Environmental surrogates (e.g., habitat type, temperature, depth/altitude) are often used in the design of spatial management plans for terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Critical to the success of this approach is selecting surrogates that support both biodiversity and key ecosystem functions. While habitat availability can determine patterns of distribution, abundance and recruitment potential, this can vary according to the particular habitat specialisations of each species. We aimed to assess how a mosaic of habitat types within offshore reefs of the Port Stephens-Great Lakes Marine Park supports a rocky reef fish community with a diversity of habitat preferences. Most of the species we examined (30 species from the Labridae, Pomacentridae, Serranidae & Odacidae) displayed strong preferences for either abiotic (e.g., sand, rocks) or biotic (e.g., kelp, live coral) habitat types. Consequently, the availability of preferred habitats was strongly correlated with abundance of adults and/or juvenile fishes across local (within reefs ~1-3 km long) to regional (among islands 50 km apart) spatial scales. When used in conjunction with habitat maps of similar spatial resolution, these scalable fish-habitat associations can provide an effective surrogate for developing spatial plans (e.g., identifying boundaries of Marine Protected Area zones) that protect both adult populations and juvenile nursery habitats that are critical to the sustainability of these reef fish communities.