Australian Maritime Boundaries 2014a: GIS Data for Legal and Petroleum Zones

Geoscience Australia's Australian Maritime Boundaries (AMB) 2014a data is a digital GIS representation of Australia's domestic and international maritime limits. The dataset includes territorial baselines, treaty boundaries, and zones for state powers and offshore petroleum activities, covering a geographical extent from 7°S to 70°S and 40°E to 175°E. This version, published in May 2014, incorporates technical amendments based on user feedback and is provided in GDA94 datum.

Use Cases

• Mapping legal maritime zones for regulatory compliance based on the described limits from the Seas and Submerged Lands Act 1973.
• Delineating offshore petroleum exploration blocks based on the scheduled areas defined in the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006.
• Analyzing coastal state jurisdiction for environmental or security applications based on the territorial sea baselines and treaty boundaries.

Strengths

• Developed by Geoscience Australia in consultation with other Commonwealth agencies like the Attorney-General's Department and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
• Covers a broad spatial area including Australia's mainland, offshore islands, and External Territories.
• Includes technical amendments based on user feedback, such as harmonization in block SC51.

Limitations

• Data currency is May 2014; legal boundaries may have been updated since production.
• 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 Data

Collection Method

Delineation and digital representation of legal limits established under Australian legislation.

Time Range

Currency May 2014.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-20 02:52:25.215131; however, the underlying data reflects the coastline and legal situation as of May 2014.

Geography

Australian marine jurisdiction, approximately 7°S to 70°S and 40°E to 175°E.