Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1991

The object of this Act is to introduce a regime of marine cargo liability that:

is up‑to‑date, equitable and efficient; and

is compatible with arrangements existing in countries that are major trading partners of Australia; and

takes into account developments within the United Nations in relation to marine cargo liability arrangements.

The object of the Act is to be achieved by:

as a first step—replacing the Sea‑Carriage of Goods Act 1924 with provisions that give effect to the Brussels Convention as amended by the Visby Protocol and the SDR Protocol, and as modified in accordance with regulations under section 7; and

as a second step—replacing those provisions with provisions that give effect to the Hamburg Convention, if the Minister decides, after conducting a review, that those provisions should be so replaced.