Over three decades Victoria built a model of independent coastal oversight. The Coastal Management Act 1995 created the Victorian Coastal Council and Regional Coastal Boards, backed by five-yearly Coastal Strategies and local Coastal Action Plans. Those structures helped keep coastal planning grounded in long-term evidence, especially after the 2008 shift that embedded sea-level rise and coastal hazard expectations into the planning system.
In recent years, that independent “check and balance” has been steadily diluted. The Marine and Coastal Act 2018 replaced the earlier council and regional coastal boards with the Marine and Coastal Council and new partnership arrangements - effectively moving away from independent, region-based advocacy bodies that could publicly contest poor decisions (including through statutory processes/VCAT) toward a less assertive, more collaborative model.
Now, the Victorian Government has moved to abolish even the advisory Marine and Coastal Council as part of its public entity reform agenda (announced December 2025). CCWA sees this as a major concern: just as climate-driven erosion, inundation and ecosystem decline accelerate, Victoria is losing an independent expert forum for transparent, long-term advice beyond the reach of day-to-day political and development pressures.
CCWA urges the restoration of independent regional coastal advisory and advocacy capacity, and regular public reporting so communities can trust decisions affecting our coasts.
Timeline of Coastal Policy and Planning in Victoria (1970s–2020s)
1970s: First modern coastal protection + early planning policy
- Environmental and parks foundations: EPA and pollution controls (Environment Protection Act 1970), plus stronger public land conservation tools (National Parks Act 1975; Crown Land (Reserves) Act 1978).
- First explicit statewide coastal planning policy: SPP No.10 – Coastal Environments (1977) sets early principles for protecting coastal environments and managing development pressure.
1980s: Modern planning system + “policy without teeth”
- Planning and Environment Act 1987 resets Victoria’s statutory planning architecture (the platform coastal policy later plugs into).
- Victorian Coastal Policy (1988) arrives, but is widely characterised later as lacking effective implementation mechanisms.
- Conservation and catchment laws strengthen the context: FFG Act 1988; Water Act 1989.
1990s: Integrated coastal management becomes law (the “Coastal Act era” begins)
- Coastal Management Act 1995: the big governance shift:
- Creates Victorian Coastal Council + Regional Coastal Boards
- Requires a Victorian Coastal Strategy (5-yearly)
- Enables Coastal Action Plans to operationalise strategy regionally.
- Victorian Coastal Strategy 1997: first full statewide integrated coastal strategy under the Act.
- Parks Victoria established (1998) consolidates major coastal public land management capacity.
- Late 1990s–early 2000s: regional Coastal Action Plans start rolling out (e.g., Gippsland Lakes CAP 1999).
2000s: Marine protection expands + climate change enters planning law
- Victorian Coastal Strategy 2002: strengthens integrated coastal management and regional CAP implementation.
- 2002 Marine National Parks & Sanctuaries: Victoria’s statewide no-take marine protected area system is established (major marine policy milestone).
- 2004 Great Ocean Road regional strategy: recognises intense growth pressure and scenic landscape values as a special planning challenge.
- Victorian Coastal Strategy 2008: climate change becomes central, including the 0.8 m SLR by 2100 benchmark.
- Planning system hardwires coastal climate risk (Dec 2008):
- VPP changes (state policy framework updated for coastal hazards/climate)
- Ministerial Direction 13 + associated guidance establishes expectations for planning scheme amendments and risk assessment practice (CHVAs).
2008–2010: “Red dot” VCAT cases define coastal hazard doctrine
A cluster of decisions makes Victoria one of the earliest jurisdictions where sea-level rise and erosion risk directly drive permit outcomes:
- Gippsland Coastal Board v South Gippsland SC (No 2) (2008): climate risk and precautionary principle used to overturn a coastal subdivision approval.
- Myers (2009): CHVA becomes a practical evidentiary requirement; refusal follows once long-term erosion/inundation risk is demonstrated.
- Ronchi (2009): confirms the increased onus on proponents under the new 2008 framework.
- Taip (2010): signals “raising floor levels” alone can be an inadequate climate adaptation response—broader system impacts matter (access, landform, cumulative risk).
2010s: Better datasets + governance reset toward “marine + coastal”
- Future Coasts / statewide mapping and monitoring (2008–2017): LiDAR, statewide inundation/erosion datasets and hazard assessment build a much stronger evidence base for planning and adaptation.
- 2012 adjustments: policy guidance weakens (including nearer-term benchmarks like +0.2 m by 2040 for parts of settlement planning) and practice clarifications emerge after the early “red dot” wave.
- Victorian Coastal Strategy 2014: last of the 5-yearly “VCS” cycle under the 1995 Act.
- Marine and Coastal Act 2018 replaces the 1995 Act:
- Scope explicitly integrates marine waters + coast
- Replaces the Victorian Coastal Council / Regional Coastal Boards with the Marine and Coastal Council and “partnership” regional arrangements, moving away from independent, region-based advocacy bodies that could publicly contest poor decisions (including through statutory processes/VCAT) toward a less assertive, more collaborative model..
- Requires new statewide instruments: Marine & Coastal Policy, Strategy, and state-of-environment style reporting.
2020s: New policy regime + special regional authority + (recent) governance turbulence
- Marine and Coastal Policy 2020: the new “top of the pyramid” statewide policy (replacing the old VCS series), including marine spatial planning directions and climate adaptation emphasis.
- Amendment VC171 gazetted 6 September 2021 amends theVictoria Planning Provisions (VPP) and all planning schemes “to implement theMarine and Coastal Policy”, specifically to support coastal hazard planning and sea level rise adaptation, and update policy references
Late 2025: government announces abolition of the Marine and Coastal Council (ending a ~30-year pattern of an independent coastal advisory council model since 1995), creating concern about strategic oversight going forward.
Other relevant policy.
VEAC Coastal Reserves Assessment (2020): comprehensive stocktake of coastal Crown reserves to inform reform and prioritisation.
Great Ocean Road and Environs Protection Act 2020: establishes the Great Ocean Road Coast and Parks Authority—a region-specific institutional model responding to fragmentation and iconic landscape pressures.
Marine and Coastal Strategy 2022: 5-year action agenda implementing the 2020 policy (climate adaptation + partnerships + restoration + improved coordination).
For a more comprehensive timeline click the button below: