Victoria eases flares rules in marine safety makeover

The new regulations, part of a regular 10-year review of recreational boating safety, will apply from June 11, 2023, and replace rules that were last updated in 2012.

Under the changes, if you are operating a boat in enclosed waters such as Port Phillip or Western Port, you can replace the onshore flares with either an EPIRB with a GPS-based location function that tells rescuers exactly where you are, a personal locator beacon or a VHF radio with a minimum 25-watt output. 

The rules make no changes to anyone heading offshore, who will still need to carry two orange smoke flares and two incandescent red flares, as well as two parachute flares.

However, unlike Western Australia and Tasmania, which are looking at using high-intensity LED-based lights as a substitute for flares, Safe Transport Victoria has not added them to the list of options.

Other changes will also be rolled out.

Under the revised rules, the cut-off age at which children must always wear a life jacket will rise from less than 10 years old to less than 12 years of age.

The rules have changed so that an adult on a boat travelling with a child aged less than 12 will now be considered as being alone on the boat, and must therefore comply with the rules around heightened risk. Simply put, if you’re alone on a boat with someone aged less than 12, everyone needs to wear a life jacket.

Of note, Safe Transport Victoria has finally drawn a line in the sand for anyone who hasn’t updated their life jackets to the new Australian standard. The new standard was introduced in 2010, so by the time the July 1, 2028 deadline rolls around, you’ll have had an 18-year grace period to have replaced your old ones.

The legislation has also updated to change from "personal flotation devices", the complicated old name, to "life jackets", the generally accepted new name.

Still have a 27MHz radio set onboard your boat? As of June 11, it won’t be classed as a marine radio in Victoria.

That means you’re going to have to replace it with a VHF radio, and get your VHF radio operator’s licence if you want to continue to chat with anyone else on the water.

Rescue authorities have gradually wound down monitoring 27MHz for emergency broadcasts as the newer VHF technology adds vast improvements to how messages are broadcast, particularly in an emergency.

A VHF radio fitted with a technology called Digital Select Calling can broadcast to everyone in listening range that you are in danger, and exactly where you are – a feature 27MHz has never been able to replicate.

The rules around the questions asked on the test to get a Victorian recreational boating licence have been tweaked so that they can now include questions that probe a person’s ability to plan a trip or react in an emergency situation.

In a move that will help reduce the cost of keeping your recreational marine operator’s licence, you’ll be able to choose between paying for it annually, or every five years. Previously, boaters needed to update their licence for a five-year period.

Victoria is currently trialling digital car licences that are stored on a smartphone; here’s hoping the state is looking at the same thing for recreational marine licences.

This is an interesting one. We’ve asked Safe Transport Victoria to clarify what it means when it says it has introduced “a new infringement for installing navigation lights incorrectly, including having navigation lights installed incorrectly during daylight hours”.

We think it means authorities can check to see if your lights are operating correctly in daylight hours and don’t have to wait until you switch them on at nightfall. Alternatively, it could mean if you’ve done a bodge job of installing navigation lights and the authorities notice, you could be pinged.

There have been a number of incidents of boats exploring after refuelling. In an effort to minimise injuries, Victoria has toughened up its rules to ensure that as small a number of people are exposed to the risk as possible.

Under marine laws, it is now an offence to have passengers onboard a boat while refuelling, and while restarting the engines after refuelling. However, while the previous legislation related to refuelling at a wharf, jetty or pier, the cover has now been extended to anywhere a boat is being refuelled or restarted after taking on fuel.

The caveat is that where it is not practical to offload passengers, you will be exempt from this.

The new rules come into force on June 11, 2023.