Preliminary Pages

Foreword

Australians love to travel, to see new places and experience other cultures. More and more of us are doing this by cruise ship, and cruising is becoming more popular in Australia year after year. Like any other international travel, cruising has its risks, and this inquiry has focussed on preventing crime and accidents from occurring on cruise ships, as well as making sure that justice is served when crimes are committed.

When crimes occur at sea, the results can be profoundly tragic. Most Australians know the name Dianne Brimble because of her horrendous death in 2002, because of the poor response of P&O, operators of the ship on which she died, and because of the subsequent coronial inquiries into persons of interest. Although the industry has cleaned up its act since 2002, there is still more for the Australian Government and industry to do to keep Australians safe on cruise ships.

International law puts limits on what Australia can do as a nation. As a Committee, we are disappointed that the Australian Government cannot do more because of those limits. However, the complexity of international law is no comfort to victims of crime on cruise ships, and neither should it be an excuse for government inaction. We have identified the other ways that the Australian Government can make cruising safer and improve justice for victims of crime on cruises.

I would like to make a special note of thanks to Mark Brimble, the former husband of Dianne Brimble. Mark fought for years to ensure that justice was served for Dianne’s death, and he has made an enormous contribution to the safety of all cruise passengers, around the world. He gave valuable assistance to the inquiry, and his evidence has been crucial to the Committee’s deliberations and to this report. Mark’s tireless and unwavering commitment to justice, and to the safety of all cruise passengers, has been inspirational to many people, and on behalf of all Australians, I thank him for his steadfastness.

This inquiry has highlighted the risks of cruising, and the Committee is convinced that more can be done to keep Australians safe on cruise ships. With increasing numbers taking cruises, the Australian Government must act in every direction to the limits of its capacity, and the industry must commit itself to investing in an even safer cruising environment. Past tragedies have shown us what needs to be done, and I look forward to seeing action to ensure that tragedies and mistakes do not occur again.

Graham Perrett MP
Chair

Membership of the Committee

Committee Secretariat

Terms of reference

The Committee will inquire into the arrangements surrounding crimes committed at sea, with a focus on crimes against the person.

The Committee will, having regard to the principles of international law:

(a) examine the effectiveness of current arrangements for the investigation and prosecution of alleged offences under the Crimes at Sea Act 2000 and the Intergovernmental Agreement–Crimes at Sea 16 November 2000;

(b) examine the cross jurisdictional issues that face the States, Territories and the Commonwealth, including the overlap of various coronial jurisdictions;

(c) consider whether improvements could be made in relation to the reporting, investigation and prosecution of alleged crimes committed at sea; and

(d) examine support available to victims of crime committed at sea.

List of abbreviations

List of recommendations

Recommendation 1

The Committee recommends that the Australian Institute of Criminology should compile, maintain and publish statistics on crimes committed at sea by or against Australians.

Recommendation 2

The Committee recommends that the Australian Government dramatically increase its efforts to achieve greater cruise passenger safety and crime prevention strategies within the International Maritime Organisation and other organisations as appropriate, including pursuing cooperative agreement for the following urgent priorities: