Australian Maritime Boundaries: Legal Limits and Zones, 2014

Geoscience Australia's 2014 digital representation of Australia's maritime limits and boundaries, established under the Seas and Submerged Lands Act 1973. The data includes territorial baselines, outer limits of maritime zones, and treaty boundaries with neighboring countries, covering a geographical extent from 7°S to 70°S and 40°E to 175°E. It was published in consultation with Commonwealth agencies including the Attorney-General's Department and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Use Cases

• Delineating offshore resource exploration zones based on scheduled area and graticular block limits.
• Mapping international maritime boundaries for legal and diplomatic analysis based on treaty data.
• Visualizing coastal state jurisdiction for marine spatial planning using territorial sea baselines and zone limits.
• Analyzing the extent of Australia's marine jurisdiction adjacent to the mainland and external territories.

Strengths

• Data is the official representation from Geoscience Australia, developed in consultation with key government agencies.
• Coverage includes the entire Australian marine jurisdiction, from 7°S to 70°S and 40°E to 175°E.
• Coordinates are supplied in the GDA94 datum, which is functionally equivalent to the widely used WGS84 standard.

Limitations

• Currency is May 2014; legal or coastal changes after this date are not reflected.
• The description notes that in the event of an inconsistency, the legal limits under legislation prevail over the digital data.
• Row count and detailed column-level documentation are unknown, requiring inspection after download.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia, published via the Australian Ocean Data Network.

Collection Method

Digitized from legal instruments including the Seas and Submerged Lands Act 1973 and associated proclamations and treaties.

Time Range

Currency May 2014.

Freshness

Data currency is May 2014. Platform record was last updated 2026-04-16.

Geography

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