House of Representatives Committees

Co-ordinating Catchment Management - Inquiry into catchment management

Report

The committee tabled its report Co-ordinating Catchment Management - Inquiry into catchment management in February 2001. A copy of the full report (PDF 954KB) or individual chapters and other sections of the report are available in pdf and word format or from Government Info Shops (Cat. no. 01 444 17).

(To view or print the pdf documents, you will require the Acrobat Reader®, which can be downloaded free of charge from Adobe®.)

Recommendations (Word format 40KB)

List of submissions

Transcripts of public hearings

20/09/99 Canberra
13/10/99 Canberra
27/10/99 Liverpool
16/11/99 Brisbane
22/11/99 Canberra
09/02/00 Adelaide
16/02/00 Canberra
28/03/00 Perth
05/04/00 Canberra
02/05/00 Melbourne

Media releases

Government Response: 4 December 2003 (PDF 8078KB)

Table of contents of report: Co-ordinating Catchment Management - Inquiry into catchment management


Foreword .............. vii     
(PDF 47KB) or (Word format)

Membership of the Committee .............. ix      (PDF 47KB) or (Word format)

Terms of Reference .............. xi      (PDF 47KB) or (Word format)

List of abbreviations .............. xiii      (PDF 47KB) or (Word format)

Recommendations .............. xv     (PDF 47KB) or (Word format)

REPORT

1 Introduction ............1      (PDF 23KB) or (Word format)

Inquiry background ..............4

The structure of the report .............. 5

2 Catchment management in context .............. 7      (PDF 106KB) or (Word format)

Environmental degradation in Australia ..............10

Types of environmental degradation in Australia ..............12

Development of catchment management in Australia ............... 24

What is a catchment? ...............25

Catchment management .............. 25

Catchment management by jurisdiction .............. 26

Support for catchment management in Australia .............. 37

3 Improved Administration .............. 45      (PDF 210KB) or (Word format)

Introduction ............... 45

The current arrangements .............. 47

Recent Proposals: The National Action Plan ..............50

Weakness of the current arrangements ..............53

Constitutionally uncertain: The constitutional powers and options
for the Commonwealth ..............53

Vulnerable to political considerations ..............54

A lack of a comprehensive understanding of the problems ..............56

Property rights issues ..............60

Poor access to information and skills ..............61

Cost shifting ..............65

Reactive, not pro-active ..............66

No co-ordinated national approach ..............67

Un-supportive administrative arrangements ..............70

Failure to specify goals, targets and outcomes ..............74

Proposals for more effective administration ..............79

Overview ..............79

National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality in Australia ..............82

Proposals ..............84

At A National Level ..............86

Role of the Commonwealth ..............86

A National Catchment Management Authority ..............91

Comprehensive National Catchment Management Legislation ..............95

National catchment management principles ..............97

National targets for the ecologically sustainable use of Australia's catchment systems ..............9

Addressing the property rights question ..............103

Environment auditor and national environment audits ..............105

Leading through education ..............109

The role of the States and Territories ..............111

Implementing solutions in the local area ..............112

Accredited Management Plans ..............116

Local and Regional Government ..............116

Partner organisations ..............118

Access to information, expertise and skills ..............119

4 Funding and Resources ..............123      (PDF format) or (Word format)

Introduction ..............123

Approaches to funding ..............124

Levels of funding ..............125

Sources of Funds ..............29

The Public Sector ..............132

The Private Sector .............. 140

APPENDICES

Appendix A - List of Submissions ..............145      (PDF 15KB) or (Word format)

Appendix B - List of Exhibits ..............151      (PDF 11KB) or (Word format)

Appendix C - List of Public Hearings and Witnesses ..............153      (PDF 17KB) or (Word format)

Appendix D - Inspections and discussions ..............159      (PDF 14KB) or (Word format)

Appendix E - Australia's Drainage Divisions and Surface
Water Management Areas ..............163      (PDF 470KB) or (Word format)

Appendix F The US approach to Biodiversity Maintenance The Conservation Reserve Program ..............173      (PDF 22KB) or (Word format)

Appendix G Indicators of progress ..............179      (PDF 22KB) or (Word format)

Appendix H Tax measures and policy instruments used to promote biodiversity conservation on private land ..............83   (PDF 54KB) or (Word format)

 

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