Australian Maritime Boundaries and Jurisdictional Limits 2020

Australia's maritime jurisdiction, including external territories, is digitally represented in this geospatial dataset. Geoscience Australia, in consultation with other Commonwealth agencies, delineated the territorial sea baselines, outer limits of maritime zones, and state/territory coastal water boundaries. The data reflects the legal status as of December 2020.

Use Cases

• Analyze territorial sea baselines for coastal development planning.
• Map the outer limits of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) for fisheries management.
• Determine state and Northern Territory coastal water boundaries under the Coastal Waters Acts for legal studies.
• Visualize treaty-defined maritime boundaries with neighboring countries for diplomatic or research purposes.
• Integrate offshore area limits from the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act for energy sector mapping.

Strengths

• Coverage spans Australia's entire marine jurisdiction from 7°S to 70°S latitude and 40°E to 175°E longitude.
• Data is the authoritative digital representation of limits established under the Seas and Submerged Lands Act 1973.
• Published in December 2020, replacing the previous 2014 version.

Limitations

• Data accuracy is constrained by the source material available at the time of production in 2020.
• The dataset includes a legal disclaimer that the underlying legislation prevails over the digital representation in case of inconsistency.

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

Delineation based on the Seas and Submerged Lands Act 1973, associated proclamations, and international treaties.

Time Range

Legal status as of December 2020.

Freshness

Data currency is December 2020.

Geography

Australia's marine jurisdiction, including the mainland, offshore islands, and all external territories.