Australian Maritime Boundaries and Jurisdictional Limits 2020

Geoscience Australia's 2020 digital representation of Australia's territorial sea baselines, outer maritime zone limits, and international treaty boundaries. The data covers the entire Australian marine jurisdiction from latitudes 7°S to 70°S and longitudes 40°E to 175°E, including external territories. It is the authoritative GIS product for maritime limits established under the Seas and Submerged Lands Act 1973 and related legislation.

Use Cases

• Analyze territorial straight baselines and outer zone limits for maritime jurisdiction mapping and legal compliance.
• Process treaty-determined maritime boundaries for geopolitical analysis and international relations research.
• Utilize the representation of State and Northern Territory coastal water limits under the Coastal Waters Acts for resource management planning.
• Integrate limits defined under the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006 for offshore energy sector regulatory mapping.

Strengths

• Official product from Geoscience Australia, developed in consultation with Attorney-General's Department and Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
• Comprehensive coverage of Australia's marine jurisdiction, including the mainland, offshore islands, and all external territories.
• Data currency is December 2020, providing a contemporary snapshot of legislated maritime boundaries.
• Coordinates supplied in the GDA94 datum, which is functionally equivalent to the widely used WGS84 standard.

Limitations

• Data reflects coastline location based on source material available at production time, which may not capture recent coastal changes.
• Legal disclaimer states that in any inconsistency, the limits under the actual legislation prevail over the digital representation.
• The dataset is a static 2020 release and may not reflect subsequent treaties or legislative amendments.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia

Collection Method

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

Time Range

Currency: December 2020.

Freshness

Currency: December 2020. Last platform update: March 2026.

Geography

Australian marine jurisdiction, including external territories, from approximately 7°S to 70°S and 40°E to 175°E.