Delegates at the Australian Coastal Councils Conference at Cape Schanck adopted a Communiqué calling on the Australian Government “to retain the National Census in its existing form to ensure Australia’s councils have access to detailed demographic data which is essential for the future planning and resourcing of their communities.” The Communiqué was issued in response to a proposal to scrap the Census in its existing form and replace it with a smaller sample survey.
Lisa Neville MP, Victoria’s Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Water, told delegates at the 2015 Australian Coastal Councils Conference that the Andrews Government is committed to improving the state’s coastal management.
A Special General Meeting of members of the National Sea Change Taskforce, held on 12 March in conjunction with the Australian Coastal Councils Conference, resolved to change the name of the organization.
The members in attendance voted unanimously to change the name to the Australian Coastal Councils Association Inc. The change is scheduled to come into effect on 1 July 2015.
The 2015 Australian Coastal Awards were announced on 12 March at the Australian Coastal Councils Conference, held at Cape Schanck, on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula.
The Awards were established in 2014 to acknowledge the achievement of individuals and organisations that have made a significant contribution to the Australian coastal environment, settlements and sustainability. They are intended to raise community awareness of the importance of the coastal zone and to encourage coastal planning and management practitioners to strive for excellence.
Lack of adequate policy guidelines and a funding source to deal with coastal erosion is emerging as the most difficult issue currently facing coastal councils.
Most of the councils that nominated issues to be considered in the Coastal Issues Exchange at the 2015 Australian Coastal Councils Conference put coastal erosion at or near the top of their list.
In the view of one council, the lack of clarity on state and national policy in relation to coastal erosion and sea level rise is arguably the ‘major coastal issue of the century’.
A report prepared by a research team at the University of Canberra has found that urban growth and the projected impacts of climate change are likely to expose more people to the risk of bushfire.
The report, titled Planning and bushfire risk in a changing climate, was prepared by a research team headed by Professor Barbara Norman, the foundation chair and head of Urban and Regional Planning at the University. Co-authors of the report were Dr Jessica Weir, Dr Kate Sullivan and Adjunct Professor Jacqui Lavis. The study was funded by a grant from the Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre.
A Special General Meeting of members of the National Sea Change Taskforce is to be called to consider changes to the organization including repositioning the group as the Australian Coastal Councils Association.