Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Act 1975

The Governor‑General may make regulations, not inconsistent with this Act or with a zoning plan (disregarding regulations made for the purposes of subsection 35DA(1)), prescribing all matters required or permitted by this Act to be prescribed or necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to this Act.

The regulations may provide for a matter that a zoning plan or plan of management may otherwise provide for (see sections 35DA and 39ZFA. See also subsections (4) and (4A) of this section).

Without limiting the generality of subsection (1), regulations to do any or all of the following may be made:

conferring functions on the Authority for the purposes of the regulations;

providing for giving effect to, and enforcing the observance of, zoning plans;

providing for giving effect to the enforcement provisions of a plan of management or to the enforcement provisions of an amendment of a plan of management;

providing that zoning plans or plans of management may provide in relation to a matter in relation to which the regulations may provide;

conferring functions and powers, and imposing duties upon, inspectors;

providing for services and facilities in, or in connexion with, the Marine Park;

regulating or prohibiting acts (whether in the Marine Park or elsewhere) that may pollute water in a manner harmful to animals and plants in the Marine Park;

providing for the protection and preservation of the Marine Park and property and things in the Marine Park;

providing for the removal from the Marine Park of persons unlawfully in the Marine Park or committing offences against this Act in the Marine Park;

providing for the safety of persons in the Marine Park;

regulating the conduct of persons in the Marine Park;

regulating or prohibiting the carrying on of any trade or commerce in the Marine Park;

providing for fees and charges to be imposed by the Authority upon persons using services or facilities provided by the Authority in or in connexion with the Marine Park;

providing for the imposition and collection of charges for:

the mooring of vessels;

the landing of aircraft; or

the use of vessels;

providing for the removal of vessels from places in the Marine Park where they have been left in contravention of this Act or have been abandoned and for the impounding of such vessels;

regulating the use of vessels in, and the passage of vessels through, the Marine Park and the landing and use of aircraft in, and the flying of aircraft over, the Marine Park;

regulating or prohibiting the taking of animals or plants into, or out of, the Marine Park;

providing for the impounding, removal, destruction or disposal of animals found straying in the Marine Park;

regulating or prohibiting the taking into the Marine Park, and the use in the Marine Park, of weapons, traps, nets, snares, fishing apparatus and other devices;

regulating or prohibiting the laying of baits and the use of explosives and poisons in the Marine Park;

providing for the collection of specimens and the pursuit of research in the Marine Park for scientific purposes;

providing for the grant or issue of licences, permissions, permits and authorities, the conditions subject to which they are granted or issued (which may include a requirement to enter into an agreement with the Commonwealth) and the charging of fees by the Authority in respect of such licences, permissions, permits and authorities;

providing for the issue of exemptions by the Minister under section 59F and the conditions subject to which they are issued;

providing for the use of a vessel monitoring system on vessels in the Marine Park and for the use and disclosure of information provided by the vessel monitoring system;

regulating fishing (of any kind, including commercial fishing) in the Marine Park;

regulating camping and other activities on islands in the Marine Park;

providing for the protection and conservation of protected species in the Marine Park;

providing for any matter incidental to or connected with any of the foregoing.

Without limiting subsection (1), the regulations may prescribe measures for the management of the discharge of sewage from vessels in the Marine Park.

Without limiting the generality of subsection (1) or (2), the regulations may be expressed to apply to or in relation to:

the Marine Park;

a specified part of the Marine Park in respect of which no zoning plan is in force;

a specified zone; or

a specified part of a zone.

A regulation is taken not to be inconsistent with a zoning plan merely because it:

further regulates an activity that is allowed or permitted by the zoning plan; or

prohibits an activity that is otherwise allowed or permitted by the zoning plan.

Nothing in subsection (4) allows a regulation to allow or permit an activity that is otherwise prohibited by the zoning plan concerned.

Regulations shall not apply to an area within the Marine Park in respect of which no zoning plan is in force if more than 5 years has elapsed since that area became part of the Marine Park.

Subject to subsections (7) and (8) and to any contrary intention appearing in a law made after the commencement of this Act, a provision of the regulations has full force and effect notwithstanding that it is inconsistent with a law of the Commonwealth made before or after the commencement of this Act.

A provision of the regulations regulating navigation in the Marine Park does not have any force or effect to the extent to which it is inconsistent with a law of the Commonwealth, but such a provision shall not be taken for the purposes of this subsection to be inconsistent with such a law if it can be complied with without contravention of that law.

A provision of the regulations regulating the flying of aircraft over the Marine Park does not have any force or effect to the extent to which it is inconsistent with a law of the Commonwealth, but such a provision shall not be taken for the purposes of this subsection to be inconsistent with such a law if it can be complied with without contravention of that law.

The power to make regulations conferred by this Act may be exercised:

in relation to all cases to which the power extends, or in relation to all those cases subject to specified exceptions, or in relation to any specified cases or classes of case; and

so as to make, as respects the cases in relation to which it is exercised, the same provision for all those cases or different provision for different cases or classes of case.

The power to make regulations conferred by this Act shall not be taken not to include the power to make provision for or in relation to a matter by reason only of the fact that:

a provision is made by this Act in relation to that matter or another matter; or

power is expressly conferred by this Act to make provision by regulation for or in relation to another matter.

The regulations may prescribe penalties not exceeding a fine of 50 penalty units for offences against the regulations.

If a body corporate is convicted of an offence, subsection 4B(3) of the Crimes Act 1914 allows a court to impose a fine of an amount that is not greater than 5 times the maximum fine that could be imposed by a court on an individual convicted of the same offence.

The limitation imposed by subsection (11) on the penalties that may be prescribed by the regulations does not prevent the regulations from requiring a person to make a statutory declaration.

Despite subsection 14(2) of the Legislation Act 2003, the regulations may make provision in relation to a matter by applying, adopting or incorporating any matter contained in an instrument or other writing as in force or existing from time to time.