Australian Maritime Boundaries 2020: Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Zones

Geoscience Australia's 2020 digital representation of Australia's scheduled and offshore areas under the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006. The data covers the entire Australian marine jurisdiction from latitudes 8°S to 70°S and longitudes 39°E to 174°E, including updates for the 2018 Timor Sea Treaty. This GIS product, published in consultation with agencies like the Attorney-General's Department, is the authoritative source for maritime zone limits, though legislation prevails in case of inconsistency.

Use Cases

• Delineating offshore petroleum exploration blocks based on the scheduled areas defined in the Act.
• Mapping jurisdictional boundaries for greenhouse gas storage projects using the geospatial maritime zones.
• Analyzing maritime treaty impacts, such as the 2018 Timor Sea Treaty update included in AMB2020.
• Supporting legal and regulatory compliance by providing the digital baseline for Australia's maritime limits.

Strengths

• Published by the authoritative national agency Geoscience Australia in consultation with key government departments.
• Explicit geographic coverage defined from 8°S to 70°S latitude and 39°E to 174°E longitude, encompassing all external territories.
• Includes a specific legal update for the 2018 Timor Sea Treaty and the Bayu-Undan Offshore Area.

Limitations

• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality and structure require manual inspection after download.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics and data model must be inferred from the downloaded geodatabase.

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

Digital delineation and representation of legislated maritime limits and boundaries.

Time Range

Currency August 2019.

Freshness

Data currency is August 2019, with a platform record last updated on 2026 05 14.

Geography

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