Marine Parks, Permits and Protected Wrecks: What Divers Need to Know

Most Australian diving needs no permit at all. The exceptions are specific enough to list, and turning up at one without the right paperwork wastes a long drive. Each site page notes its own requirements under 'Marine park & permits'; this guide explains the systems behind those notes.

Marine parks and sanctuary zones

Every state and the Commonwealth run marine parks, zoned for different uses. Sanctuary (or 'green') zones prohibit fishing and collecting; diving and snorkelling are allowed everywhere without a permit. In the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, commercial operators hold the permits and pay the Environmental Management Charge (a small daily fee added to your trip price); private boats need no permit to dive but must follow zoning and mooring rules. Lord Howe Island and Ningaloo have visitor caps and mooring rules rather than dive permits. National park entry fees apply to shore sites inside parks such as Booderee (Jervis Bay), Innes (Yorke Peninsula) and Cape Range (Ningaloo).

Historic shipwrecks

Under the Commonwealth Underwater Cultural Heritage Act 2018 every shipwreck and aircraft wreck more than 75 years old in Australian waters is automatically protected, along with its artefacts. Diving them is legal; disturbing, removing or damaging anything is not, with heavy penalties. Some significant wrecks carry a protected zone that requires a permit even to enter: the Ly-ee-Moon at Green Cape, the Batavia at the Abrolhos, the Sydney Cove at Preservation Island and the HMAS Sydney/Kormoran sites among them. State heritage laws add protection to younger wrecks in some states, and Victoria's Heritage Act covers the Ships' Graveyard submarines and steamers regardless of age.

War graves

The Darwin Harbour wrecks from the 19 February 1942 air raid (USAT Meigs, Mauna Loa, British Motorist, Zealandia, Kelat, Neptuna and others), the HMAS Perth in Indonesian waters and several aircraft wrecks are war graves. They may be dived but not entered where human remains may be present, and nothing may be touched. Local operators brief accordingly.

Caves and sinkholes

The Cave Divers Association of Australia manages access to the Mount Gambier region's sinkholes and caves on behalf of landowners and government. Divers need CDAA membership and a site rating (Deep Cavern, Cave, Advanced Cave) and must book each site; Kilsby Sinkhole (private, booking and guide) and Ewens Ponds (National Parks booking) are open to recreational divers. Piccaninnie Ponds is closed to diving pending a review. The Nullarbor caves (Cocklebiddy, Weebubbie, Tommy Grahams, Murra-El-Elevyn) require a permit from the WA Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions and are on pastoral leases with locked gates.

Aboriginal land and sea country

Travel on Aboriginal land in the Northern Territory (Arnhem Land, the Tiwi Islands, Groote Eylandt) requires a permit from the relevant land council, and that applies to reaching the coast to dive. Sea country agreements cover some Queensland and WA marine parks; operators hold the arrangements. Several sites in this directory, including Wolf Rock, Julian Rocks and Lady Julia Percy Island, are significant to Traditional Owners; the site pages note this where it affects access or behaviour.

Defence and port areas

The Exmouth Navy Pier is on a naval base and is dived only with the licensed operator, with photo ID required. Port areas in every capital (Botany Bay's container terminal, Port Phillip's shipping channels, the Kwinana and Bunbury jetties) have exclusion zones around working berths that are enforced.