Australian Maritime Boundaries 2020: Territorial Baselines and Treaty Limits

Geoscience Australia's Australian Maritime Boundaries (AMB) 2020 data is a digital representation of Australia's maritime zones established under the Seas and Submerged Lands Act 1973. The data includes territorial straight baselines, outer limits of maritime zones, and boundaries from treaties with neighboring countries, updated to reflect the 2018 Timor Sea Treaty. Coverage spans from approximately 7°S to 70°S latitude and 40°E to 175°E longitude, including waters adjacent to the mainland, offshore islands, and External Territories.

Use Cases

• Delineating maritime zones for legal and administrative purposes based on the Seas and Submerged Lands Act 1973.
• Mapping offshore petroleum and greenhouse gas storage areas based on limits referenced in the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006.
• Visualizing international maritime boundaries determined by treaties between Australia and neighboring countries.
• Analyzing coastal state jurisdiction and maritime entitlements based on the digital representation of baselines and outer limits.

Strengths

• Data is published by Geoscience Australia in consultation with other Commonwealth Government agencies, including the Attorney-General's Department.
• Coverage includes the whole Australian marine jurisdiction, spanning a geographical extent of approximately 7°S to 70°S and 40°E to 175°E.
• Updated to reflect the 2018 Timor Sea Treaty, indicating currency on specific international agreements.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• The description notes that in the event of an inconsistency between the data and legal limits, the legislation prevails, indicating the data is a representation, not the authoritative source.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for large-scale analysis.

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

Delineation of maritime limits and boundaries under Australian legislation and treaties.

Time Range

Currency: August 2019.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-04 07:26:07.918588; freshness should be verified.

Geography

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