High Seas Biodiversity Act 2026 implements Australia’s obligations under the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction. It applies extraterritorially to Australian entities, vessels and aircraft, subject to international law, and requires the Minister to adopt a precautionary approach where serious or irreversible environmental damage is threatened. Its operation extends to Australia’s external Territories, while specified activities in Antarctica and the area governed by the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources are excluded. The Act establishes notification and information-sharing requirements for Australian entities collecting marine genetic resources beyond national jurisdiction or using those resources and their digital sequence information for research and development. It provides for pre-collection and post-collection notices, notification certificates, the deposit of utilised resources or information in regulated repositories or databases, and reporting and record-keeping duties for repository and database owners. It also enables the Minister to establish special management plans for areas covered by internationally adopted area-based management tools, including marine protected areas, or equivalent alternative measures where Australia maintains an objection. Activities capable of causing substantial pollution or significant harmful changes to the marine environment must be referred to the Minister and may require an environmental impact assessment, public and international consultation, and ministerial authorisation subject to conditions. The Act creates an electronic High Seas Biodiversity Register and provides inspection, monitoring, investigation, information-gathering and audit powers. Criminal offences and civil penalties apply to failures involving notification, deposits, record keeping, management measures, environmental assessment and authorisation requirements.
أستراليا · 2026-04-08