To better understand the extent of benthic habitats across Australia’s Marine Parks, the National Environmental Science Program has supported park baseline surveys since 2015. In the Temperate East, the Hunter Marine Park is unique. Organisms here, occupy the East Australian Current separation zone and, combined with the state park, represent a continuum from the beach to the abyssal plain. From recent multibeam surveys, ~30% of the shelf is now mapped with ~19 lineal km (>33K images) of seabed imagery. These data provide the first ‘spatially balanced’ characterisation of benthic communities across photic and mesophotic areas, forming a base for future monitoring. For mapped areas, ~2.5% was identified as ‘continental shelf reef’ as either: 1) isolated pinnacle reefs (20-60m) with macroalgae, ascidians, sea whips and encrusting/branching sponges or; 2) mesophotic, low-profile, patchy reefs draped in sediment with octocorals, sponges, sea whips and bryzoans. At Seal Rocks, erect sessile communities are also common in sediment-dominated plains. Here the sediments may be compacted or overlie (veneered) low-profile reefs. Sediment plains offshore of Broughton Island also support emergent organisms indicating lack of disturbance and/or temporal stability in these areas. The park is culturally and economically significant supporting Eastern rock lobster, fish-trap and trawl-based fisheries.