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

Australia's marine jurisdiction, including waters adjacent to the mainland, offshore islands, and External Territories, is represented in this geospatial dataset. Geoscience Australia developed the data, which delineates the territorial sea baseline, outer limits of maritime zones, and state/territory boundaries under acts including the Seas and Submerged Lands Act 1973. The data has a currency of May 2014, with coordinates in the GDA94 datum, covering a geographical extent from approximately 7°S to 70°S and 40°E to 175°E.

Use Cases

• Map Australia's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) based on the defined outer limits of maritime zones.
• Determine state and Northern Territory coastal waters for legal or administrative purposes based on the represented limits.
• Analyze maritime boundaries established by treaties with neighbouring countries based on the included boundary data.
• Support offshore petroleum and greenhouse gas storage activities by referencing the scheduled area and graticular block representations.

Strengths

• Data is published by the authoritative national agency, Geoscience Australia, in consultation with other Commonwealth departments.
• Coverage includes the whole Australian marine jurisdiction, from approximately 7°S to 70°S and 40°E to 175°E.
• Technical amendments were made based on user feedback, such as harmonizing datasets in block SC51.

Limitations

• Data currency is May 2014; legal boundaries may have changed since production.
• The description notes that in any inconsistency between this data and legislation, the legislation prevails.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia Data

Collection Method

Digital representation of legal limits and boundaries established under Australian legislation.

Time Range

Currency May 2014.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-25 17:24:30.267151; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Australian marine jurisdiction, including mainland, offshore islands, and External Territories (approx. 7°S to 70°S, 40°E to 175°E).