Marine legislation
The review of the Marine Estate Management Regulation is now complete
The Marine Estate Management Regulation 2017 (the Regulation) has been remade and is now in force.
The Regulation supports the Marine Estate Management Act 2014 in the management of marine parks and aquatic reserves and a review was undertaken to:
- ensure all provisions are still relevant
- ensure consistency with other legislation
- determine if management provisions can be improved and/or streamlined.
Four amendments were included in the Regulation to improve the practical operation of marine parks and aquatic reserves, with one change to the draft proposed Regulation based on feedback from stakeholders and the community.
A summary of stakeholder and community engagement, submissions received and responses to the issues raised is outlined in the report Summary of engagement and submissions for the proposed Marine Estate Management Regulation 2017 (PDF, 118.79 KB).
Zones, zone objectives and management rules for marine parks and aquatic reserves remain the same. A separate project, the marine park management pilots, will look at the zones and management rules for marine parks, starting with the Solitary Islands and Batemans marine parks.
Information
- Marine Estate Management Regulation 2017
- Final amendments
- Regulatory Impact Statement (PDF, 636.19 KB)
- Summary of engagement and submissions for the proposed Marine Estate Management Regulation 2017 (PDF, 118.79 KB)
Further information
- The Marine Estate Management Act 2014 and regulations that are currently in force are available from www.legislation.nsw.gov.au.
- The Department of Primary Industries website provides more information about aquatic reserves and marine parks.
The Marine Estate Management Act 2014
The Marine Estate Management Act 2014 provides for strategic and integrated management of the whole marine estate – our marine waters, coasts and estuaries.
The Act does this by:
- providing for the management of the marine estate consistent with the principles of ecologically sustainable development
- sstablishing two advisory committees, a Marine Estate Management Authority and Marine Estate Expert Knowledge Panel
- requiring the development of a Marine Estate Management Strategy to address priority threats identified through threat and risk assessment.
- Facilitating the maintenance of ecological integrity, and economic, social, cultural and scientific opportunities.
- Promoting the coordination of government programs.
- Providing for a comprehensive system of marine parks and aquatic reserves.
The Act is supported by regulations that set out the rules for managing the marine estate and marine parks, and an aquatic reserve notification is in place with management rules for aquatic reserves: