Recreational Boating
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.