Australian Maritime Boundaries 2014a: Legal Limits and Zones

Geoscience Australia's digital representation of Australia's maritime zones, including territorial sea baselines and international treaty boundaries. The data covers the Australian marine jurisdiction from approximately 7°S to 70°S latitude and 40°E to 175°E longitude, with a currency date of May 2014. This version incorporates technical amendments based on user feedback.

Use Cases

• Mapping maritime zones for legal and jurisdictional analysis based on the Seas and Submerged Lands Act 1973.
• Determining offshore petroleum and greenhouse gas storage areas based on the limits referenced in the OPGGSA.
• Visualizing international maritime boundaries established by treaties with neighboring countries.
• Analyzing coastal state powers and scheduled areas for the States and Northern Territory.

Strengths

• Developed by the authoritative national agency Geoscience Australia in consultation with other key government departments.
• Provides a comprehensive digital representation of legal maritime limits, including baselines and outer zone boundaries.
• Coordinates are supplied in the GDA94 datum, which is functionally equivalent to the widely used WGS84 standard.

Limitations

• Data currency is May 2014; legal or geographical 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.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia, 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 legal limits and boundaries.

Time Range

Currency: May 2014.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-28 13:43:40.410661; freshness should be verified

Geography

Australian marine jurisdiction, including waters adjacent to the mainland, offshore islands, and External Territories (approx. 7°S to 70°S, 40°E to -175°E).