Abstract
Regional natural resource management (NRM) planning, involving government, community and industry, has become a key mechanism in Australia for sustainable regional development and resource management. Traditionally, regional NRM policy is delivered through a multitude of arrangements by both state and federal governments across three core policy fields: environment (e.g. natural resource management policy); economic (e.g. infrastructure and industry and employment policy) and social (e.g. integrated and accessible service delivery). Australian governments are now investing in new approaches grounded in the underlying assumptions of an emerging sustainability paradigm of change, adaptation and learning (e.g. Lee 1993). These new approaches emphasise the development of partnerships, strategic alliances and broader consultation between those with policy authority and those with significant stakes in decisions. Since the early 1990s, the multiplication of regional programs has seen a matching proliferation of regional institutional arrangements for NRM. A critical example is the recent succession of Australian Government NRM programs including the National Heritage Trust (NHT1 and NHT2) and the National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality or NAP (e.g. AFFA 2000). The NAP and the second phase of NHT involve attempts by Federal and State governments to create mechanisms for community-based NRM through the establishment of accredited regional NRM bodies. The primary purposes of these bodies are to guide NRM planning strategy and investment priorities, and to provide the mechanism for greater community-based NRM.