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Amsa's John Young said the objects spotted were a "reasonable size"
Australia is investigating two objects seen on satellite images that could potentially be linked to the missing Malaysia Airlines plane, officials say.
A Norwegian ship has joined planes from Australia, New Zealand and the US searching the area 2,500km (1,550 miles) from Perth.
The largest object appeared to be 24m in size, authorities said, but warned they could be unrelated to the plane.
Australia has been searching in the southern Indian Ocean for the aircraft.
At a news conference on Thursday, Malaysian Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein described the possible sighting as a "credible lead".
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Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein on the new "credible" lead
Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 was flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on 8 March when it lost contact with air traffic controllers. A total of 239 people were on board.
Twenty-six nations have been involved in a major search for the missing plane, which Malaysia says was intentionally diverted.
Investigators have been scrutinising the backgrounds of both the crew and the passengers, but have so far identified no evidence of terror or other potentially relevant links.
A number of sightings of possible debris have been investigated in the course of the search but so far none have proved to be linked.
Southern corridorPrime Minister Tony Abbott announced the discovery based on satellite images taken on 16 March.
"The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (Amsa) has received information based on satellite information of objects possibly related to the search," Mr Abbott told parliament.
"Following specialist analysis of this satellite imagery, two possible objects related to the search have been identified."
An Australian Orion aircraft searching the area on Thursday was joined later by aircraft from the US and New Zealand.
A Norwegian merchant ship has also arrived in the area after responding to a shipping broadcast issued by Australia's rescue co-ordination centre.
An Australian naval vessel, HMAS Success, is on its way to help with the search and Britain has also deployed HMS Echo, a coastal survey ship, to aid the operation.
The objects identified were of a "reasonable size", Amsa's general manager John Young said. The largest object appeared to be about 24m (78ft) in size, he said.
"This is a lead, it is probably the best lead we have right now. But we need to get there, find them, see them, assess them, to know whether it's really meaningful or not."
He warned that poor visibility in the area could hamper the search and said the debris could turn out to be unrelated to MH370, such as containers that had fallen from ships.
"On this particular occasion the size and the fact that there are multiple [objects] located in the same area really makes it worth looking at," Mr Young added.
Michael Daniel, a former US Federal Aviation Administration official, told Singapore's Straits Times: "If they have a strong feeling or indication that the debris belongs to the aircraft, one of the first things authorities will do is drop sonar buoys in the water.
The relatives of Chinese passengers on board MH370 watched the announcements from Australia on monitors set up at the Beijing hotel where they have been waiting for the past 13 days.
When the press briefings were over, the families left the room. Most refused to speak to journalists, though one man told the BBC: "I don't believe any of this. I think my son is still alive."
Another relative, the son of a famed calligrapher on the plane, explained to us the families' reluctance to accept the possibility the plane had crashed.
"If the Australian findings really turn out to be the remains of the plane, that would mean there is no hope left for us."
"If the black box is there, the buoys should be able to pick up the signals. This could take up to 48 hours but it all depends on how near or far the ships and other assets are."
Australia informed Malaysian authorities of the development on Thursday morning.
Malaysia's transport minister told reporters that while the debris sighting was a "credible lead" it needed to be verified and corroborated.
Mr Hishammuddin said search efforts were continuing in both "corridors", involving a total of 18 ships, 29 aircraft and 6 ship-borne helicopters.
Satellite signalInvestigators had identified two corridors of territory - one to the north and one to the south - spanning the possible positions of the plane about seven hours after take-off.
This was based on its last faint signal to a satellite - an hourly "handshake'' broadcast even when the main communication systems are switched off.
The plane lost contact with controllers over the South China Sea as it crossed from Malaysian to Vietnamese air space.
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David Wright of ABC News is on the US Navy plane that joined the search
Malaysian officials say it then turned west and its last position - according to Malaysian military radar - was over the Malacca Straits, in the opposite direction to its planned flight path.
Attention has focused on the crew and on Wednesday multiple unidentified US officials said that the FBI was helping Malaysia analyse data from a flight simulator taken from the captain's home.
Hishammuddin Hussein on Wednesday stressed the captain should be considered innocent until proved otherwise and said that members of his family were co-operating with the investigation.
Meanwhile, relatives of those on board are still waiting for concrete news.
Bimal Sharma, a merchant navy captain whose sister Chandrika was on the plane, told the BBC he had experienced "hope and then despair and then hope and then despair".
"I have been very hopeful because it was intentionally diverted, so I don't believed it was crashed," he said. "It's been a very, very difficult time, and very emotionally stressing."
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