Conservationists say the government's marine park network is a step forward but fails to protect important underwater environments off the West Australian coast.
Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke said the network, made up of six marine regions covering more than 2.3 million square kilometres of Australian waters, was a world leader.
The announcement came hours after BP announced it was paying $US4.5 billion ($A4.36 billion) in a settlement with the US government over the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster.
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"When we're talking about protecting something as precious as our oceans, no amount of money ever provides genuine compensation for environmental catastrophe, ever," Mr Burke told reporters in Sydney on Friday.
"We need to get back to the first principles of what measures we need to put in place internationally to try to make sure this sort of damage is not repeated."
But Perth-based Wilderness Society campaigner Jenita Enevoldsen told AAP the government needed to do more to protect marine areas in Australia from a local disaster.
Oil and gas companies needed to be sent a message that areas like Ningaloo Reef and Rowley Shoals, off the Kimberley coast, are "out of bounds", Ms Enevoldsen said.
Oil spills could spread as fast as 30km a day, she said.
BHP Billiton wanted to explore for oil as close as 5km to Ningaloo, while Woodside in co-operation with Shell had formally lodged plans to drill just 30km from Rowley Shoals.
"That means that they get a one-day response to protect the reef if there is an accident," she said. "The outcome of an oil spill would be catastrophic."
Ningaloo is home to endangered sea turtles while sperm whales, blue whales and bottlenose dolphins were known to swim near Rowley Shoals, she said.
