Petroleum production and mineral extraction in Australia is either under Australian Government or state/territory jurisdiction. As the Australian Government and the states/territories each have different resource taxation systems, a project's resource tax liability depends on its location.
Jurisdictional responsibility for offshore minerals was agreed by the Australian Government and the states/territories in the 1979 Offshore Constitutional Settlement. This agreement stipulated that the Australian Government is responsible for developments in all areas seaward of three nautical miles from the territorial sea baseline, which is known as Commonwealth waters. The state and territory governments are responsible for developments between the Commonwealth waters and the territorial sea baseline (coastal waters), and on land.
The figure below shows Australia's Maritime Zones. All waters beyond the three nautical mile territorial sea baseline to the limit of Australia's claimable areas are Commonwealth waters.
State and territory governments levy resource rent charges on petroleum production and mineral extraction in their jurisdiction. Details of the charges applying outside of the Australian Government jurisdiction can be found on the respective State and Territory webpage.
