Oil and chemical spill response
Transport for NSW’s Freight & Regional Development Division, Roads and Maritime Services 
and the NSW Port Corporations manage the response to shipping incidents and emergencies (including oil and chemicals spills) depending on the location and complexity of the incident response required. The NSW Port Corporations have responsibility for responding to shipping incidents and emergencies within their port area and a designated area of State coastal waters adjacent to their respective port as listed below.
Roads and Maritime Services is responsible for responding to any shipping incident or marine oil or chemical spill along the North and South coasts of NSW including shipping incidents and emergencies in State waters around Lord Howe Island (pdf 516KB). Sydney Ports is responsible for incidents and emergencies in the regional ports of Eden (pdf 840KB) and Yamba (pdf 1MB). The complete areas of responsibility are provided in the table below.
| Area of responsibility | Authority |
|---|---|
| From the Qld border to Fingal Head (Port Stephens) | Roads and Maritime Services |
| Fingal Head to Catherine Hill Bay | Newcastle Port Corporation |
| Catherine Hill Bay to Garie Beach, and the Regional Ports of Eden and Yamba | Sydney Ports Corporation |
| Garie Beach to Gerroa | Port Kembla Port Corporation |
| Gerroa to the Victoria border | Roads and Maritime Services |
Response to shipping incidents and emergencies is integrated into the NSW emergency management arrangements set out in the NSW State Waters Marine Oil and Chemical Spill Contingency Plan (pdf 1MB). The plan is a sub-plan of the NSW Disaster Plan (DISPLAN) (pdf 780KB).
Australia has a national strategy for dealing with pollution from ships called the National Plan to Combat Pollution of the Sea by Oil and Other Noxious and Hazardous Substances , commonly referred to as the National Plan. NSW, along with all other States, the Northern Territory and Commonwealth Governments are signatories to the National Plan. NSW Maritime is responsible for ensuring the National Plan obligations are implemented in NSW.
Other plans and guidelines that support the NSW State Waters Marine Oil and Chemical Spill Contingency Plan are:
- NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service Procedural Guidelines for the Rescue and Rehabilitation of Oiled Wildlife (pdf 225KB)
-
National Maritime Place of Refuge Risk Assessment Guidelines
Oil Spill Response Atlas
Transport for NSW’s Freight & Regional Development Division maintains the Oil Spill Response Atlas (OSRA). OSRA is a geographic information system that stores environmental, resource and textual data that can be used to assist planning and decision making during a marine incident response. OSRA is made available to Roads and Maritime Services, the NSW Port Corporations and the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water.
Training and exercises
The Freight & Regional Development Division seeks to ensure that other emergency services agencies understand the arrangements for responding to marine oil and chemical spills. To do this, training courses are conducted in various locations along the NSW coast. Staff from the Division are also available to make presentations at other forums.
The Freight & Regional Development Division also exercises the NSW oil and chemical spill response arrangements regularly to ensure personnel are familiar with contingency planning. The different kinds of exercises can include desktop/hypothetical discussions and equipment deployment.
Last updated 05 March 2012
