Australian Native Vegetation Assessment 2001

Maria Cofinas, Colin Creighton
National Land and Water Resources Audit, 2001
ISBN 0 642 37128 8

National Land and Water Resources Audit

Who is the Audit responsible to?

The Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry - Australia has overall responsibility for the Audit as a program of the Natural Heritage Trust. The Audit reports through the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry to the Natural Heritage Board which also includes the Minister for the Environment and Heritage.

How is the Audit managed?

An Advisory Council manages the implementation of the Audit. Dr Roy Green, with a background in research, science policy and management chairs the Advisory Council. Members and observers on the Advisory Council and the organisations they represent are: Warwick Watkins (LWRRDC), Bernard Wonder (AFFA), Stephen Hunter (EA), John Radcliffe (CSIRO), Peter Sutherland (SCARM), Jon Womersley (SCC), Roger Wickes (SCARM) and Colin Creighton (Audit).

What is the role of the Audit Management Unit?

The Audit Management Unit's role has evolved over its five-year life. Phases of activity include:

Phase 1. Strategic planning and work plan formulation
specifying (in partnership with Commonwealth, States and Territories, industry and community) the activities and outputs of the Audit-completed in 1998-99.
Phase 2. Project management
letting contracts, negotiating partnerships and then managing all the component projects and consultancies that will deliver Audit outputs-a major component of Unit activities from 1998-99 onwards.
Phase 3. Reporting
combining outputs from projects in each theme to detail Audit findings and formulate recommendations-an increasingly important task in 2000-2001 and the early part of 2001-02.
Phase 4. Integration and implementation
combining theme outputs in a final report, working towards the implementation of recommendations across government, industry and community, and the application of information products as tools to improve natural resource management-the major focus for 2001-2002.
Phase 5. Developing long term arrangements for continuing Audit-type activities
developing and advocating a strategic approach for the continuation of Audit-type activities-complete in 2001-2002.

The Audit Management Unit has been maintained over the Audit's period of operations as an eight-person multidisciplinary team. This team as at August 2001 comprises Colin Creighton, Warwick McDonald, Stewart Noble, Maria Cofinas, Jim Tait, Rochelle Lawson, Sylvia Graham and Drusilla Patkin.

How are Audit activities undertaken?

As work plans were agreed by clients and approved by the Advisory Council, component projects in these work plans were contracted out. Contracting involves negotiation by the Audit to develop partnerships with key clients or a competitive tender process.

Facts and figures

Total Audit worth, including all partnerships
in excess of $52 m

Audit allocation from Natural Heritage Trust
$34.19 m

% funds allocated to contracts
~ 92%

Total number of contracts
149

Providing nationwide assessments

The National Land and Water Resources Audit (Audit) is facilitating improved natural resource management decision making by:

Providing a clear understanding of the status of, and changes in, the nation's land, vegetation and water resources and implications for their sustainable use.

Providing an interpretation of the costs and benefits (economic, environmental and social) of land and water resource change and any remedial actions.

Developing a national information system of compatible and readily accessible land and water data.

Producing national land and water (surface and groundwater) assessments as integrated components of the Audit.

Ensuring integration with, and collaboration between, other relevant initiatives.

Providing a framework for monitoring Australia's land and water resources in an ongoing and structured way.

In partnership with Commonwealth, and State and Territory agencies, and through its theme activities-Water Availability, Dryland Salinity, Vegetation, Rangelands Monitoring, Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability, Australians and Natural Resource Management, Catchment, River and Estuary Condition and Information Management-the Audit has prepared:

Assessments of the status of and, where possible, recent changes in Australia's land, vegetation and water resources to assist decision makers achieve ecological sustainability. These assessments set a baseline or benchmark for monitoring change.

Integrated reports on the economic, environmental and social dimensions of land and water resource management, including recommendations for management action.

Australian Natural Resources Atlas to provide internet-based access to integrated national, State and regional data and information on key natural resource issues and underpinned by the Australian Natural Resources Data Library .

Guidelines and protocols for assessing and monitoring the condition and management of Australia's land, vegetation and water resources to meet the information needs of decision makers at regional to Australia wide scales.

The Australian Native Vegetation Assessment 2001 details Australia-wide activities undertaken to implement a national vegetation data management and information provision system. Using the data compiled in this system, this report assesses the status of Australia's native vegetation and makes suggestions for continued development of the information system and its application in supporting natural resource management decisions.

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