Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:C2024C00638:front:0:p2
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:C2024C00638
Segment Type: other
Provision Reference: 
Character Range: 2546–5561

second matter is dealt with in Part 5.1.

Basic concepts
The Act uses a number of basic concepts and some of these concepts are sophisticated and difficult. If you are reading the Act for the first time, you should go to Division 2 of Part 1.2 first and familiarise yourself with these basic concepts before going on to read the other provisions of the Act.
The main basic concepts are:
          * a Commonwealth‑State offshore area (an offshore area if you are already familiar with the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006);
          * blocks and the different kinds of blocks (standard, reserved and tender blocks);
          * minerals;
          * exploration;
          * mining.

The bodies with decision‑making powers
The administration of the Act is generally shared between the Commonwealth Government and the State Governments. This means that the various decision‑making powers under the Act are given to different bodies. Part 1.3 explains who these bodies are. The State body is called the Designated Authority. The body that represents the Commonwealth and State Governments acting together is called the Joint Authority.
It is important to familiarise yourself with this terminology and to keep the distinction between the different authorities in mind when you read the provisions of the Act.
An important feature of the licensing system is that the Joint Authority always acts through the corresponding Designated Authority. The Joint Authority's decisions are carried out by the Designated Authority. Applicants and licence holders always deal with the Designated Authority and do not deal directly with the Joint Authority, although the Joint Authority is the ultimate decision‑maker.
The Act also deals with exploration and mining in the offshore areas off external territories. Although special provision is sometimes made for the external territories, the general approach is to give the Commonwealth Minister the powers of both Designated Authority and Joint Authority (see subsections 29(3) and 32(3)).

The licensing scheme
Different activities require different authorisations. The Act provides for 5 kinds of authorisation:
          * exploration licences;
          * retention licences;
          * mining licences;
          * works licences;
          * special purpose consents.
The Act deals with these authorisations in this order. The provisions dealing with each authorisation begin with a statement of the activities authorised by that particular authorisation and go on to deal with:
          * applications;
          * grant;
          * duration;
          * renewal;
          * obligations of the holder;
          * expiry.
You can use the table of provisions to home in on the authorisation and the topic you are interested in. Where necessary, the Act will cross refer you to related provisions that you might otherwise overlook or not find easy to locate. These cross references will be found in the Notes at the end of sections and subsections.