The coast is one of our greatest assets in New South Wales and is home to nearly 85% of the state’s population. The NSW Government has established a framework to manage the coastal environment in a sustainable way for the wellbeing of the people of New South Wales. This includes the Coastal Management Act 2016, which requires certain local councils to prepare a coastal management program, and the State Environmental Planning Policy (Resilience and Hazards) 2021. The Department of Planning and Environment is responsible for the Act and assists local councils in the coastal zone ('coastal councils') by administering grant funding and offering technical support and coordination for their coastal management programs.

This audit could assess how effectively the Department has overseen and implemented key elements of this reform package, and how effectively coastal councils have progressed coastal management planning and delivered coastal management programs.