Securing maritime Australia: developments in maritime surveillance and security

A long coastline and extensive maritime claims mean that Australia benefits from and has responsibility for an enormous maritime jurisdiction.Within this offshore area Australia faces significant, varied, and complex maritime security and ocean policy challenges. In response, Australia has taken a number of innovative steps toward enhancing its maritime security. This article will review Australia’s past practice together with some of the more recent developments in this context, particularly efforts to enhance offshore maritime surveillance and enforcement, such as the creation of the Taskforce on Offshore Maritime Security and Border Protection Command, establishment of the Australian Maritime Identification System, and implementation of augmented security patrols.