AMSA will be closed from 5 pm AEDT Tuesday 24 December 2024, re-opening on Thursday 2 January 2025. Our search and rescue will continue to operate every day (24/7) during this time. See which services are affected.

Enabling legislation

As a statutory authority, we work with the guidance of legislation.

We are a statutory authority established under the Australian Maritime Safety Authority Act 1990 (AMSA Act). As a corporate Commonwealth entity we are also subject to the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 (PGPA Act).

The legislation relevant to our operations is listed below. AMSA accepts no liability or responsibility for the accuracy of the information provided on other websites we link to. The legislation provided online may not be the official version and should not be used for legal purposes without reference to the official published version.

AMSA legislation
Levy legislation
Marine pollution legislation
Shipping industry and navigation legislation
Shipping registration legislation
Associated shipping legislation

Administered by Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development

Other maritime legislation
AMSA Annual Regulatory Plan

Our regulatory plan provides details of planned changes to our regulatory instruments such as Marine Orders and the National Standard for Commercial Vessels, to make it easier for business and the community to take part in the development of those instruments.

We publish an annual regulatory plan early in each financial year and may publish revised annual regulatory plans during the year when appropriate.

The regulatory plans contain information on:

  • changes to business regulation that occurred during the previous financial year
  • details of legislative or other action planned for the current financial year that could lead to changes in business regulation.

While there may be some regulatory activities that we are unable to forecast, these activities will involve consultation with affected parties and will be recorded in future regulatory plans.

Related information

Last updated: 29 August 2024