museum.

Where the Minister causes an asset to be transferred to the Museum under subsection (2), the Minister may, by writing signed by him or her, declare that the transfer shall be taken to have had effect from a specified day, not being a day earlier than the day on which this Act commences, and, where the Minister makes such a declaration, it has effect accordingly.

Where an asset of the Commonwealth is transferred to the Museum under subsection (2), the Museum becomes liable to pay and discharge all debts, liabilities and obligations of the Commonwealth (if any) that existed immediately before the transfer in respect of that asset.

The Minister may, by writing signed by him or her, declare that a specified agreement or a specified instrument:

to which the Commonwealth or the Commonwealth Government is a party; and

that immediately before the commencement of this Act related to a maritime museum;

the Museum were substituted for the Commonwealth or the Commonwealth Government, as the case may be, as a party to the agreement or instrument; and

any reference in the agreement or instrument to the Commonwealth or the Commonwealth Government were (except in relation to matters that occurred before the commencement of this Act) a reference to the Museum;

The Museum shall develop a national collection of maritime historical material.

The national maritime collection shall consist of all maritime historical material in the sole ownership of the Museum that the Council has determined in accordance with subsection (3) should be included in the national maritime collection.

The Council shall, from time to time, determine which of the maritime historical material that comes into the sole ownership of the Museum should be included in the national maritime collection.

Any determination made by the Council for the purposes of subsection (3) shall be based upon criteria, and made in accordance with guidelines, approved by the Minister.

The Museum shall not sell or otherwise dispose of material included in the national maritime collection except in accordance with section 10.

Subject to subsections (2) and (3), where the Council is satisfied that material included in the national maritime collection:

is unfit for the collection; or

is not required as part of the collection;

The Council shall not determine that material included in the national maritime collection be disposed of until the Council has obtained and considered reports from 2 independent experts setting out the views of those experts on the importance of the material to the national maritime collection.

The Council shall not determine that material included in the national maritime collection be disposed of by destruction unless the Council is satisfied that the material cannot be disposed of by sale, exchange or gift.

If the Council has determined, in accordance with this section, that material included in the national maritime collection be disposed of, the Museum may dispose of that material accordingly.

Particulars of any such disposals must be included in the annual report (see section 48).

Subsection (4) is subject to section 47 (about restrictions on financial transactions).