The conditions attached to GBRMP permits are considered necessary by

ANAO Report No.3 2015–16 Regulation of Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Permits and Approvals 109

7.5 To support and guide its regulatory compliance activities, GBRMPA has

developed a range of materials to assist investigatory and enforcement activities. Those materials directly relevant to permit compliance include: • Compliance Management and Investigation Procedures last updated in January 2010—outline the specific requirements that inspectors are to meet when undertaking investigations and investigation-related activities on behalf of GBRMPA; • Caution and Infringement Notice System: Guidelines and Procedures draft—to inform inspectors of the considerations relevant to, and procedures for, proceeding with issuing cautions and infringement notices; and • Mooring Compliance Management Guidelines undated—to inform and guide field and administrative staff that are responsible for managing mooring compliance in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area.

7.6 GBRMPA’s Compliance Management and Investigations Procedures, which

are based on the 2003 version of the Australian Government Investigations Standards 121 , is the primary document used by the FMCU to manage non-compliance incidents and undertake investigations. The procedures, among other things, clearly outline the key investigation requirements, such as the qualification requirements for inspectors, the manner in which non-compliance referrals are to be handled, and case planning and practice requirements.

7.7 The procedures also emphasise the importance of documenting critical

decisions and the basis on which they were made throughout the course of investigations. While acknowledging the sound procedural guidance available to FMCU staff with responsibility for conducting investigations, the established guidance for determining appropriate enforcement responses is limited to that contained in the Caution and Infringement Notice System: Guidelines and Procedures. These guidelines and procedures only list some considerations relevant to any decision to issue caution and infringement notices, do not align well with other compliance and investigation procedures 122 , and do not clearly identify the 121 The Australian Government Investigation Standards were revised in August 2011. 122 While the GBRMPA Complexity and Priority Model discussed earlier provides examples of common permit breaches and categorises them according to their impact, the five-point categorisation scale Insignificant, Minor, Moderate, Major and Extreme applied by the model does not align well to the Low, Medium and High impact rating scale used in the Caution and Infringement Notice System: Guidelines and Procedures to determine appropriate enforcement responses.