mile limit), the Commonwealth OHS laws do not apply if the adjacent State or NT laws ‘substantially
correspond’ to the listed Commonwealth ones. One should note that the ordinary Commonwealth and State
maritime legislation applies to petroleum facilities if they are in mobile form, but once they are bedded in they
are no longer defined as ‘ships’ so those Acts no longer apply.69
Further, in relation to the offshore OHS regime, one notes that the OPGGSA 2006 provides for a National
Offshore Petroleum Safety Authority with its main function being to promote and to regulate the occupational
health and safety of persons engaged in offshore petroleum operations.70 The Authority is a body corporate,
which is advised on safety by its Board and may refer matters to the National Oil and Gas Safety Advisory
Committee (NOGSAC).71 The Act makes provision for States to be referred powers under this regime by
appropriate State legislation.72 It may be mentioned that the major oil spill from the Montara Wellhead
platform on 21 August 2009 has lead to a major inquiry and significant amendments to the OPGGSA 2006,
including to safety of the platforms, but those issues are too lengthy for development in this article.73
Only a few aspects of this massive Act have been noted but it may be seen that the offshore laws relating to
petroleum and greenhouse gas storage activities have an intricate inter-relationship with Commonwealth,
State and NT laws.