Frequently asked questions Improving recreational boating safety Who will be most affected by these reforms? The primary focus of the reforms is the estimated 676 000 recreational marine licence holders in Queensland. Some of the reforms will also impact commercial and fishing ship operators. What are the main reforms? The main reforms include: Requiring a higher standard of boat operator skills for new licence holders of large recreational boats; Introducing enhanced night and electronic navigation training in the existing BoatSafe course. Extending the list of coastal bars over which personal flotation devices must be worn on small open boats. Additional operating requirements for personal watercraft (PWC) to minimise the likelihood of collisions. Additional safety equipment requirements for personal watercraft operating offshore in line with other recreational boats. What additional minor reforms will occur? A number of additional minor matters will also be addressed including: Requiring an owner of a recreational boat to ensure a master is appropriately licensed. Introducing the recognition of particular types of international boating licences. Requiring an Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon s (EPIRB) registration sticker to be fixed to the beacon. Clarifying interstate registered recreational boats on an interstate voyage do not require Queensland registration when in Queensland waters. Introducing new stowage requirements for safety equipment to enable immediate access in the event of an emergency. Updating referenced standards to include the new Australian Standard 4758 for personal flotation devices as an appropriate standard for use. What reforms will impact commercial and fishing ship operators? The reforms are primarily focussed on recreational boat operators; however some of the reforms will impact commercial and fishing ship operators, specifically: Extending the list of coastal bars over which personal flotation devices must be worn on small open boats. Additional safety equipment requirements for PWC operating offshore similar to that required for other recreational boats. Additional operating requirements for PWC to minimise the likelihood of collisions. Requiring the registration sticker for an EPIRB to be affixed to the EPIRB. When will these changes happen? The new licensing requirements for the advanced endorsement of recreational marine driver licences will apply to new licence holders of large recreational boats from 1 January 2013. All other legislative changes will apply earlier, commencing on 1 January 2012.
Do we really need these changes? With the number of people using Queensland s waterways increasing each year marine safety programs must keep pace with emerging trends and issues to maintain a continued high level of marine safety. Maritime Safety Queensland is committed to ensuring recreational marine safety programs are relevant and that they address emerging safety issues. How many people go recreational boating in Queensland? By the end of June 2010, Queensland had around 233 600 registered recreational boats, the largest number of any Australian state and around 676 000 people held some form of Queensland recreational marine driver licence. This equates to one in 17 Queenslanders aged 16 years or older owning a registered recreational boat and around one in every five people in the same age group holding some form of recreational marine licence. Is that number increasing? Yes. Over the past five years the registered recreational fleet has grown 20 percent. This means about 39 600 extra registered boats using our waterways. Half of this growth was in the Brisbane and Gold Coast regions. By the end of June 2010, these two regions contained 55 percent of all registered recreational boats in Queensland. How many people have died in boating incidents? In 2009 a record number of marine incident fatalities occurred, ending a downward trend over the previous three years. By year s end, 20 people had died as the result of a marine incident, 12 more than in the previous year of record low fatalities. In 2010 there were another 14 fatal marine incidents resulting in 14 deaths. This is the same number of incidents as recorded in 2009, but with almost a third fewer deaths. What were the main findings of the 2009 marine incident report Historically, there has been a variation in the annual count of fatal marine incidents in Queensland. Between 2001 and 2009 the count of fatal incidents ranged from 8 to 14 per year. However, the year 2009 was marred by a record number of marine incident related fatalities, ending a downward trend over the previous three years. By years end, 20 people died as the result of a marine incident, 12 more than in the previous year of record low fatalities. Marine incident data revealed half of all boats involved in marine incidents were being used recreationally. When comparing marine incidents in 2009 with the previous four year average, the largest increase in boat involvement in incidents was among recreational motorboats (45), whereas on a percentage basis the most significant gain was among recreational PWC (43 percent). There were 14 fatal marine incidents resulting in 20 deaths. Of the 14 fatal incidents, 7 of the incidents (11 deaths) involved a recreational boat. 2
Are there financial benefits to the community through recreational boating safety reforms? Using road costs for fatal injuries, the average cost of a boating fatality is estimated to be $2.4 million (refer Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics Cost of Road Crashes in Australia Report 118, Canberra 2006). Based on this figure, the 49 recreational marine incident fatalities that occurred in Queensland from 1 July 2005 to 30 June 2010 (not including PWC) have cost the community an estimated $128 million. Search and rescue operations and responding to people injured in marine incidents was not calculated in this road cost report but there would be an overall cost to the community comparable to cost involved with road emergency services. Why is the government introducing an advanced licence for large recreational boats? The number of recreational boats 12 metres or over in length is increasing and about half the owners of these boats have not previously owned a registered boat in Queensland. The 2009 marine incident report highlighted that human factors were the main cause of most fatal incidents. Requiring a higher standard of boat operator skills for new licence holders of large recreational boats will reduce inexperience among operators. What are the specific concerns about how large boats 12 metres and over are operated? Large boats carry more passengers and can go a long way offshore where conditions can change quickly. The risk to life in these situations increases with an inexperienced or under-trained master. Also these boats have more weight and power which changes handling characteristics compared to smaller boats. The extra weight and power also means they can also cause more damage in a marine incident. Do any other states have different licences for different boats? No, other Australian state and territories don t have an advanced recreational marine driver licence for larger boats however some have introduced specific licences for younger operators unrelated to boat size. Queensland would have to consider how a requirement for an advanced licence would apply to boat operators from interstate. Maritime Safety Queensland proposes that if an interstate or international licence holder becomes a permanent resident of Queensland for more than three months, they will be required to hold an advanced licence to operate a large recreational boat. This will be consistent with the requirement in every state for interstate vehicle licence holders to obtain a local vehicle licence after three months of taking up residency within a state. How will new operators obtain an advanced licence? The requirements for new operators to obtain an advanced licence will be: Holding a recreational marine driver licence (RMDL) or equivalent from another Australian state or territory for at least one year. Minimum age of 18 years. The completion under the supervision of an advanced recreational marine licence holder or equivalent of a range of boating tasks required in an advanced BoatSafe workbook. The completion of an advanced BoatSafe training course focussing on specific knowledge required to operate larger recreational boats. 3
Why will candidates for the advance licence first need to hold a recreational marine driver licence for a year? Thirteen percent of recreational boating fatal and serious injury incidents involved a driver who held their licence for less than one year. While there is a fairly consistent decline in fatal and serious injury percentage the longer a person holds their licence, it is only after 25 years of holding a licence that involvement in a fatal and serious injury significantly declines. So this would be like getting a truck licence? Yes, anyone wanting a light and medium rigid truck, bus or tractor licence must hold a car licence for at least one or two years depending on the type of truck. What training would you have to do to get an advanced licence? The advanced training course would be in the classroom complemented by a workbook component of competency tasks under a qualified supervisor on a 12 metre or bigger boat. The supervising licence holder would sign a declaration in the workbook stating the information provided was true and correct. Will existing licence holders have to obtain an advanced licence? No, existing marine licence holders won t be required to obtain an advance licence, only new holders of a marine licence. Existing recreational licence holders and current commercial master licence holders will continue to be permitted to operate a recreational boat, craft or PWC of any size. An advanced licence will be issued in recognition of an expired commercial marine licence or other marine qualification equivalent or superior to the advanced licence. Will licensing changes meet concerns about night boating? About a quarter of fatal and serious injury marine incidents happen at night. Introducing enhanced night and electronic navigation training would help improve the skills of future licence holders. Maritime Safety Queensland is proposing to upgrade the simulated night and electronic navigation components of the current on-water daytime BoatSafe course. But given some of the practical difficulties, this will only need to be completed by new licence candidates. What are the changes for personal watercraft operations? Three changes will be made to personal watercraft operating requirements to reduce the number of incidents involving personal watercraft. Personal watercraft drivers must maintain a distance of 30 metres from other moving boats when travelling at more than 10 knots unless the personal watercraft is involved in an official race or aquatic event. A supervised unlicensed driver will be prohibited from carrying passengers other than the supervising personal watercraft licence holder. A personal watercraft licence holder must wear the kill switch safety lanyard when the personal watercraft is being driven by an unlicensed driver. 4
Why are there concerns about the operation of personal watercraft? Comparing 2009 with the prior four year average, PWC registered the greatest percentage growth in vessel involvement in incidents in the 2009 marine incident report. By far the most prevalent type of PWC incident is a collision between boats and more often than not this involves a collision between two PWC. What changes are going to occur about wearing personal flotation devices (PFD)? The Mooloolah River mouth, Gold Coast Seaway and Round Hill Creek will be included as bar crossings where a personal flotation device must be worn. A range of factors, including increased traffic volumes, variable conditions and strong support shown in the 2007 discussion paper feedback, indicate Mooloolah River mouth and Gold Coast Seaway should be included. The third, Round Hill Creek bar, is constantly changing in depth and direction and is also open to the sea when the wind direction changes to the north. There have also been a number of reported marine incidents involving bar crossings that occurred there. The increased boating population is evident in this area and is used all year by recreational fishers as well as commercial operators. Why change personal flotation device wearing requirements? The 2009 marine incident report found that out of 19 people who died in marine incidents eight might have survived if they d been wearing a PFD (life jacket). When we asked people in a 2007 discussion paper if they supported mandatory wearing of PFDs for all people on small boats all the time, 85 percent rejected the idea. However half of the survey supported adults having to wear a PFD in certain high risk situations. Why are we proposing extra safety equipment on personal watercraft? With the advances in technology and design, PWCs can travel great distances offshore where conditions can change rapidly. A Maritime Safety Queensland survey found 16 percent of PWC use occurs in offshore waters. Maritime Safety Queensland proposes that PWCs should carry the same safety equipment as other registered recreational boats operating in the same environment. What changes have we made previously to improve boating safety? We have introduced a number of recreational boating safety reforms in recent years including: The BoatSafe recreational boat licence training and assessment scheme (2004). PWC driver licensing and operating restrictions (2005). The under 12, under 4.8 metres, underway mandatory PFD wearing initiative (2005). The Australian Builders Plate safe loading and buoyancy limits for new recreational boats (2006). Upgrading the type of EPIRB that must be carried when boating offshore (2008). The integration of recreational marine licences onto the new Queensland driver licence (2010). Does anyone else play a role in marine safety? Queensland's marine safety performance is a collaboration between many stakeholders and partners including all waterway users, boat manufacturers, the maritime training sector, enforcement agencies, insurance industry, the media and others. The role of enforcement agencies and public education are an important complement to Maritime Safety Queensland s role as regulator of marine safety. 5