Along the coast of southeastern Australia, interactions between the East Australian Current and coastal waters drive complex ocean currents and temperature gradients. Capability to predict these features is crucial to understand biological productivity and the distribution of nutrients and biota. Without accurate coastal ocean forecasts, various industries, community groups and government organisations lack information to make informed decisions regarding our coastal environment. Building on a decade of development funded by the Australian Research Council, we will present the modelling and data assimilation system (EAC-ROMS) that covers the oceanic region off southeastern Australia. The high-resolution, state-of-art, ocean model uses advanced data assimilation to incorporate a number of novel data streams collected through IMOS (such as moorings, HF radar, and gliders). The development of EAC-ROMS facilitated a depth of research on dynamics, predictability and observation impact in this dynamcic Western Boundary Current region. Here we present a summary of how the system has improved our understanding of regional ocean circulation and predictability off southeastern Australia and introduce our vision towards a high-resolution coastal ocean forecast for the region. We demonstrate how this could represent a step-change in southeastern Australia’s coastal ocean predictions and what it could mean for marine scientists.