Australian Maritime Boundaries 2014: Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Zones

Geoscience Australia developed the AMB2014a dataset as a digital representation of Australia's maritime zones under the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006. The data covers Australia's marine jurisdiction from approximately 8°S to 70°S latitude and 39°E to 174°E longitude, including external territories. This version, published in May 2014, incorporates technical amendments based on user feedback.

Use Cases

• Mapping offshore petroleum exploration zones based on scheduled areas defined in the Act.
• Analyzing maritime jurisdiction boundaries for legal and regulatory compliance.
• Integrating maritime zone data with other geospatial layers for environmental impact studies.
• Visualizing Australia's territorial sea baseline and outer limits for educational or planning purposes.

Strengths

• Data is produced by Geoscience Australia, the primary authority for Australia's maritime limits.
• Coverage includes the entire Australian marine jurisdiction, spanning a latitude range of approximately 62 degrees.
• Technical amendments were made based on user feedback, suggesting iterative improvement.
• Data is provided in ESRI Geodatabase format, a standard for GIS applications.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Last updated metadata indicates 2026-04-16; freshness should be verified against current legislation.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for large-scale analysis.

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

Likely derived from legal definitions and geographic delineation processes.

Time Range

Currency May 2014.

Freshness

Data currency is May 2014, but metadata was last updated in 2026.

Geography

Australia's marine jurisdiction, including waters adjacent to the mainland, offshore islands, and External Territories, approximately between 8°S to 70°S and 39°E to 174°E.