The Australian National Shipwrecks Database includes all known shipwrecks in Australian waters and allows users to search for those historic shipwrecks protected by Commonwealth or State/Territory legislation. The database was developed by the Australasian Institute of Maritime Archaeology with financial assistance from the Commonwealth and was previously maintained by the Western Australian Maritime Museum with Commonwealth funding. This Department now maintains the database. The information in the database has been collected by each of the State and Territory historic shipwreck agencies and the data is subject to ongoing editing and refining. The positions of many wrecks are unknown or estimated. Some wrecks are represented by a bounding box where the wreck is thought to occur. Further information on a particular shipwreck may be obtained by contacting the agency in the same State or Territory as where the shipwreck is located. A new Australian National Shipwreck and Relic Database is planned to be launched later in 2008. This database will have an increased search function and will allow for shipwreck artefacts (relics) to be associated with shipwreck files.