Australian Offshore Laws brings together in one place a reference to all laws that apply to offshore Australian waters for the benefit of legal practitioners, regulators, academics and students. It demonstrates the unnecessary complexity of the Australian offshore legal regime and proposes, as a first step towards reform, a review of the Offshore Constitutional Settlement of 1979 (OCS 1979).  It discusses the manner of present drafting of such laws as many Commonwealth, State, and Territory laws apply offshore but few are drafted in a manner which identifies their limits or recognises their interaction with other offshore laws of with the OCS 1979.

Summary Table of Contents

Introduction and Background to Offshore Laws
Offshore Constitutional Laws
Offshore Petroleum, Mining and Installations Laws
Offshore Criminal Laws
Offshore Defence Laws
Offshore Immigration Laws
Offshore Fisheries Laws
Offshore Customs Laws
Antarctica and Southern Ocean Territories Laws
Offshore Territories Laws
Offshore Shipping Laws
Offshore Geographical Areas
Summary and Proposals for Reform
Appendix 1: Offshore Petroleum Agreement 1967
Appendix 2: Offshore Constitutional Settlement: A Milestone in Co-operative Federalism
Appendix 3: Offshore Constitutional Settlement: Selected Statements and Documents 1978-79