GBRMPA’s CMIS database indicates that 59 of the 76 permit-related

ANAO Report No.3 2015–16 Regulation of Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Permits and Approvals 23 these incidents were generally not documented in 89.5 per cent of cases and the prioritisation of, and planning for, investigations was not undertaken in accordance with established procedures. Further, while half of the 51 finalised investigations were completed within a relatively short time period 10 days or less, extended timeframes were required to finalise a significant proportion of investigations—many of which have been impacted by consistent, lengthy delays of months, and even years in obtaining timely information or action from other areas of GBRMPA outside of the FMCU.

38. In general, the documentation of enforcement decision-making in

relation to permit-rated non-compliance has been poor. In relation to the 51 finalised investigations: • the officer making the enforcement decision and the date when the decision was made was unclear in 21 cases 41 per cent and 18 cases 35 per cent, respectively; and • the FMCU retained documentation to sufficiently explain the reasons underpinning the enforcement decision in only seven cases, with partially complete documentation retained for a further 14 cases. 25

39. While enforcement actions have generally been executed as intended

by GBRMPA and the FMCU with advisory letters the most common action taken, there were a small number of cases related to the education of permit holders where the investigations were closed despite enforcement action not having been undertaken. GBRMPA should better document the reasons for key decisions taken during investigations and verify that enforcement action has been undertaken prior to the closure of investigations. Summary of entity response

40. GBRMPA’s summary response to the proposed report is provided

below, while the full response is provided at Appendix 1. The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority the Authority agrees without qualifications with all five recommendations contained within the report. The Authority had already identified the need to strengthen its permissions system through commitments in the Great Barrier Reef Region Strategic Assessment 25 The type of enforcement action such as advisory letter or prosecution had little or no bearing on the extent to which reasons were documented. ANAO Report No.3 2015–16 Regulation of Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Permits and Approvals 24 Program Report and commenced ‘strengthening permissions system’ activities as part of its 2014-15 work program. The recommendations from the ANAO report will be incorporated into this work as part of the Authority’s Corporate Plan 2015 –2020. Over the next four years the Authority will stage the implementation of initiatives designed to enhance and strengthen the permissions system while maintaining high environmental standards to address the recommendations of the report. As part of its strengthening permissions system work program, the Authority has already instigated the following actions: • Assessment and Decisions Enhancement Project • Strengthening Permissions Compliance Action Plan 2015-2020 • Annual Permissions Compliance Plan • Ongoing engagement with the Authority’s Tourism Reef Advisory Committee Actions undertaken during 2014-15 to improve the permissions system included reviewing policies, drafting guidelines and updating risk assessments. A Decision Making Training Module was delivered to all staff involved with the assessment of permit applications. Changes have already been implemented to ensure all alleged non-compliance is recorded and managed through the Compliance Management Information System and a training program on the permissions system and regulatory requirements has been developed and is being delivered throughout the agency and to partner agencies. These initiatives will pave the way for an approach towards managing sustainable use of the Marine Park, through the delivery of an enhanced permissions assessment and decision system, the implementation of a compliance program based on risk and improvements to systems used to manage business processes associated with the permissions system.