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baseline from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured. In the EEZ, Australia has sovereign rights for the purpose of exploring and exploiting, conserving and managing all natural resources of the waters superjacent to the seabed and of the seabed and its subsoil together with other activities such as the production of energy from water, currents and wind. Jurisdiction also extends to the establishment and use of artificial islands, installations and structures, marine scientific research, the protection and preservation of the marine environment, and other rights and duties. The Australian EEZ is defined in the Seas and Submerged Lands Act 1973 ('the SSL Act' including the amendments to that Act made by the Maritime Legislation Amendment Act 1994). The outer limit of the Australian EEZ is set out in the Proclamation under the SSL Act which was made on 26 July 1994 and published in Gazette S 290 on 29 July 1994. That proclamation entered into force on 1 August 1994. The outer boundary is mostly 200M from the territorial sea baselines. However the Proclamation pulls the boundary back to less than 200M in areas of agreed or potential delimitation with other countries. The metes and bounds definitions where the boundary has been pulled back are taken from Australia's maritime delimitation agreements with other countries and, where no such agreement exists, largely follow the Fisheries Management Act 1991 ('the FMA Act') 'excepted waters' Proclamation which was published in Gazette No.S52 of 14 February 1992.
The waters adjacent to Australia within the outer limits of the exclusive economic
zone; and The waters adjacent to each external territory within the outer limits of the exclusive economic zone; but does not include:
Coastal waters of, or waters within the limits of, a State or internal Territory; or Waters that are 'excepted waters'
The outer limit of the AFZ is the same as the outer limit of the EEZ other than in places where the 'excepted waters' Proclamation in Gazette No. S 52 of 14 February 1992 remains relevant (see paragraph (d) of the definition). The 'excepted waters' Proclamation remains relevant in two areas - in the Torres Strait and in the waters adjacent to the Australian Antarctic Territory (Parts 5 and 6 of the 1992 Proclamation). The other parts of the 1992 'excepted waters' Proclamation have been rendered redundant by the Proclamation of the outer limits of the EEZ which entered into force on 1 August 1994. They have been rendered redundant because they largely cover the same lines as are used in the 1994 EEZ Proclamation.
In order to support any claim to delineation of the outer limit of the extended continental shelf beyond 200M as measured from the territorial sea baseline, Australia has submitted details, together with supporting scientific information, to the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf. In areas where the area of extended continental shelf is within 200M of another country, Australia will not be required to take that area to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf. Geoscience Australia's Law of the Sea Project is responsible for the survey and definition of the limits of the Continental Shelf.