28 September 2015: Australia’s coastal councils have called on the Turnbull Government to lead a national collaborative effort to reduce the risk of shark attacks.
Barry Sammels, the Chair of the Australian Coastal Councils Association, said there is an urgent need to identify effective strategies to reduce death and injury from shark attack and to restore tourism activity in Australia’s coastal areas to normal levels.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is planning a new Australian Population Survey with the capacity for continuous updates on regional population statistics. Data collected in the survey will be used to supplement data collected in the Census.
The survey will provide a mechanism for more effectively using Census and administrative data to provide ongoing and dynamic information on regions across Australia – including where people live at different times of the year and their characteristics.
The NSW government has commenced a shark-monitoring program to reduce the risk of shark attacks on the NSW north coast. The $250,000 program involves on-water surveillance by the Department of Primary Industries and CSIRO together with a public education campaign.
Figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on 31 March show that in the year ended June 2014 the settlements with the highest growth rates outside the capital cities were along the coast, in particular in Queensland and Western Australia.
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.
The draft report of the Productivity Commission’s inquiry into natural disaster funding recommends reducing the Commonwealth share of disaster recovery costs from 75% to 50%, with the balance to be picked up by state governments.
The Chair of the National Sea Change Taskforce, Barry Sammels, has met with Environment Minister Greg Hunt and discussed a number of current coastal issues, including the proposal to add questions on the ownership and use of second residences to the next Census, in 2016.
“The additional questions are proposed by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in response to research conducted for the Taskforce by the University of Adelaide,” Barry Sammels said. “This found the permanent populations in coastal areas are consistently understated because of when the Census is conducted – mid-week in winter.
The report of the Federal Parliamentary coastal inquiry released last night represents a landmark step towards the sustainability of the Australian coast and its communities, according to the National Sea Change Taskforce.