Policy is rarely intentional or substantial for coastal issues in Australia

Carmen E Elrick-Barr; Timothy F Smith

doi:10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2021.105609

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Policy is rarely intentional or substantial for coastal issues in Australia

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Policy is rarely intentional or substantial for coastal issues in Australia

Carmen E Elrick-Barr and Timothy F Smith

Ocean & Coastal Management, Vol.207, pp.1-11

2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2021.105609

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Abstract

Environmental Management

Law

coastal management

governance

climate change

policy

The condition of coastal areas around the world continues to decline despite over 50 years of integrated coastal management efforts. A myriad of institutional instruments such as legislation, policies and plans influence decisions made in the coastal zone. Despite this, there is limited comprehensive analysis of the degree to which institutional arrangements are focused on coastal issues and able to progress coastal management objectives. To address this gap we developed and applied an intentionality and substantiality framework to analyse 92 instruments with a role in coastal management at State, regional and local scales in Australia. We found that: (i) threats to Australia's coast are not adequately identified or managed via institutional instruments; (ii) institutional instruments do not make a contribution to coastal management unless intentionally designed to do so; and (iii) even in the presence of intention, comprehensiveness in the proposed actions is limited. The lack of comprehensive action is particularly evident in instruments operating at the local scale. Consequently, a reliance on local scale support to meet coastal management objectives in isolation is misplaced. While some States have recently implemented coastal reforms, the findings show that the decline in coastal condition is unlikely to be comprehensively addressed through current institutional arrangements.

Details

Title: Policy is rarely intentional or substantial for coastal issues in Australia
Authors: Carmen E Elrick-Barr (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Law and Society
Timothy F Smith (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Law and Society
Publication details: Ocean & Coastal Management, Vol.207, pp.1-11
Publisher: Elsevier Ltd
Date published: 2021
DOI: 10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2021.105609
ISSN: 1873-524X; 0964-5691
Copyright note: © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Grants: Coastal Governance: Embracing Vulnerability and Change, FT180100652, Australian Research Council (Australia, Canberra) - ARC
Organisation Unit: School of Law and Society; Sustainability Research Cluster
Language: English
Record Identifier: 99522508802621
Output Type: Journal article