Conference Presentations
Abstract
This paper sets out the findings and impacts of the Uniform Shipping Laws Committee (separated into five working groups), convened by the Commonwealth Department of Transport in the early 1970s, in relation to developing uniform regulations for the construction, equipping, and manning of commercial vessels. A set of rules resulted from this exercise, which was incorporated into federal law through the 1979 amendments to the Navigation Act 1912. The process of giving force to the Uniform Rules would prove more complicated for the states - it was necessary in Queensland, for example, to amend state legislation to avoid inconsistencies arising between it and the Rules.