Overall, replacement permits issued by GBRMPA satisfactorily included

ANAO Report No.3 2015–16 Regulation of Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Permits and Approvals 79

4.25 In addition to the provision of permits to holders, a copy of the permit is

also to be provided to the relevant QPWS offices, with the hard-copy application files and the data in the Reef Permit System database to be updated and finalised. However, documentation retained by GBRMPA to evidence that these steps have been undertaken is incomplete. In relation to the permits examined by the ANAO, the assessment officers’ checksheets were not completed on 12 of 73 occasions 16.4 per cent to indicate that copies of permits had been sent to the relevant QPWS offices and that the GBRMPA filesdatabase had been updated and finalised. Conclusion

4.26 Overall, decisions to issue permits have been made by authorised

GBRMPA delegates and the basis on which delegates have decided to grant or refuse a permit have been appropriately documented, which in most cases 78 of 79 examined by the ANAO across all permit levels was in accordance with a recommendation outlined in the assessment report. In the remaining case where the assessment report was not accompanied by a recommendation, the basis on which the delegate decided to grant a permit for an activity posing high risks to the Marine Park was not fully documented until one and a half months after the initial decision had been made.

4.27 The conditions contained in issued permits, which are determined using

permit templates, are generally relevant to the permitted activities sought by applicants and the approval granted by GBRMPA. Most permit conditions have been satisfactorily designed to address many of the identified risks rated high or medium during the assessment process. Nevertheless, some conditions do not sufficiently address all aspects of risks relevant to a significant proportion of permitted activities. To help ensure that significant risks are being effectively mitigated, GBRMPA should periodically review the design of standard permit conditions. Further, issued permits contained newrevised conditions imposed by GBRMPA that related to permissions that were not requested by the applicants andor differed from conditions contained in an expiring permit. There would be benefit in GBRMPA improving the documentation of the rationale for, and better informing applicants of, newrevised conditions that have been imposed by GBRMPA.