Previously known as part of the Offshore Canning Basin (prior to 1994), the Roebuck Basin is located on the central North West Shelf between the Northern Carnarvon and Browse Basins and outboard of the Offshore portion of the predominantly Palaeozoic Canning Basin. The Roebuck Basin consists of the Bedout and Rowley Sub-basins.

The Roebuck Basin is one of the least explored offshore basins of the Westralian Super-basin, containing Permian to Cretaceous siliciclastic sediments and Tertiary carbonates.