Australia’s vast marine estate presents significant challenges in mapping and managing our marine resources to inform and support key government programs and priorities. Our marine estate is multi-jurisdictional, geographically extensive, and supports many competing uses with complex decentralised management frameworks. Moreover, seabed data is often sparse, poorly curated, not openly accessible, and not translated to knowledge for impact that is digestible for decision-makers. These significant challenges hinder our ability to manage uncertainty, reduce investment risk and provide timely evidence-based decisions consistent with government policies and regulations.
Geoscience Australia is addressing these challenges by establishing national mapping working groups, Ocean Best Practice standards, identifying data gaps, leading national coordination of seabed bathymetry, marine geology and geomorphology mapping, and digital delivery of decision support tools and products. Through collaborations with State and Commonwealth partners and the broader marine community, we are developing complementary datasets and seabed maps to ensure nationally consistent approaches across jurisdictions. Adopting a coordinated and collaborative approach strengthens Australia’s marine information ecosystem and enables government and industry to better understand and sustainably manage Australia's oceans, drive growth of the ocean economy, and protect the marine environment in a co-ordinated manner.