[2] The authority has jurisdiction over Australia's exclusive economic zone which covers an area of 11,000,000 square kilometres (4,200,000 sq mi).

It is responsible for administering MARPOL 73/78,[7] an international marine environmental convention designed to minimize pollution of the seas.

AMSA can instigate prosecutions itself, but mainly works with states and territories during investigations and enforcement activities such as vessel inspections.

[7] A recent major AMSA project involved the rewrite of the Navigation Act 1912, the agency's governing statute.

It is the only ETV of its type in Australia and operates in the particularly sensitive sea areas of the northern Great Barrier Reef and Torres Strait.