Australian Maritime Boundaries 2014a: Geodatabase of Territorial Limits and Zones

Geoscience Australia's Australian Maritime Boundaries (AMB) data is a digital representation of Australia's maritime limits and zones. The dataset includes territorial baselines, outer limits of maritime zones, and boundaries from treaties with neighboring countries, covering waters adjacent to the mainland, offshore islands, and External Territories. This version, updated in May 2014, incorporates technical amendments based on user feedback and is published in consultation with other Commonwealth agencies.

Use Cases

• Delineating maritime jurisdiction for legal or policy analysis based on the digital representation of limits under the Seas and Submerged Lands Act 1973.
• Mapping offshore petroleum and greenhouse gas storage areas based on the representation of limits from the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006.
• Analyzing coastal state powers and territory waters based on limits from the Coastal Waters (State Powers) Act 1980 and related legislation.
• Visualizing treaty-defined international maritime boundaries between Australia and neighboring countries mentioned in the description.

Strengths

• Data is produced by Geoscience Australia, the primary authority for delineating Australia's maritime limits, in consultation with other relevant Commonwealth agencies.
• Coverage is comprehensive for Australia's marine jurisdiction, spanning latitudes from 7°S to 70°S and longitudes from 40°E to 175°E.
• Coordinates are supplied in the GDA94 datum, which is functionally equivalent to the widely used WGS84 standard.

Limitations

• Data currency is May 2014; legal or coastal changes after this date are not reflected.
• The description notes that in the event of an inconsistency, the limits under legislation prevail over the digital data.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia, in consultation with the Attorney-General's Department, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and the Australian Hydrographic Office.

Collection Method

Digital representation of limits and boundaries established under Australian legislation and international treaties.

Time Range

Currency: May 2014.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-23 05:16:40.135485; freshness should be verified

Geography

Australia's marine jurisdiction, including the mainland, offshore islands, and External Territories.