Permit applications are graded on a four-point scale based on the risk

ANAO Report No.3 2015–16 Regulation of Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Permits and Approvals 45

2.9 The assessment of routine permit applications is generally desk-based

49 , with GBRMPA retaining assessment records in hard-copy and permit application details and assessment results also recorded in GBRMPA’s online database—the Reef Permits database. Key assessment documentation such as the permit application assessment report is also scanned and retained electronically within the Reef Permits database. 50

2.10 The ANAO examined key elements of GBRMPA’s processing of permit

applications as illustrated in Figure 2.1 above by reviewing a sample of assessed applications. 51 Receipt and acknowledgement of permit applications

2.11 Permit applicants complete a template-based application form relevant

to their proposed activity and most pay an assessment fee prior to GBRMPA commencing the application assessment process. 52 The appropriate application form was completed by applicants in all but one case examined by the ANAO where GBRMPA accepted alternative documentation as constituting the permit application.

2.12 The processing of each permit application is assigned to an assessment

officer within GBRMPA. In the period from July 2012 to June 2014, the 786 lodged permit applications were processed by 27 different GBRMPA officers—five of whom processed two-thirds of the applications. Although not required by procedures, the processing of non-routine applications is generally assigned to more senior staff.

2.13 After receipt of an application, GBRMPA has a target of four business

days in which to respond to the applicant to acknowledge receipt—which 49 GBRMPA may also inspect the sites of existing or proposed activitiesfacilities for applications assessed as Levels 2, 3 or 4. 50 As at September 2014, GBRMPA had commenced the transition from the Reef Permits database to a new Reef Management System—an on-line workflow management system to register, assess and issue permits among other things that is designed to remove the need for permit assessment documentation to be retained in hard-copy. 51 The sample of 79 permits from a population of 786 GBRMP permits assessed during the period July 2012 to June 2014—10 per cent of the population—was broadly selected in proportion with 12 key parameters, including: the assessment officer; and the permits’ risk level, status and permission type. 52 The GBRMP Regulations establish the permit application and assessment fees for permissible activities that range from approximately 650 for most commercial activities to in excess of 80 000 for activities that require the preparation of an environmental impact statement. Permissible activities that are not of a commercial nature, such as research, do not attract a permit application and assessment fee.