Oxygen and carbon isotopic stratigraphies are presented from both benthic and planktic foraminifera for the late early Miocene to earliest Pliocene interval (c. 19–5 Ma) of intermediate water-depth DSDP Site 593 in the southern Tasman Sea. The benthic values are interpreted as recording Miocene Southern Component Intermediate Water, while the planktic species record the Miocene mode and surface water signals. Comparisons are made between temperate Site 593 and the intermediate-depth polar Site 747 in the southern Indian Ocean. Glacial Mi zones Mi1b–Mi6, representing extreme glacial events, are evident in both the Site 593 intermediate and surface water records. Miocene Southern Component Intermediate Water δ18O values are generally lighter than the Holocene equivalent (Antarctic Intermediate Water), indicating slightly warmer intermediate waters and/or less global ice volume. The benthic-planktic gradient is interpreted as indicating a less stratified Tasman Sea during the Miocene. The benthic δ13C record contains most of the global carbon maxima (CM) events, CM1–7 (CM1–6 = the Monterey Excursion). Like global deep-water records, the Tasman Sea intermediate water δ13C values indicate that most CM events correspond with Mi glacials, including Mi4 at Site 593, not reported previously. Intermediate waters play an important role in propagating climatic changes from the polar regions to the tropics, and the Site 593 dataset provides a full water column record of the structure of Miocene intermediate to surface watermasses prior to the modern situation.