Background - Phases 1 and 2

The Marine Estate Management Authority (the Authority) began the Hawkesbury Shelf marine bioregion assessment (the Hawkesbury Assessment) in 2015 and proposed several management initiatives to enhance marine biodiversity conservation whilst achieving balanced community outcomes, including opportunities for a wide range of recreational and commercial uses.

Most of these management initiatives were incorporated into the Marine Estate Management Strategy (2018-2028). These initiatives include water quality, restoration of aquatic habitats, litter and marine debris, research priorities, wildlife interactions, improving boating infrastructure and land use planning outcomes.

Phase 1

• Step one - Involved early and effective engagement with the NSW community via the NSW Marine Estate Community Survey in 2014 and further engagement in mid-2015 to identify the community’s values and benefits derived from the bioregion, perceived threats to those benefits and to identify sites for consideration in the Assessment. Aboriginal community groups were also specifically consulted, in response to the Audit recommendations. The outcomes of Phase 1 engagement are documented in the Summary of Hawkesbury Shelf community and stakeholder engagement (MEMA 2015) (PDF, 1.34 MB)
• Step two - Applied a formal threat and risk assessment (TARA) framework to identify the priority threats and risks to the environmental assets and social and economic benefits derived from the bioregion. The Hawkesbury Shelf Marine Bioregion Threat and Risk Assessment (2015) (PDF, 1.93) outlines the key findings from this work.

Phase 2

• Steps three and four – An evaluation was carried out of the threats causing high and moderate risks to determine those that were ‘acceptable’ under current management settings, those that were outside Marine Estate Management Authority agencies’ jurisdiction to manage and those that required further management. As part of Steps three and four, eight suggested management initiatives were then developed and evaluated to address the remaining ‘unacceptable’ priority threats. From 28 February to 8 May 2016 the Authority released the Hawkesbury Shelf Marine Bioregion Assessment Discussion Paper - Suggested Management Initiatives (discussion paper) for public consultation (PDF, 4956.38)and sought feedback on the suggested management initiatives (see Figure 2). The submissions report Phase 2: Community Engagement on Suggested Management Initiatives (PDF, 1.18 MB) provides an overview of the findings for this consultation.
• Community views on the suggested management initiatives were considered in finalising the threat and risk assessment for the ‘central region’ of the statewide Threat and Risk Assessment (Statewide TARA) and developing the 10-year statewide Marine Estate Management Strategy.
• Initiatives to reduce resource-use conflict in Pittwater and to develop regional boating strategies for Lake Macquarie and Pittwater are being implemented in the Hawkesbury Shelf marine bioregion.

Background reports

• Phase 2: Community Engagement on Suggested Management Initiatives (Connor, 2017) (1.18MB)
  • Appendix 1 - Phase 2 Aboriginal Engagement Report (Cox Inall Ridgeway, 2017) (PDF, 498.5 KB)
  • Appendix 2 - Peak Stakeholder Group Workshop Report (Danielle Annells Consulting, 2016) (PDF, 954 KB)
• Discussion Paper Hawkesbury Shelf Marine Bioregion Assessment – suggested management initiatives (PDF, 4956.38 KB)
• Summary of Hawkesbury Shelf community and stakeholder engagement (MEMA, 2015a) (1.4 MB, PDF)
  • Appendix E - Phase 1 Aboriginal engagement report (Cox Inall Ridgeway, 2015) (1.2 MB, PDF)
• Hawkesbury Shelf environmental background report (MEMA, 2015b) (9 MB, PDF)
  • Appendices A-C - Hawkesbury Shelf environmental background report (4 MB, PDF)
• Review of 15 pre-identified sites (MEMA, 2015c) (11 MB, PDF)
• Hawkesbury Shelf Marine Bioregion Threat and Risk Assessment (TARA) Report (BMT WBM, 2015) (2 MB, PDF)
  • Appendix C - Hawkesbury Shelf TARA Report (630 KB, PDF)
  • Appendix D - Hawkesbury Shelf TARA Report (630 KB, PDF)
• Social and economic background information report on the NSW marine estate (Vanderkooi Consulting, 2015) (2.3 MB, PDF)
• Sea countries of New South Wales: a benefits and threats analysis of Aboriginal people's connections with the marine estate (Feary, 2015) (13 MB, PDF)
• Peer review of 'Sea countries of New South Wales: a benefits and threats analysis of Aboriginal people's connections with the marine estate' (Schnierer, 2015) (25 KB, PDF)

Newsletters

• Newsletter - Marine Estate Reforms October 2017 (PDF 2.35 MB)

Frequently asked questions

• FAQ - Marine Estate Reforms Progress Update (PDF 812.68 KB)

Other relevant information

• Sydney Harbour- A systematic review of the science 2014 - SIMS Technical Report (PDF, 2.73 MB)
• Sydney Harbour Background Report - SIMS commissioned by MEMA (PDF, 16.11 MB)
• The Marine Estate Community Survey undertaken in 2014 informed the design of the Hawkesbury project.