Issues in Defining the Concept of a Marine Cadastre for Australia

Australia’s ratification and subsequent implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea has given the government responsibility for the management of a marine environment double the size of the country’s land mass. Such a management initiative must take into account the economic, social and environmental needs of marine stakeholders, as well as incorporating international and national tools of governance. In the terrestrial environment, it is the cadastre and initiatives such as the creation of the Australian Spatial Data Infrastructure (ASDI) that are facilitating greater decision making in areas such as sustainable development. The ability of such tools and initiatives to facilitate effective decision-making and spatial data access mechanisms within the marine environment has given rise to research into a marine cadastre. Such a cadastre aims to define, visualise and realise legally defined maritime boundaries and the rights, restrictions and responsibilities attached to them. With this in mind, this paper aims to identify and quantify the various themes which are driving the development of an Australian marine cadastre, as well as attempting to define the concept of a marine cadastre through an investigation into the current international research into marine cadastral systems.