Sources and Primary References
Every authority this site relies on, what each one is authoritative for, and which of our guides depends on it.
Every factual claim on this site should be traceable. This page lists what it is traceable to.
The organising principle from the editorial standards: regulation and hydrography come from the responsible authority, never from a third-party summary — including this one.
#Australian authorities
#Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA)
Authoritative for: distress beacon registration, MMSI allocation, AIS guidance for Australian vessels, search and rescue coordination, national safety guidance.
- amsa.gov.au
- Types of AIS — including the distinction between transceiver classes and receive-only equipment
- MMSI and beacon registration
Guides that depend on it: AIS, Class A vs Class B, EPIRBs and safety equipment, VHF and DSC.
#Australian Hydrographic Office (AHO)
Authoritative for: official paper charts and ENCs, AusENC, Notices to Mariners, Zone of Confidence and data-quality information, the S-100 transition.
- hydro.gov.au
- AusENC
- S-100 products — S-101 ENC, S-102 bathymetry, S-104 water levels, S-111 surface currents
Guides that depend on it: marine charts Australia, tides, currents and chart datum, passage planning, anchoring electronics.
#Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA)
Authoritative for: radio spectrum and marine radio licensing, including the maritime ship station class licence.
Australia's framework changed in 2025, which is why older advice about individual VHF station licences can mislead.
Guides that depend on it: VHF and DSC, trailer boat electronics.
#Bureau of Meteorology
Authoritative for: coastal waters and high seas forecasts, wind and gale warnings, synoptic charts, tide predictions.
Guides that depend on it: weather routing, tides, currents and chart datum, passage planning.
#State and territory maritime authorities
Authoritative for: recreational safety equipment requirements, lifejacket rules, local regulations, log-on services.
These differ by jurisdiction and apply to the waters you are in rather than where the boat is registered. Links for each state and territory are collected on safety equipment by state.
#International standards bodies
#International Hydrographic Organization (IHO)
Authoritative for: the S-100 framework and the S-1xx product specifications that Australian charting is moving toward.
#International Maritime Organization (IMO)
Authoritative for: the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (Radar and AIS 2026: COLREGs in Practice">COLREGs), and the SOLAS framework that defines which vessels carry Class A AIS.
Guides that depend on it: collision avoidance, night and poor-visibility navigation.
#National Marine Electronics Association (NMEA)
Authoritative for: the NMEA 0183, NMEA 2000 and OneNet standards.
- NMEA describes OneNet as supporting 100 Mbps to 10 Gbps using IPv6
Guides that depend on it: marine networks.
#Manufacturer sources
Used for product specifications, launch dates and stated capabilities, and attributed to the manufacturer rather than presented as independent findings.
| Manufacturer | Referenced for |
|---|---|
| Garmin | GPSMAP, Fantom, LiveScope 2 (Jul 2026), Signal VHF (May 2026), SmartDrive (Sep 2026) |
| B&G | Zeus S, Zeus SR, Zeus SRX (Feb 2026), H5000, NAC |
| Raymarine | Axiom 2 (Mar 2026), Evolution, Quantum 2, Cyclone, FLIR |
| Simrad | NSS 4, NSO, HALO |
| Furuno | TZtouchXL, DRS-NXT, satellite compasses |
| Lowrance | HDS PRO, Active Imaging, ActiveTarget |
As noted in the editorial standards: no product on this site has been tested by the publication, and manufacturer material is used for what it is reliable about — what a product is designed to do — with the trade-offs supplied separately.
#What to do when a source and this site disagree
Believe the source, and please report the discrepancy. Authorities reorganise their websites, regulations change, and products are superseded.
#Bottom line
Regulation and hydrography from the authority. Standards from the standards body. Product claims from the manufacturer, attributed. Everything else is engineering judgement with its reasoning shown.
Common questions
Short answers to the questions this guide raises most often.
Why point at authorities instead of just summarising them?
Because a summary cannot be kept reliably current, and a stale summary of a safety rule is worse than no summary. Regulation and chart currency change, and only the responsible authority can state the position as it stands today. Pointing at them also lets you verify anything here that you doubt, which is the point of a reference.
Which single source matters most for Australian cruising?
The Australian Hydrographic Office, for two reasons. It publishes the official charts, AusENC and Notices to Mariners, and it publishes the data-quality information — Zone of Confidence — that tells you how much to trust a charted depth. In Australian waters, where modern survey sits alongside much older data, survey confidence is often a larger practical hazard than GNSS error.
Do you use manufacturer sources?
Yes, for product specifications, launch dates and stated capabilities, and those claims are attributed to the manufacturer rather than presented as independent findings. Manufacturer material is accurate about features and generally silent about limitations, so it is used for what it is good for and the trade-offs are supplied separately.
Continue building the system
These guides pick up where this one stops.
Reference
Editorial standards
The method behind the guides: how facts are sourced, how regulation is handled, how brand scores are derived, and what this site deliberately does not assert.
Read the guideReference
About this site
An independent reference on marine navigation systems for Australian waters. What it is, who it is for, and what it deliberately does not claim to be.
Read the guideFoundations
Australian marine charts, AusENC, ZOC and S-100
Why a beautifully rendered electronic chart can still be built on an old survey — and how to read Zone of Confidence, manage chart datum and plan around survey quality in Australian waters.
Read the guideEquipment & Sensors
Marine VHF and DSC in Australia
VHF remains the primary local marine communication system, and Australia's radio framework changed in 2025 — older advice about individual station licences can now mislead.
Read the guideSeamanship & Safety
EPIRBs, beacons and safety equipment
A beacon is the one piece of equipment whose entire value is realised in the worst moment. Registration, accessibility and crew knowledge matter as much as the hardware.
Read the guideSeamanship & Safety
Weather data and routing offshore
Offshore connectivity has made professional weather data available to recreational boats. Understanding model uncertainty is what turns that data into good decisions.
Read the guideReferenced by
Other guides that depend on the ideas on this page.
This guide is independent editorial information, not a substitute for official regulation. Equipment requirements, licensing and chart currency differ by jurisdiction and change over time — confirm the current position with the AMSA, the Australian Hydrographic Office, ACMA and your state or territory maritime authority before relying on it.