The ''Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976'' was an Australian

Act of Parliament Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the Legislature, legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of ...

designed to legally protect historic

shipwreck A shipwreck is the wreckage of a ship that is located either beached on land or sunken to the bottom of a body of water. Shipwrecking may be intentional or unintentional. Angela Croome reported in January 1999 that there were approximately ...

s and any relics or artefacts from those wrecks. The Act automatically affects all shipwrecks that meet the "historic" criteria (generally defined as vessels more than 75 years old, although newer ships with historic value may be placed under the Act) and are in Australian Commonwealth waters (between the low-

tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravity, gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide t ...

mark and the edge of the

continental shelf A continental shelf is a portion of a continent that is submerged under an area of relatively shallow water, known as a shelf sea. Much of these shelves were exposed by drops in sea level during glacial periods. The shelf surrounding an island ...

): complementary state and territory legislation protects shipwrecks in state and territory waters including rivers and bays. Of the estimated 8,000 shipwrecks in Australian waters, more than 6,500 are protected under this legislation. Most shipwrecks under the act can be accessed by the public, although no items may be removed from the wreck site without permission, and

divers Diver or divers may refer to: *Diving (sport), the sport of performing acrobatics while jumping or falling into water *Practitioner of underwater diving, including: **scuba diving, **freediving, **surface-supplied diving, **saturation diving, a ...

must take care not to damage or disturb the wreck. Any items removed from a protected wreck (including those removed before the Act came into effect) must be listed on a database maintained by the Federal department responsible for maintaining and preserving Australia's

cultural heritage Cultural heritage is the heritage of tangible and intangible heritage assets of a group or society that is inherited from past generations. Not all heritages of past generations are "heritage"; rather, heritage is a product of selection by soci ...

(the

Department of the Environment and Energy The Department of the Environment and Energy (DEE) was an Australian government department in existence between 2016 and 2020. The department was responsible for matters including environment protection and conservation of biodiversity as well ...

). As of 2011, over 500,000 artefacts and relics are listed and recognised. Anyone disturbing a protected shipwreck can be fined up to A$10,000, or imprisoned for a maximum of five years. The Act was repealed by the provision of assent on 24 August 2018 to the ''

Underwater Cultural Heritage Act 2018 The ''Underwater Cultural Heritage Act 2018'' is an Australian Act of Parliament designed "to protect shipwrecks, sunken aircraft and their associated artefacts, that occurred 75 or more years ago, regardless of whether their location is known ...

'' which commenced on 1 July 2019.

Historic shipwreck protected zones

Shipwrecks can be placed within an exclusion zone with a radius up to where there can be no activities in or through this zone without formal permission. The following historic shipwrecks lie within protected or no-entry zones declared under the Act: * ''Aarhus'' * SS ''Alert'' * ''Bega'' * ''Cato'' * AHS ''Centaur'' * ''Clonmel'' * SMS ''Emden'' * ''Foam'' *'' Florence D'' * SS ''Glenelg'' * SS ''Gothenburg'' * HSK ''Kormoran'' * ''Lady Darling'' *''Llewellyn'' * Submarine ''M24'' * HMCS ''Mermaid'' * * *''

Sanyo Maru , stylized as SANYO, is a Japanese electronics company and formerly a member of the Fortune Global 500, ''Fortune'' Global 500 whose headquarters was located in Moriguchi, Osaka, Moriguchi, Osaka prefecture, Japan. Sanyo had over 230 subsidiari ...

'' * Submarine ''I-124'' * HMAS ''Sydney'' * SS ''Yongala'' * VOC ''Zuytdorp''

Complementary legislation

The following legislation complements the Act within waters under the direct control of the States and the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

: *

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

: ''Heritage Act 1977'' * Northern Territory: ''Heritage Conservation Act 1991'' *

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

: ''Queensland Heritage Act 1992'' *

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

: ''Historic Shipwrecks Act 1981'' and ''Heritage Places Act 1993'' *

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

: ''Historic Cultural Heritage Act 1995'' *

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

: ''Heritage Act 1995'' and ''Heritage Historic Shipwrecks General Regulations 1996'' *

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

: ''Maritime Archaeology Act 1973''

References

{{reflist

External links

''Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976''
Shipwreck law Repealed Acts of the Parliament of Australia 1976 in Australian law

Historic shipwreck protected zones

Complementary legislation

See also

References

External links