Marine Safety Act 1998

A person must not operate a vessel in any navigable waters—

negligently, or

recklessly, or

at a speed or in a manner dangerous to the public.

if the operation of the vessel occasions death or grievous bodily harm—1,000 penalty units (where the vessel is a foreign vessel or regulated Australian vessel), 100 penalty units (where the vessel is any other commercial vessel other than a hire and drive vessel) or 50 penalty units (where the vessel is a hire and drive vessel or recreational vessel), or imprisonment for 2 years, or both, or

if the operation of the vessel does not occasion death or grievous bodily harm—1,000 penalty units (where the vessel is a foreign vessel or regulated Australian vessel), 100 penalty units (where the vessel is any other commercial vessel other than a hire and drive vessel) or 50 penalty units (where the vessel is a hire and drive vessel or recreational vessel), or imprisonment for 9 months (in the case of a first offence) or 12 months (in the case of a second or subsequent offence), or both.

A person who is on a vessel in navigable waters, or is being towed by such a vessel, must not do anything that is dangerous to the public.

In considering whether an offence has been committed under this section, the court is to have regard to all the circumstances of the case, including the following—

the nature and condition of the waters in which the offence is alleged to have been committed,

the amount of traffic that actually is at the time, or which might reasonably be expected to be, in those waters,

the impact of the alleged offence on others using or near to the waters in which the offence is alleged to have been committed, including nearby swimmers, divers, surfers, fishers and people using any adjacent land.

The higher maximum penalty under paragraph (a) of the maximum penalty in subsection (1) does not apply unless it is alleged in the charge for the offence that the conduct concerned occasioned death or grievous bodily harm.

In this section—