AMSA has, since 1973, had in place a national strategy for responding to marine spills. The original oil spill strategy was extended in 1998 to deal with the response to maritime chemical spills in Australian waters and is now known as the National Plan to Combat Pollution of the Sea by Oil and other Noxious and Hazardous Substances. The responsibility for implementing this plan is shared among the Commonwealth, States and the Northern Territory and the oil and shipping industries.

In 1998 the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) was funded, through the Coasts and Cleans Seas Initiative, to fast-track the production of a computerised Oil Spill Response Atlas for Australia. The major outcome is an Oil Spill Response Atlas for Australia in a computerised geographic information system (GIS). This will enable a more targeted response to oil spills in future by identifying marine and coastal areas of sensitivity that could be affected in the event of an incident.

Oil spill risk areas 

Oil spill risk assessment for the coastal waters of Queensland and the Great Barrier Reef marine park  August 2000.  This was a joint State and GBRMPA project that undertook a relative risk assessment of oil spills from shipping.  This report is the culmination of a 12-month study conducted by Queensland Transport and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. The report examines the risk profile for Queensland coastal waters, and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, for serious marine oil spills (10 tonnes or greater) from shipping. The assessment does not attempt to quantify absolute risk levels, but compares the relative risk between different geographical regions.

GBRMPA/ MSQ Oil Spill Risk Assessment 2000 

 Australian National Plan Oil Spill equipment stock piles

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Citation and/or URL

www.amsa.gov.au/marine_environment_protection/national_plan/supporting_documents/equipment_stockpiles.asp

www.msq.qld.gov.au/home/environment/oil_spill_risk_assessment 

Spatial Coverage

Great Barrier Reef-wide 

Temporal Coverage

Not applicable 

Update Frequency

Not applicable 

Other Information

None