Australian Maritime Boundaries for Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage

August 2019 data provides a digital representation of scheduled and offshore areas defined under the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006. Geoscience Australia, in consultation with other Commonwealth agencies, developed this GIS product covering Australia's entire marine jurisdiction. It updates the 2014 version to incorporate the 2018 Timor Sea Treaty.

Use Cases

• Analyze the spatial extent of scheduled areas for offshore petroleum exploration under the Act.
• Map the offshore areas designated for greenhouse gas storage activities using the provided maritime zones.
• Integrate maritime boundary layers with other geospatial data to assess jurisdictional overlaps for marine planning.
• Validate the legal boundaries of the Bayu-Undan Offshore Area as updated by the 2018 Timor Sea Treaty.

Strengths

• Covers the entire Australian marine jurisdiction, from latitudes 8°S to 70°S and longitudes 39°E to 174°E.
• Published by Geoscience Australia, the primary authority for Australia's maritime limits, in consultation with key government departments.
• Updated from the 2014 version to reflect the 2018 Timor Sea Treaty, providing currency on a key boundary change.

Limitations

• The dataset's legal authority is subordinate to the actual legislation; inconsistencies favor the written Act.
• Specific data volume, row counts, and column details are not provided, limiting technical assessment.
• The core data currency is from August 2019, which may not reflect very recent legislative or treaty changes.

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 and digital representation of maritime limits and boundaries as defined under Australian legislation.

Time Range

Currency date is August 2019.

Freshness

Data currency is August 2019, with a platform record last updated in April 2026.

Geography

Australia's entire marine jurisdiction, including waters adjacent to the mainland, offshore islands, and External Territories.