This data set depicts the boundary of the State of Tasmania as defined in the Colonial Acts Confirmation Act, 1894. This is where the state of Tasmania is legally defined for the purpose of federation and the constitution. Tasmanian territory is defined as the land or islands within the bounding rectangle and Macquarie Island. The State Coastal Waters are defined in a series of acts including the Coastal and other Waters (Application of State Laws) Act, 1982 and the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act, 1982. The latter act defines the Tasmanian Adjacent Area which is the basis for the definition of the State Coastal Waters. The Adjacent Area id essentially the same as the State Boundary rectangle plus and extension that includes the South Tasman Rise and Macquarie Island. The State Coastal Waters are broadly defined as a 3 nautical mile band of water measured from the low tide mark the area. The data set was created based on Australian Geodetic Datum, 1966 (AGD66) and then transformed to Geocentric Datum of Australia 1994 (GDA94). No datum was specified in the original legal definition it was decided to use the datum specified for the Adjacent Area definition in the Petroleum (submerged Lands) Act, 1982. The data set is currently stored in GDA94 geographicals (ie latitude and longitude).
