Government departments and statutory authorities administer the regulatory regime for the offshore petroleum and greenhouse gas (GHG) sectors in Australia.
Under international law, Australia has:
This jurisdiction extends from the territorial sea baseline to the outer edge of the Continental Shelf.
For the purposes of titles administration, the National Offshore Petroleum Titles Administrator (NOPTA) regulates petroleum and GHG titles in all offshore Commonwealth waters, more than 3 nautical miles of the territorial sea baseline.
Departments, authorities and their responsibilities in administering the regime under the Petroleum Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006 (OPGGS Act) are listed below.
The Titles Administrator (TA):
The NOPTA branch is also responsible for:
Read more about NOPTA.
The Joint Authority (JA) comprises the relevant state, Northern Territory and Commonwealth ministers. The JA is responsible for making offshore petroleum decisions including:
The JA comprises the Responsible Commonwealth Minister (RCM) only for the following offshore areas:
View the current JA members and their delegates.
The Responsible Commonwealth Minister (RCM) is the decision maker for all greenhouse gas (GHG) decisions. (Excluding infrastructure licences, pipeline licences and cross boundary assessment permits.)
Read about the RCM on the Minister for Resources and Minister for Northern Australia.
Our department is responsible for offshore petroleum and GHG policy and legislation development and oversight.
Read about our department.
NOPSEMA is the independent regulator for health and safety, structural (well) integrity and environmental management for all offshore petroleum and GHG operations in Commonwealth waters and in coastal waters where regulatory powers and functions have been conferred.
Read about NOPSEMA.
