SBMA strengthens regulatory capability through South Australia exchange
The Seabed Minerals Authority (SBMA) hosted two officers from South Australia’s Department for Energy and Mining (DEM), in September as part of a regulator to regulator exchange focused on compliance, monitoring, enforcement procedures and regulatory systems.
The placement builds on an earlier exchange supported through the Australasian Environmental Law Enforcement and Regulators Network (AELERT), which saw former SBMA Senior Policy and Legal Officer Te-Ara Henderson undertake a secondment with DEM in South Australia from May to July 2025.
The latest exchange brought that cooperation to Rarotonga, allowing DEM officers to work directly alongside SBMA staff on practical areas of regulatory oversight.
Simon Matthews, Team Leader Mining Compliance, undertook his placement with SBMA from 7 to 24 September 2026. Daniel Radulovic, Chief Inspector of Mines, began his placement on 14 September and will conclude on 5 October 2026.
SBMA’s current regulatory work is focused on overseeing exploration activities and strengthening the systems, procedures, and capability needed to meet its responsibilities under Cook Islands law.
Simon Matthews, Team Leader Mining Compliance
Daniel Radulovic, Chief Inspector of Mines
Seabed Minerals Commissioner Beverly Ataera said regulator to regulator cooperation gives SBMA an opportunity to learn from practical experience elsewhere while continuing to develop systems suited to the Cook Islands.
“No country can simply take another jurisdiction system and apply it as its own,” Commissioner Ataera said. “We can learn from the experience of other regulators, but those lessons must be applied in a way that fits our laws, our ocean space, our people and our national interest.”
The placements primarily supported SBMA’s Policy and Regulatory Oversight Division, with other SBMA teams contributing where relevant.
During their time with SBMA, the DEM officers worked with staff on compliance tracking, monitoring and reporting requirements, enforcement and escalation procedures, internal regulatory processes and preparations associated with exploration licence renewals.
The work also included discussions on how regulatory obligations are recorded and followed up on, how licence conditions can be monitored consistently, and how internal procedures support clear and accountable regulatory decisions.
Policy and Regulatory Oversight Director Latishia Maui-Mataora said that having experienced regulators working directly alongside the PRO team provided a valuable opportunity to pragmatically test the robustness of the Authority’s compliance and enforcement frameworks while exchanging perspectives on contemporary regulatory and supervisory practices.
“The value for us was being able to sit down regulator-to-regulator and work through the practical side of compliance, monitoring and enforcement,” Maui-Mataora said. “We looked at our processes, discussed different approaches and considered where lessons from South Australia could be useful within the Cook Islands framework.”
She said the exchange was particularly relevant as SBMA continues strengthening its systems for overseeing exploration activities and preparing the next stages of its regulatory work.
“It gave our team another perspective and practical experience to draw from, while keeping the focus firmly on what works under Cook Islands law and within our own regulatory environment.”
South Australia’s DEM has experience regulating minerals and energy activities across a different operating environment.
Seabed minerals raise different environmental, technical, and governance questions from land-based exploration and mining. However, jurisdictions and sectors can share and consider regulatory principles such as clear procedures, compliance monitoring, proportionate enforcement, consistent administration, and effective record-keeping.
From left: Latishia Maui-Mataora, SBMA Director of Policy and Regulatory Oversight; Beverly Ataera, Seabed Minerals Commissioner; Her Excellency Susannah Hodson, Australian High Commissioner to the Cook Islands; Daniel Radulovic, and Simon Matthews, both from South Australia’s Department for Energy and Mining (DEM).
Matthews said, “the placement gave us an opportunity to work alongside SBMA staff on practical regulatory issues and exchange experience on compliance, monitoring and enforcement, and exploration licence renewals."
Radulovic said regulators can learn from each other's experiences. This is where this exchange and the AELERT network are of significant value.
“Although our operating environments are different, regulators face many of the same questions about how requirements are applied consistently and effectively in practice,” Radulovic said.
For SBMA, the exchange forms part of ongoing work to strengthen practical regulatory capability during the exploration phase by maintaining clear processes for monitoring exploration activities, managing licence holder obligations, recording compliance information, and taking appropriate regulatory action where required.
SBMA appreciates South Australia’s DEM and AELERT for their continued support of regulator-to-regulator cooperation.
The exchange supports continued cooperation between SBMA and DEM on regulatory practice, compliance, monitoring and enforcement, while responsibility for the Cook Islands seabed minerals framework and its application remains firmly with the Cook Islands.
The Cook Islands remain in the exploration and research phase. No commercial seabed minerals harvesting has been approved or authorised.