Population:
18.2 million
Land Space:
7,686,850 km2 or
2,967,890 mi2
Coastal Area:
more than
36,700 km
or 22,800 mi
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Audio from a Australian Coastal Manager |
Fisk, Gegory W. 1996. Integrated Coastal Management in Development Countries: The Case of Australia. Unpublished Master thesis, College of Marine Studies, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, USA
Haward, Marcus. 1996.
Institutional framework for Asutralian ocean and coastal
management. Ocean & Coastal Management 33(1-3):
19-39
The Commonwealth Government.
1997. Guide to Coastcare: Applications 1997-98.
Environment Australia, Canberra
Country Contact
Marine Group, Environment Australia,
Department of the Environment, 15 Moore Street,
Canberra ACT 2601 Australia, or GPO Box 787
Canberra ACT 2601 Australia.
Phone: +61 2 62741111; Fax: +61 2 62741123; or
contact the Community Information Unit on 1 800 803 772.
The Coastal Setting
The Australian coastline is about 36,700 kilometers in length. Coastal physical features and ecosystem are widely varied as a result of tropical, subtropical, and temperate climates. The State of the Marine Environmental Report, published by the Department of Environment, Sport and Territories in 1995, outlines nine major habitats and ecosystems, including estuaries, high energy sand and rocky beaches, coastal salt marshes, mangroves, seagrass beds, temperate reefs, tropical coral reefs, benthic sea floor communities, and open water pelagic communities.
Over a quarter of population (total population 18.2 millions in 1996 est.) live within 3 km of the Australian coast, over three quarter live within 50 km of the cost, and population is increasingly migrating to the coastal area. Much of Australia's commercial and industrial activity is located in the coastal zone, with tourism a leading contributor in recent years. Other activities in the coastal zone consist of fisheries and aquaculture, shipping and transportation, coastal agriculture, mining (including offshore petroleum and natural gas development), and manufacturing. In addition, nearly half of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population lives near the coast and has a special relationship with the land and sea based on ownership, common law rights and interests, cultural and historic association and traditional use of resources.
Status of ICM Program
Management of the coastal zone, its resources and offshore waters in Australia is shared by the Commonwealth, State (including the Northern Territory), and Local Governments. Coastal resources and the critical issues confronting the coastal zone have been identified, many times, in numerous inquiries and discussion papers. The most recent of these are the report of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Environment, Recreation and the Arts (1991) and the final report of the Resource Assessment Commission (1993). These reports have been unequivocal about the need for a clear articulated Commonwealth coastal policy, and were the catalyst for the development of the Commonwealth Coastal Policy (1995).
The 1991 Injured Coastline report of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Environment, Recreation and the Arts inquiry into the degradation of the coastal environment. Further impetus was provided by the National Strategy for Ecologically Sustainable Development (set about in June 1990 and endorsed on 7 December 1992 by the Council of Australian Governments, noting that implementation would be subject to budgetary priorities and constraints in individual jurisdictions), which sets out the broad strategic and policy framework under which governments will take action to achieve ecologically sustainable development.
In October 1991, the Prime Minister appointed the Resource Assessment Commission to conduct an inquiry into complex resource management issues of building, tourism, mariculture and associated development in the coastal zone. In its Final Report of the Resource Assessment Commission's Coastal Zone Inquiry (1993), the Resource Assessment Commission identified area-based management plans involving all relevant government agencies and other interests and the establishment of a long-term strategy for the coast as a practical way of dealing with the situation. Area-based strategic management involves drawing together all those with management responsibilities that affect an area to identify key issues and common goals, as well as to jointly implement an array of actions to achieve specific outcomes in an integrated and coordinated fashion.
According to the Commonwealth Coastal Policy (1995), many difficulties in dealing with integrated coastal issues in Australia result from the way government administration is organized. A lack of coordination of government initiatives affecting the coast is one of the major obstacles to improve coastal management. Well-intentioned programs administered by different government agencies can be counterproductive or overlapping, thus limiting the likelihood of achieving the best outcomes with limited financial resources. In sum, the two major problems inhibiting sustainable use of Australia's coastal zone are:
- Fragmented management arrangements based on single issues or sectors;
- The tyranny of small decisions, whereby over time a number of decisions that in themselves are not significant accumulate and interact to result in significant impacts on the coastal zone.
Towards achieving the required level of integration, as proposed by the Commonwealth Coastal Policy (1995), the Commonwealth Government will establish three national committees (Haward 1996): (1) a Commonwealth Coastal Co-ordinating Committee to provide a mechanisms to coordinate and integrate the activities of the numerous Commonwealth agencies which have interests and/or responsibilities within the coastal zone, (2) an Intergovernmental Technical Committee to ensure that Commonwealth activities are integrated with activities managed by other spheres of government, and (3) a National Coastal Advisory Committee (NCAC) to advise the Commonwealth on coastal management issues. The NCAC will comprise representatives of peak national community, conservation, industry and research bodies; indigenous peoples; the National Landcare Advisory Committee (for a Commonwealth Government program to deal with the problems of environmental degradation through positive action by community groups and primary producers); and State and Local Governments.
An interdepartmental coastal management committee (the Coastal IDC, established in 1991 within the Commonwealth Government to support the development of a coastal policy and to ensure adequate exchange of information across the Commonwealth on coastal issues) would be renamed the Commonwealth Coastal Co-ordinating Committee and will be given a role broader than policy coordination. The Committee will provide a forum to assist in the co-ordination of Commonwealth activities that affect the coastal zone, advice on coastal management issues, and facilitate integration of the coastal activities of Commonwealth departments.
Membership of the new Committee will be drawn from those departments with an interest in coastal issues. Among the concerned agencies are the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet; the Department of the Environment, Sport and Territories; the Department of Primary Industries and Energy; the Department of Housing and Regional Development; the Department of Tourism; the Department of Industry, Science and Technology; the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission; the Department of Defence; the Department of Finance; and, the Department of Transport. The Department of the Environment, Sport and Territories will provide secretariat support for the Committee.
ICM Program Information
The Commonwealth Coastal Policy (1995) contains a number of initiatives to assist integrated decision making and the development of long term strategic responses to coastal problems. The core of these initiatives is a program to develop integrated coastal area management strategies and program (which is referred to as Coastcare) based on partnerships between the three spheres of government (the Commonwealth, State, and Local), the community, and industry. Coastcare provides opportunities and resources (including federal grants) for community, business and interest groups to become actively involved in coastal management and decision-making (Australia Department of Environment 1997). As planned, the Commonwealth Government will establish a Coastal Integrated Local Area Planning Program, which will encourage the development of best practice regional and integrated coastal management strategies based on partnerships between the three spheres of government.
After consultation with State and Local Governments the Commonwealth Government will prepare guidelines on methods for conducting regional natural and cultural heritage assessments, so that heritage identification and protection can be integrated into the planning process. The Commonwealth will provide assistance to those undertaking these assessments.
The Commonwealth's Regional Development Program also
adopts the area strategy approach. A key principle of this
Program is to build on existing programs to better
coordinate and integrate them within large regions, so that
they provide maximum benefit to the region. By mobilizing
the energies of an entire region and by promoting the
adoption of best practice, the Regional Development Program
encourages sustainable economic and social development.
Environmental sustainability is a key element in this
process.
Case Study prepared by Dr. Ampai Harakunarki, Center for the
Study of Marine Policy.