Australian Maritime Boundaries 2014a: Territorial Sea and Jurisdictional Limits

Geoscience Australia's official digital representation of Australia's maritime zones, including territorial sea baselines and international treaty boundaries. The data covers the entire Australian marine jurisdiction from 7°S to 70°S latitude and 40°E to 175°E longitude, with coordinates in the GDA94 datum. This 2014 version incorporates technical amendments based on user feedback and is published in consultation with the Attorney-General's Department and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Use Cases

• Delineating offshore resource exploration zones based on scheduled area and graticular block limits.
• Mapping territorial sea baselines and exclusive economic zones for legal or regulatory applications.
• Analyzing maritime boundaries established by treaties with neighbouring countries.
• Visualizing state and Northern Territory coastal waters as defined under the Coastal Waters Acts.

Strengths

• Official data product from Geoscience Australia, developed in consultation with key Commonwealth agencies.
• Covers a vast geographical extent from 7°S to 70°S and 40°E to 175°E, including external territories.
• Includes harmonized datasets for maritime boundaries, scheduled areas, and graticular blocks in specific regions.

Limitations

• Data currency is May 2014; coastline representation is constrained by source material available at that time.
• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality and schema require manual inspection after download.
• The legal disclaimer states that in case of inconsistency, the limits under legislation prevail over this digital representation.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia, via the Australian Ocean Data Network.

Collection Method

Delineation and digital representation based on the Seas and Submerged Lands Act 1973 and associated proclamations.

Time Range

Currency May 2014.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-27 17:40:26.800495; freshness should be verified

Geography

Australian marine jurisdiction, including mainland, offshore islands, and External Territories.