Recreational Boating and Regional Services - Division Profile

The Recreational Boating and Regional Services Division is the largest Division of NSW Maritime and has a key role in performing the organisation's statutory functions which include, but are not limited to safety, legislative compliance and education in relation to recreational vessel activities.

The Recreational Boating and Regional Services Division's clients include the owners and operators of all recreational vessels on NSW coastal and inland waterways, whether licensed or not.

Our clients are represented at a peak advisory group and Local User Groups across the State and include:

• Nearly half a million licensed recreational vessel operators
• Over 200,000 registered recreational boat owners
• More than 15,000 private mooring licenses and over 1,000 commercial mooring licensees
• 600 aquatic licenses covering 18,000 events per annum
• approximately 200 licensed hire and drive operations (non survey)
• approximately 20,000 non registrable power boat users and 100,000 (estimated) non powered craft.
  

The Division is accountable for the following functions:

• • educating users on safe boating through the issue of licences, educational programs (including seminars, awareness campaigns, publications and advertising), an internet site and by establishing and supporting user groups
• vessel registration, Boatcode, mooring management
• licensing of hire and drive operations (non survey)
• marine communications
• maintaining a state-wide system of navigation aids and signs
• licensing of aquatic events including management of major events
• undertaking environmental assessments of on-water activities to minimise adverse environmental impacts
• compliance with maritime legislation on all navigable waterways in the State.
• environmental services

The Recreational Boating and Regional Services Division encompasses the management of six designated areas covering Sydney and regional NSW inland waterways up to three nautical miles off the NSW coast.

North Coast Region

The North Coast Region extends along the eastern seaboard and west to the Great Dividing Range and from Wallis Lake in the south to the Queensland border.

Hunter Inland Region

The Hunter Inland Region extends from the Central Coast in the south to the Myall Lakes in the north and west of the Great Dividing Range covering the areas of Dubbo, Bathurst, Orange, Bourke, Tamworth, Armidale and extending to the Queensland Border.

South Coast Region

The South Coast Region extends along the eastern seaboard and west to the Great Dividing Range and from Wollongong in the north to the Victorian border.

Murray/Inland Region

The Murray/Inland Region extends from the Snowy Mountains in the east to the South Australian border in the west. From the Murray River in the south the region also extends north to cover inland centres such as Cootamundra, Griffith, Menindee and Broken Hill.

Sydney Region

Sydney Region includes the waterways of Sydney Harbour, Botany Bay, the Georges River, Port Hacking and associated tributaries.

Hawkesbury/Broken Bay Region

The Hawkesbury/Broken Bay Region extends from Long Reef in the south, to Terrigal in the North and west to the Blue Mountains.

Safety Education and Compliance Team (SECT)

The Safety, Education and Compliance Team (SECT) is tasked to educate and ensure compliance with NSW Marine Legislation particularly that which relates to the operation of personal watercraft (otherwise known as PWC or ‘jetskis’). The team comprises of six Boating Service Officers and is based in Sydney Region, responding to other areas as required.

Major Aquatic Event Management

NSW Maritime licenses major events such as the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race start, New Years Eve Fireworks, and Australia Day on-water activities. Other major aquatic management events include grand parades on Sydney Harbour, the Bridge to Bridge ski races, the Southern 80 Waterski Race on the Murray River and the 60 hour Ski Challenge on the Tweed River.

Our services include the provision of marine, operational and special event expert advice and guidance. A nominal charge is made for the associated aquatic licence and a fee may be charged for sponsored events.

Client Services

Provides a range of services to the boating community throughout the State including all forms of payment, advice on products and services which includes general information on all matters relating to the maritime sector in so far as NSW Maritime is involved. The Client Services Branch also provides an information line that operates 7 days during business hours.

Environmental Services

NSW Maritime’s Environmental Services Unit is responsible for the cleaning of the waters and foreshores of Sydney Harbour, and the Parramatta and Lane Cove Rivers. The Unit also manages the operation of NSW Maritime-funded sewage pumpout facilities, which provide free discharge points to boaters in key areas of NSW. These facilities allow the boating public to store waste in holding tanks and discharge at the facilities rather than into our waterways.

The team and its equipment is also used to provide operational support to the major events on and around Sydney Harbour. These events include the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race Start on Boxing Day, New Years Eve and Australia Day, for which marker buoys are laid to indicate safety exclusion zones on the harbour. The service played a significant role in Sydney during the 2000 Olympics on-water events.

Click here for further details on the Environmental Services Section.

Policy and Projects Branch

Provides support to the General Manager and the Division by undertaking, amongst other things, the policy and procedures function, operational planning (including staffing, education/compliance campaigns, statistics and reports), the preparation of budgets, business solutions including e-business, responses to Ministerial and other correspondence and boating management plans.