Introduction

Environment Tasmania welcomes the Australian Government’s 2026 review of the Commonwealth Marine Parks Network and the opportunity to contribute to the development of new management plans for Australia’s marine parks.

Environment Tasmania supports the expansion of highly protected marine sanctuaries across the Commonwealth marine parks network. We support the Government’s commitment to protect at least 30% of Australia’s ocean in highly protected areas by 2030, and we encourage the Government to use this review to ensure that this target delivers meaningful ecological protection.

Australia’s marine environment is globally significant. It supports extraordinary biodiversity, productive fisheries, tourism and recreation, and is central to the identity and wellbeing of coastal communities.

Marine parks are an important tool for protecting these values. However, the effectiveness of a marine park depends on where highly protected areas are located, what activities are excluded, and whether those areas are adequately managed, monitored and resourced.

Environment Tasmania therefore supports management plans that substantially increase the extent and effectiveness of highly protected marine sanctuaries, while ensuring that protection is based on ecological science, appropriate network design principles, Traditional Owner knowledge and aspirations, and meaningful engagement with communities and marine users.

1. Increase highly protected marine sanctuaries

Environment Tasmania supports a substantial increase in the area of Commonwealth marine parks managed as highly protected sanctuaries.

Highly protected areas provide places where ecosystems can recover and where marine life can be protected from extractive and damaging activities, like fossil fuel extraction. They can contribute to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem resilience and the recovery of fish populations, while also supporting surrounding marine environments and the communities and industries that depend on healthy oceans.

The current review is an important opportunity to increase the proportion of Commonwealth marine parks receiving this level of protection.

We support the principle that Australia’s commitment to protecting 30% of its ocean by 2030 should be met through meaningful levels of protection, rather than relying predominantly on marine areas where extractive activities continue to be permitted.

2. Put sanctuaries in the right places

Increasing the total area of sanctuary protection is important, but where that protection occurs is equally important.

Environment Tasmania supports marine park planning based on established ecological principles, including:

• comprehensive representation of marine ecosystems and habitats;

• adequate protection of important ecological features;

• representation across different depths and environments;

• connectivity between protected areas;

• protection of areas of high biodiversity and ecological significance;

• protection of important breeding, feeding, nursery and spawning habitats; and

• protection of habitats that are particularly vulnerable or slow to recover from disturbance.

Particular attention should be given to areas that are currently poorly represented within highly protected zones, including shallow continental-shelf habitats, rocky reefs, canyons, seamounts and other important seafloor features.

Marine sanctuaries should not be concentrated primarily in remote areas simply because they have fewer existing users. The network should protect the places that are ecologically important.

3. Protect marine ecosystems from damaging activities

Environment Tasmania supports strong protection from activities that can cause significant or irreversible damage to marine ecosystems, for example fossil fuel extraction and seismic blasting.

Highly protected sanctuary zones should exclude extractive activities and other activities that are incompatible with their conservation purpose.

This includes activities such as mining, industrial fishing, oil and gas exploration and extraction, and other activities that can substantially disturb marine habitats.

We particularly support the consistent exclusion of damaging seabed activities from marine sanctuaries. The continued allowance of bottom-trawling in parts of the Commonwealth marine parks network demonstrates why marine park boundaries alone do not necessarily provide adequate ecological protection. This is a significant gap in the current network.

Similarly, protection from seismic blasting and new oil and gas activities should be consistently applied across Commonwealth marine parks where these activities are incompatible with conservation objectives.

4. Protect biodiversity, not simply areas with low existing use

Marine park planning should be driven primarily by ecological values and conservation objectives.

Areas should not be excluded from consideration for sanctuary protection simply because they currently support fishing or other marine uses.

Some of Australia's most biologically important marine environments are also highly productive and therefore attractive to human users. This is precisely why strategic planning and carefully designed marine sanctuaries are required.

Protecting representative and ecologically significant areas can provide benefits beyond the sanctuary itself, including supporting healthy fish populations and ecosystem resilience in surrounding waters.

5. Support healthy fisheries and marine economies

Environment Tasmania recognises the importance of healthy oceans to commercial and recreational fishing, tourism and coastal communities.

Marine protection should therefore be considered as part of maintaining the long-term health and productivity of Australia's marine environment.

Well-designed marine sanctuaries can provide areas where fish populations and ecosystems can recover and contribute to healthy surrounding waters. They can also support tourism, diving, recreational activities and other businesses that depend on healthy marine environments.

Where management changes result in significant impacts on affected commercial fishers, appropriate consultation, transition measures and structural adjustment should be provided.

However, existing patterns of use should not be the sole determinant of future marine park zoning. The purpose of marine spatial planning is to manage marine environments for the long term, including for future generations of marine users.

6. Respect First Nations rights, knowledge and aspirations

Environment Tasmania recognises that Traditional Owner knowledge, cultural values, rights and governance are fundamental to effective marine management.

Marine park planning must respect the rights and interests of First Nations peoples and provide meaningful opportunities for Traditional Owners to shape management arrangements for Sea Country.

Traditional ecological knowledge and Western scientific knowledge can provide complementary and valuable perspectives on marine ecosystems.

The development and implementation of marine park management plans should therefore include appropriately resourced and meaningful engagement with Traditional Owners, including support for participation and capacity where required.

7. Properly resourced marine park management

Marine protection is only effective when protected areas are properly managed.

Environment Tasmania supports adequate investment in:

• compliance and enforcement;

• scientific monitoring;

• ecological research;

• long-term evaluation;

• data collection and reporting;

• Traditional Owner participation and capacity;

• stakeholder engagement; and

• community education and communication.

Management plans should establish clear objectives and measurable indicators so that the effectiveness of marine parks and sanctuary zones can be assessed over time.

There should also be transparent public reporting on whether conservation objectives are being achieved.

8. Plan for cumulative pressures and a changing ocean

Australia's marine ecosystems are experiencing multiple and interacting pressures.

Marine park management plans should consider cumulative impacts rather than assessing individual activities in isolation.

Marine sanctuaries cannot address every threat to the ocean, and they are not a substitute for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, pollution or other pressures. However, protecting representative ecosystems from extractive and habitat-damaging activities can provide important refuges and help maintain ecological resilience.

Marine park planning should therefore take account of climate change, marine heatwaves, pollution, changing species distributions, invasive species and other emerging pressures when determining where protection is most needed.

9. Apply these principles across the national network

Environment Tasmania supports a nationally coherent approach to Commonwealth marine park planning.

The Temperate East, South-west, North-west, North and Coral Sea marine regions contain very different ecosystems, but the fundamental principles of effective marine protection remain consistent.

Each region should have a network of highly protected areas that is:

• ecologically representative;

• adequately sized;

• connected where appropriate;

• based on the best available science and knowledge;

• responsive to climate and cumulative pressures; and

• supported by effective management and long-term resourcing.

The Save Our Marine Life alliance has identified significant opportunities to strengthen sanctuary protection across these regions, including in the Coral Sea, Temperate East, South-west, North-west and North. Environment Tasmania supports the underlying principle that protection gaps should be addressed across the network, including in important continental-shelf habitats.

10. Lord Howe Island and Norfolk Island

Environment Tasmania supports the proposed expansion of marine protection around Lord Howe Island and Norfolk Island and recognises the ecological significance of these marine environments.

The final arrangements should incorporate the knowledge, aspirations and interests of the communities and Traditional Owners connected with these places.

Protection should also be designed to ensure that the ecological values for which these areas are recognised are adequately represented within highly protected zones.

11. A national opportunity for stronger marine protection

The 2026 review is an important opportunity to strengthen Australia's national marine protection framework.

The Australian Government has identified this process as part of its pathway towards protecting 30% of Australia's ocean in highly protected areas by 2030. Environment Tasmania supports that commitment and encourages the Government to ensure that the outcome is ecologically meaningful.

The focus should not simply be on the percentage of ocean designated as protected. The quality, location, connectivity and effectiveness of that protection matter equally.

Australia has an opportunity to build a marine park network that protects the diversity of its oceans, supports resilient ecosystems and provides lasting benefits for future generations.

Recommendations

Environment Tasmania recommends that the Australian Government:

1. Substantially increase the extent of highly protected marine sanctuary zones across the Commonwealth Marine Parks Network.

2. Ensure sanctuary protection contributes meaningfully to the Government's commitment to protect at least 30% of Australia's ocean in highly protected areas by 2030.

3. Use comprehensive, adequate, representative and connectivity-based ecological principles to determine where sanctuary zones are located.

4. Prioritise protection of important and under-represented habitats, including continental-shelf habitats, reefs, canyons, seamounts and other areas of high ecological significance.

5. Ensure highly protected sanctuary zones exclude extractive and habitat-damaging activities that are incompatible with their conservation objectives.

6. Do not allow existing patterns of human use to prevent protection of areas of high ecological value.

7. Recognise the contribution of marine sanctuaries to healthy fisheries, tourism, recreation and coastal economies, while providing appropriate consultation and transition measures where management changes significantly affect commercial fishers.

8. Respect Traditional Owner rights, knowledge, cultural values and aspirations, with meaningful and adequately resourced participation in marine park planning and management.

9. Provide adequate long-term funding for management, compliance, monitoring, research and evaluation of Commonwealth marine parks.

10. Ensure management plans address cumulative pressures and climate-related change and are capable of adapting as new information becomes available.

11. Strengthen protection consistently across the Commonwealth Marine Parks Network, addressing significant gaps in the Coral Sea, Temperate East, South-west, North-west and North marine regions.

12. Finalise strong and ecologically meaningful protection arrangements for Lord Howe Island and Norfolk Island, informed by local community and Traditional Owner knowledge and aspirations.

Conclusion

Environment Tasmania welcomes the 2026 Commonwealth Marine Parks Network management-plan review.

Australia has an opportunity to strengthen one of its most important tools for protecting marine biodiversity and maintaining healthy ocean ecosystems.

We support a substantial expansion of highly protected marine sanctuaries, located according to ecological science and knowledge, designed as connected and representative networks, and backed by effective management and long-term investment.

Protecting Australia's oceans is not simply about drawing lines on a map. It is about ensuring that the places supporting marine life, fisheries, recreation, tourism and coastal communities remain healthy and resilient into the future.

Environment Tasmania encourages the Australian Government to use this once-in-a-decade review to deliver a stronger, more representative and more effective Commonwealth Marine Parks Network.

Environment Tasmania supports strong marine sanctuaries as a foundation for healthy oceans and healthy coastal communities.

Signed: Rebecca Howarth

Senior Marine Campaigner

Environment Tasmania