Colonial and Federal Admiralty Jurisdiction

Notwithstanding the inclusion of “Admiralty and maritime jurisdiction” within the constitutional grant of federal judicial power, current Admiralty jurisdiction in Australia is based solely on a nineteenth century Imperial statute, the Colonial Courts of Admiralty Act 1890. That this has remained the case for so long is regrettable, and reflects in part a traditional deference to Imperial control over international shipping (although lately there have been indications of greater legislative assertiveness over maritime matters generally), and in part a reluctance to interfere with the present allocation of jurisdiction among State courts. A concerted effort is now under way to lay the foundation for the creation of a modern indigenous Admiralty jurisdiction, and with this in mind, the author sets out to examine the nature and extent of the current colonial jurisdiction, its interrelationship with the federal jurisdiction under section 76(iii) of the Constitution, and the desirability of abandoning the rigid nineteenth century base of the former to realise the full twentieth century promise of the latter.