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Legislation and Regulations

A summary of the law applying to occupational health and safety in offshore petroleum operations may be found in the document Offshore OHS Legislative Framework.

NOPSA was legally established by amendments that were made to the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1967 of the Commonwealth (the PSLA 1967) by the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Amendment Act 2003. Specifically, Part IIIC was added to the PSLA 1967 to establish NOPSA, set out its governance arrangements, and define its functions in relation to petroleum activities in Commonwealth waters. The Offshore Petroleum Act 2006 (OPA 2006) has replaced the PSLA 1967 and the OPA 2006 was subsequently replaced by the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006 (OPGGSA 2006).

Most States (including the Northern Territory) have made corresponding amendments to their PSLA 1982, so as to confer equivalent functions on NOPSA in relation to petroleum activities in State and NT designated coastal waters.

Schedule 3 to the OPGGSA 2006 establishes a modern occupational health and safety regime for petroleum activities at facilities (including pipelines) located in Commonwealth waters. The main features of the regime are:

Duties of Care
Specific categories of persons (operators, employers, etc) who are involved in offshore petroleum activities at facilities are required to "take all reasonably practicable steps" to protect the health and safety of the facility workforce and of any other persons who may be affected
Consultation Provisions
Mechanisms are set out that will enable effective consultation between each facility operator, relevant employers and the workforce regarding occupational health and safety
Powers of inspectors
NOPSA's OHS inspectors are granted powers to enter offshore facilities or other relevant premises, conduct inspections, interview people, seize evidence and otherwise take action to ensure compliance by parties with legal obligations.

A current compilation of the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006 is available from the Commonwealth Law website.

Section 638 of the OPGGSA 2006 defines the laws that NOPSA and its OHS inspectors will administer and enforce in Commonwealth waters. These laws include Schedule 3 to the OPGGSA 2006, and the Offshore Petroleum (Safety) Regulations 2009.

New Single Set of Safety Regulations

A project undertaken by the Federal Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism (RET) to consolidate and update the safety-related regulations under the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006 is complete. The new regulations are the Offshore Petroleum (Safety) Regulations 2009 and came into effect on 1 January 2010.

The consolidation repeals the Petroleum (Submerged lands) (Management of Safety on Offshore Facilities) Regulations 1996, the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) (Occupational Health and Safety) Regulations 1993, and the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) (Diving Safety) Regulations 2002 and amalgamates their contents into one set of regulations. In addition to the consolidation and the updating of references to the Act, there were a number of amendments including:

  • Licensed pipelines are now required to have accepted safety cases. Safety-related aspects have been removed from the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) (Pipelines) Regulations 2001, including references to the Pipeline Safety Management Plan and NOPSA.
  • Insertion of a list of vessels and structures that are not 'facilities' and a separate list of vessels and structures that are not 'associated offshore places'.
  • New regulations for the nomination of operators of a shared facility – designed to anticipate situations where a petroleum facility may become a shared petroleum/greenhouse gas storage facility.
  • An amendment to the Schedule relating to in situ asbestos. To be consistent with recent amendments to the Customs (Prohibited Imports) Regulations 1956 which remove import control that applies to ships and installations containing in situ amphibole or chrysotile asbestos under specific circumstances. The amendment complements occupational health and safety laws, and does not alter industry’s obligations and responsibilities in respect of providing a safe workplace.
  • An obligation on NOPSA to publish certain details of the operator register on its website.
    • The regulations together with an explanatory statement are available from the Federal Attorney General’s Department Commonwealth Law website.

    The following diagram provides a simple overview of the changes. (Click to enlarge)

    NOPSA has produced a concordance table that may assist in the navigation from the repealed regulations to the new regulations. This table was produce for NOPSA's own use and NOPSA does not guarantee the accuracy of the table for use by others.

    State and Northern Territory Laws

    The NOPSA administered State and Northern Territory laws include:

    Western Australia.
    Schedule 5 of the PSLA 1982 and four sets of regulations. Each set of regulations corresponds to one set of the Commonwealth regulations listed above.
    View Act on WA Website
    View OHS Regs on WA Website
    View MoSOF Regs on WA Website
    View Pipeline Regs on WA Website
    View Diving Safety Regs on WA Website
    Victoria.
    Schedule 7 of the PSLA 1982 and the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Regulations 2004. The single set of Victorian regulations corresponds to all four sets of Commonwealth regulations, and also addresses other matters.
    View Act on Vic Website
    View Regs on Vic Website
    Northern Territory.
    Schedule 4 of the PSLA 1982, and the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) (Application of Commonwealth Laws) Regulations 2004. The NT regulations call up the relevant Commonwealth regulations.
    View Act and Regs on NT Website
    South Australia.
    Schedule 7 of the PSLA 1982 and the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Regulations 2005. The single set of South Australian regulations corresponds to all four sets of Commonwealth regulations, and also addresses other matters.
    View Act on SA Website
    View Regs on SA Website

    (The mirror laws of Tasmania, Queensland and New South Wales are not yet fully in place.)

    Click on the diagram to enlarge.

    Safety Levies

    The Offshore Petroleum (Safety Levies) Act 2003 of the Commonwealth establishes the cost recovery regime through which NOPSA is funded. The Offshore Petroleum (Safety Levies) Regulations 2004 set out the methods of calculating the levies, and the procedures for payments. In addition to Commonwealth waters, the levies under this Commonwealth legislation relate to State and Northern Territory designated coastal waters. There is no equivalent State or NT levies legislation.

    Changes to Levies Regulations

    The following amendments to the Offshore Petroleum (Safety Levies) Regulations have been made effective from 1 January 2010:

    • All instalments of levies become payable in arrears
    • The facility rating for a large production platform with drilling/workover capability was increased from nine to 12
    • The facility rating for a vessel or structure used for the erection, dismantling or decommissioning of a facility or for the provision of accommodation for persons working on another facility was decreased from five to three
    • The minimum safety case levy and SMS amount payable for mobile facilities in any four consecutive quarters was reduced from two to one quarterly instalment
    • The unit value was increased from $25,000 to $26,000.

    For details of other relevant legislation, go to the following web sites:

    This page was last updated on 12 January 2010.

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