Why did we undertake this study?
Coastal management is guided by laws, policies and plans; yet there has been no assessment of the intent or substantiveness of those instruments to further coastal management goals. The absence of such information limits opportunities for improvements in coastal management.
How was it done?
We analysed 92 institutional instruments with a potential role in coastal management in Australia. Each instrument was reviewed against criteria that explored the extent to which the instrument purposefully targeted coastal issues (intentionality), and whether they addressed elements of good practice coastal management (substantiality).
What did we find?
The social, economic and environmental values that the Australian coast provides are recognised within instruments that contribute to coastal management in
Australia. However:
- threats to Australia’s coast are not adequately identified or managed in line with good practice coastal management;
- institutional instruments do not make a contribution to coastal management unless intentionally designed to do so; and
- even in the presence of intention, comprehensive mechanisms for action are limited.
The lack of comprehensive action is particularly evident in instruments operating at the local scale.
Implications
If the Australian coast is to be effectively managed, there is an urgent need to move beyond recognising the values the coast provides, to comprehensively addressing the multiple and cumulative threats to coastal areas (e.g. climate change, urban development, resource extraction, and pollution). Furthermore, a reliance on local scale action to meet coastal sustainability objectives, through for example allocation of responsibility for coastal management to local governments, is misplaced in the absence of greater national and State level support.
Learn more
The full paper is available from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0964569121000946
Citation: Elrick-Barr, CE & Smith, TF, 2021, Policy is rarely intentional or substantial for coastal issues in Australia, Ocean and Coastal
Management, 207.
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Acknowledgements
This research was supported by the Australian Government through the Australian Research Council Discovery Projects Funding Scheme (Project FT180100652). This work contributes to Future Earth Coasts, a Global Research Project of Future Earth. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and are not necessarily those of the Australian Government, the Australian Research Council or Future Earth Coasts.