280
N. Harvey
nated in the production of the RAC Coastal Zone Inquiry Final Report, which attempted
to examine coastal management responsibilities at the three levels of government (Commonwealth of Australia 1993a). The timing of the RAC report was important for a number of reasons. It was initiated at a time when there was already a Commonwealth government coastal inquiry being conducted by the House of Representatives Standing
Committee on Environment, Recreation and the Arts (1991). In preparation for the
United Nations Commission on Environment and Development (UNCED) conference
in 1992, national strategies on "greenhouse" and Ecologically Sustainable Development
(ESD) were being developed by a Greenhouse Working Group (Commonwealth of Australia 1992b) and an Ecologically Sustainable Development Working Group (Commonwealth
of Australia 1992C). In the same year the Intergovernmental Agreement on the Environment (Commonwealth of Australia 1992d) was drawn up between the Commonwealth,
state and territory governments. The Commonwealth Department of Arts, Sport, Environment and Territories (Commonwealth of Australia 1992b) also produced a document
assessing the role of the Commonwealth in the coastal zone. Consequently, the RAC
Inquiry had to place its findings within the context of these other national reports and
agreements which were being prepared contemporaneously with the RAC Inquiry.
A further problem for the RAC Inquiry, was that there was a plethora of previous
inquiries in coastal zone management and related issues in Australia. The RAC even found
it necessary to produce its own review of previous inquiries and examined the recommendations of twenty nine previous national and state inquiries, including the reports
mentioned above. The need to review previous reviews indicated the dilemma of reinventing the wheel and producing yet another inquiry, particularly when the House
of Representatives Standing Committee on Environment and Conservation (HORSCEC)
had produced a review of Australian coastal zone management as early as 1980.
At the state level there have also been a number of recent coastal management reviews and changes to coastal legislation. The most relevant of these for this chapter is
in Queensland where there has been a Beach Protection Act (Queensland State Government 1968) since 1968 and a Beach Protection Authority which has provided strong
technical support and advice and conducted its own coastal research, mostly engineering studies. The Beach Protection Act allows for separate delineation of coastal management and erosion prone areas, and provides controls on coastal development. Subsequently, the Queensland state government introduced additional legislation, the Coastal
Protection and Management Act 1995 (Queensland State Government 1995) which has
increased consultation and forward planning in Queensland. The new approach is for
state determined policy and guidelines with the actual control being at the local level.
The Act has linkages with the national ESD policy and provides a framework for protecting, conserving and managing coastal resources and biological diversity while
encouraging research into these together with human impact in the coastal zone.
This and other state based legislative reform together with the Australian coastal
reviews have to be placed in the context of international responses to coastal management and predictions of potential sea level rise by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (1991), in particular the Common Methodology for Coastal Vulnerability Assessment. More recently the World Coast Conference 1993, at which Australia was
represented, developed agreed coastal management objectives stressing the need for
integrated coastal zone management (ICZM) and capacity building for local coastal
managers.
N. Harvey
nated in the production of the RAC Coastal Zone Inquiry Final Report, which attempted
to examine coastal management responsibilities at the three levels of government (Commonwealth of Australia 1993a). The timing of the RAC report was important for a number of reasons. It was initiated at a time when there was already a Commonwealth government coastal inquiry being conducted by the House of Representatives Standing
Committee on Environment, Recreation and the Arts (1991). In preparation for the
United Nations Commission on Environment and Development (UNCED) conference
in 1992, national strategies on "greenhouse" and Ecologically Sustainable Development
(ESD) were being developed by a Greenhouse Working Group (Commonwealth of Australia 1992b) and an Ecologically Sustainable Development Working Group (Commonwealth
of Australia 1992C). In the same year the Intergovernmental Agreement on the Environment (Commonwealth of Australia 1992d) was drawn up between the Commonwealth,
state and territory governments. The Commonwealth Department of Arts, Sport, Environment and Territories (Commonwealth of Australia 1992b) also produced a document
assessing the role of the Commonwealth in the coastal zone. Consequently, the RAC
Inquiry had to place its findings within the context of these other national reports and
agreements which were being prepared contemporaneously with the RAC Inquiry.
A further problem for the RAC Inquiry, was that there was a plethora of previous
inquiries in coastal zone management and related issues in Australia. The RAC even found
it necessary to produce its own review of previous inquiries and examined the recommendations of twenty nine previous national and state inquiries, including the reports
mentioned above. The need to review previous reviews indicated the dilemma of reinventing the wheel and producing yet another inquiry, particularly when the House
of Representatives Standing Committee on Environment and Conservation (HORSCEC)
had produced a review of Australian coastal zone management as early as 1980.
At the state level there have also been a number of recent coastal management reviews and changes to coastal legislation. The most relevant of these for this chapter is
in Queensland where there has been a Beach Protection Act (Queensland State Government 1968) since 1968 and a Beach Protection Authority which has provided strong
technical support and advice and conducted its own coastal research, mostly engineering studies. The Beach Protection Act allows for separate delineation of coastal management and erosion prone areas, and provides controls on coastal development. Subsequently, the Queensland state government introduced additional legislation, the Coastal
Protection and Management Act 1995 (Queensland State Government 1995) which has
increased consultation and forward planning in Queensland. The new approach is for
state determined policy and guidelines with the actual control being at the local level.
The Act has linkages with the national ESD policy and provides a framework for protecting, conserving and managing coastal resources and biological diversity while
encouraging research into these together with human impact in the coastal zone.
This and other state based legislative reform together with the Australian coastal
reviews have to be placed in the context of international responses to coastal management and predictions of potential sea level rise by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (1991), in particular the Common Methodology for Coastal Vulnerability Assessment. More recently the World Coast Conference 1993, at which Australia was
represented, developed agreed coastal management objectives stressing the need for
integrated coastal zone management (ICZM) and capacity building for local coastal
managers.