Review of arrangements for regional delivery of natural resource management programmes
Report prepared by the Ministerial Reference Group for Future NRM Programme Delivery
Kim Keogh, Doug Chant, Bob Frazer
March 2006
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About this document
In 2000, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) agreed to endorse a national action plan to address the natural resource issues of salinity and water quality - to be underpinned by an Intergovernmental Agreement and bilateral agreements between the Commonwealth and each state/territory government. COAG agreed that the action plan would build upon the achievements of the Natural Heritage Trust, along with other state-based NRM initiatives, to enable and motivate regional communities to use coordinated and targeted action to address the issues of salinity and water quality through landscape scale change.
Since then, the Australian Government has made the largest financial commitment to NRM in Australia’s history through programmes that include the National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality (NAP), the Extension to the Natural Heritage Trust (the Trust), and the National Landcare Program, amounting to $2.7 billion. These programmes are playing an important role in protecting and enhancing Australia's unique biodiversity, the future productive capacity of our agricultural industries and the viability of rural and regional communities.
The programmes invest in activities at a range of scales, in the main using regional plans and strategies as their core, as also agreed by COAG in 2000. While the majority of funding is being directed through regional investment, significant funds are also being invested towards national priorities, as well as at a community level to help local groups and individuals engage and address their more immediate needs.
Funding for the NAP and the Trust programmes is due to conclude in June 2008.
To inform the early consideration of future NRM programmes, the Natural Heritage Ministerial Board commissioned a Ministerial Reference Group for Future NRM Programme Delivery to provide independent advice on:
- the strengths and weaknesses of current NRM programmes’ regional delivery arrangements;
- improving the effective delivery of NRM programmes regionally, including possible actions to streamline processes;
- and enhancing regional community engagement in NRM including through involvement of local government, landcare groups, volunteers and other stakeholders.
The Reference Group consisted of Mr Kim Keogh (Chair), Mr Bob Frazer and Mr Doug Chant. The three members were chosen for their links to the community and experience across a range of environmental and sustainable agriculture issues.
The Reference Group undertook consultations between October 2005 and February 2006 with key stakeholders associated with the regional delivery of the NRM programmes. The Reference Group travelled across Australia holding discussions with regional NRM bodies, state and territory governments, sub-catchment groups, industry groups, community groups, local government, Indigenous community members, landcare groups, and other stakeholders. In total the Reference Group met with representatives from over 200 groups and organisations, and received over 150 written submissions (see Appendix C). As the terms of reference asked the Reference Group to focus on the regional delivery of NRM, the consultations and report deal mostly with issues pertaining to the NAP and the Trust.
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