In March 2015, the Australian and Queensland governments issued the

ANAO Report No.3 2015–16 Regulation of Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Permits and Approvals 39 Reef as implemented by GBRMPA. The ANAO made seven recommendations to enhance the effectiveness of governance arrangements including, in particular, the efficient and effective achievement of its stated objectives. A follow-up performance audit, ANAO Report No.8 Commonwealth Management of the Great Barrier Reef Follow-up Audit in 2003–04, determined that GBRMPA had implemented six of the seven recommendations, with the remaining partially implemented recommendation expected to be fully implemented in the near future. Audit objective, criteria and methodology

1.24 The objective of this audit was to assess the effectiveness of the Great

Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority’s regulation of permits and approvals within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.

1.25 To form a conclusion against this objective, the ANAO adopted the

following high-level criteria: • an effective process to assess permit applications and attach enforceable conditions has been established; • a structured risk management framework to assess and manage compliance risks has been implemented; • an effective risk-based compliance program to communicate regulatory requirements and to monitor compliance with permit conditions and regulatory objectives has been implemented; and • arrangements to manage non-compliance are effective.

1.26 In undertaking the audit, the ANAO reviewed GBRMPA’s files and

records, including those related to sampled permit application assessments, monitoring activities and enforcement actions. 43 The ANAO accompanied departmental staff on compliance monitoring activities and assessed the controls for the two IT systems that support GBRMPA’s assessment, monitoring and enforcement activities. Staff from GBRMPA, and staff of QPWS assigned to the Joint Field Management Program, were also interviewed. In addition, the views 43 The ANAO examined samples of GBRMP permit application assessments and the monitoring of current permits over the period July 2012 to June 2014. The samples, which equated to 10 per cent of the populations of permit application assessments and current permits, were broadly selected in proportion with 12 key parameters of their respective populations. In addition, the ANAO examined all ‘breach of permit’ enforcement actions over the period July 2012 to June 2014. ANAO Report No.3 2015–16 Regulation of Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Permits and Approvals 40 of relevant stakeholders were sought on GBRMPA’s regulation of Marine Park’s permits and approvals. 44

1.27 The ANAO did not examine GBRMPA’s other regulatory activities, such

as the FMCU’s investigation and enforcement activities associated with: activities not subject to a permit; the state marine park; or permits and licenses granted under state legislation.

1.28 The audit was conducted in accordance with the ANAO Auditing

Standards at a cost to the ANAO of 643 000. Report structure

1.29 The structure of the report is outlined in Table 1.1.

Table 1.1: Structure of the report Chapter Overview

2. Processing of Permit Applications

Examines the processing of Marine Park permit applications received by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.

3. Permit Application Assessment

Examines the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority’s preparation of permit application assessment reports for the delegate’s consideration. 4. Permit Decisions and Approval Conditions Examines the delegate’s consideration of permit application assessment reports, the conditions attached to issued permits and follow-up of post-approval requirements. 5. Compliance Intelligence and Risk Assessment Examines the compliance intelligence capability and risk assessment processes employed by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority to assess permit holders’ compliance with conditions attached to permits.

6. Managing Compliance

Examines the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority’s management of permit holders’ compliance with permit conditions.

7. Responding to Non-compliance

Examines the arrangements established by the Great Barrier Marine Park Authority to respond to non-compliance with permit conditions, including the framework and systems underpinning enforcement. 44 The ANAO contacted permit holders and other stakeholders of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park including industry peak bodies, environmental groups, island research stations and relevant Commonwealth and state government partners requesting their views on GBRMPA’s permit assessment, compliance monitoring and enforcement activities. The ANAO received eight responses from permit holders from 152 requests and 17 responses from general stakeholders from 67 requests, as well as two unsolicited responses.