Logo image
Back
Key lessons from new perspectives on Australian coastal management
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Key lessons from new perspectives on Australian coastal management

Nick Harvey and Timothy F. Smith
Ocean & coastal management, Vol.239, pp.1-6
15/05/2023
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2023.106581

Metrics

1 Record Views
6 Times Cited - Web of Science

UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This output has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#2 Zero Hunger
#11 Sustainable Cities and Communities
#13 Climate Action
#14 Life Below Water
#15 Life on Land

Source: SDGs from InCites

Abstract

coastal management coastal governance coastal adaptation coastal processes socio-ecological resistance
Approaches to Australian coastal management are constantly changing yet continue to fall short in terms of social-ecological resilience. We provide a commentary on contemporary Australian coastal management issues and responses, informed by a selection of papers that were invited for a Special Issue of this journal following the Australian Coastal Society's 2021 national coastal conference. The selected papers were categorised into three groupings: 1) coastal governance; 2) coastal threats and adaptation; and 3) coastal processes. They were then analysed in the context of both the unique Australian federated approach to coastal management and the international literature on coastal management. A number of findings and themes emerge. First, the paper confirms previous findings on a lack of federal leadership in Australian coastal management and lack of action on recommendations from numerous national coastal inquiries. The paper concludes that: there has been a significant reduction of coastal expertise in the federal public service; there is a lack of a well-defined broad-based federal funding mechanism for coastal management; there is a need to incorporate a sediment compartment approach in both Australian coastal planning and climate adaptation strategies; a number of coastal management instruments at the State level appear not fit for purpose; and coastal adaptation faces conflicts in balancing property rights with public coastal amenity.

Details

Logo image