On 13 February 2022 the Australian Government announced the $50 million Coastal and Estuarine Risk Mitigation Program funded by the Emergency Response Fund.
This program supports projects that reduce the impact of disasters on coastal communities.
Successful applicants were announced on 4 November 2022.
Coastal hazards, such as inundation, storm surges and erosion threaten a diverse set of social, natural and cultural assets, including public and private property and valued recreational and tourist areas, with flow-on social and economic impacts.
The Coastal and Estuarine Risk Mitigation Program will help drive long term resilience and sustainability by delivering priority projects that mitigate the impact of disasters on communities and economies.
Areas of focus for the program include:
This $50 million for the Coastal and Estuarine Risk Mitigation Program is in addition to the $100 million that has already been committed from the Emergency Response Fund for national flood mitigation infrastructure projects over 2 years in 2020-21.
| Project title | Recipient | Description | Funding |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stockton Beach Nourishment | New South Wales Public Works | This project will help to mitigate extensive coastal erosion threats in accordance with the certified Coastal Management Program. | $4,725,700.00 |
| Project title | Recipient | Description | Funding |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clifton Beach Coastal Protection Works | Department of Environment and Science | This project will deliver stabilisation of approximately 890m of coastline to mitigate long-term coastal retreat and improve resilience to storm erosion. | $1,037,000.00 |
| Golden Beach Coastal Hazard Mitigation and Drainage Options Analysis | Department of Environment and Science | This project will support the delivery of the Sunshine Coast Council’s Coastal Hazard Adaptation Strategy to combat risks around the region’s changed tidal dynamics. | $419,800.00 |
| Reassessment of Tidal Planes at First Nation and Other Remote Communities to Improve Coastal Hazard Risk Assessment | Department of Environment and Science | This project will improve the accuracy of tidal levels for 10 remote locations where information is inadequate or non-existent. | $197,423.00 |
| Investigation into the sand resource at Dayman Spit to enable protection of community assets with beach nourishment | Department of Environment and Science | This project will support investigations, planning and design to enable Council to identify location and seek permits to source sand from Dayman Spit and undertake large-scale beach nourishment for erosion protection of this developed coast. | $243,000.00 |
| Sunshine Coast & Noosa Regional Coastal Process Model for Improved Coastal Hazards Management | Department of Environment and Science | This project aims to develop a regional coastal process model to help improve understandings of coastal hazard impacts on beaches, and the effect of different management options that improve resilience. | $315,750.00 |
| Seawall construction at Urangan to protect public infrastructure from coastal erosion | Department of Environment and Science | The project will deliver protection from the ongoing sea erosion occurring at Urangan on the Fraser coast | $2,430,000.00 |
| Lucinda Groyne Field Replacement Review and Design | Department of Environment and Science | This project will replace the sand trapping groynes originally installed to control sea erosion. | $93,375.00 |
| Crab Creek Erosion Remediation, Tin Can Bay | Department of Environment and Science | The project will involve construction of a revetment to halt erosion and reduce risk to assets in the Crab Creek recreational area at Tin Can Bay. | $146,250.00 |
| Tsunami Risk Assessment for the Gladstone Regional Area | Department of Environment and Science | This project will undertake tsunami inundation modelling for the Gladstone Region, which is amongst the top 10 most at-risk locations for tsunami in Queensland. | $300,000.00 |
| State-wide Nearshore Bathymetry Survey for Improved Coastal Hazard Assessment | Department of Environment and Science | This project will capture high-resolution nearshore bathymetry and near coast land levels along developed sections of the Queensland coast, significantly improving State and Local Council ability to risk assess coastal hazards. | $3,200,000.00 |
| Project title | Recipient | Description | Funding |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Barunga West Council Coastal Protection Project | Barunga West Council | This project involves the implementation of a range of coastal protection measures focused on coastal erosion. | $359,000.00 |
| Coastal Adaptation for South Australia - CA4SA Project: Bringing science and people together to mitigate coastal risks from | Local Government Association of South Australia | This project accelerates development and use of adaptation strategies by establishing foundations of quality data and on-going monitoring to underpin disaster risk and vulnerability assessment. | $3,707,000.00 |
| Encounter Bay Coastal Protection Sea Wall | City of Victor Harbor | This project will create a resilient foreshore for local community and visitors. This is a low-lying part of the coast that will come under increased risk of inundation due to storm surges and future impacts of climate change as sea levels rise. | $518,000.00 |
| Wyomi Stage 2 Seawall Construction | Kingston District Council | The project involves construction of a 345m Stage 2 rock seawall at Wyomi to the north and south of the existing Stage 1 seawall. | $1,953,750.00 |
| Data Collection and Modelling Study: Horseshoe Bay, Port Elliot, South Australia | Alexandrina Council | This project will support the local council to take a proactive, best practice approach to data collection and modelling. This will support future master planning and future proofing the Bay and its intrinsic value for the community. | $112,500.00 |
| Lower Eyre Peninsula Coastal Adaptation and Emergency Management Strategy | District Council of Lower Eyre Peninsula | This project will develop coastal adaptation strategies for North Shields and Tulka and emergency management plans for Tulka and Farm Beach to identify hazards, mitigation and management measures associated with coastal inundation risk. | $60,000.00 |
| Project title | Recipient | Description | Funding |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scamander River Coastal Hazards Risk Mitigation and Pathways Planning | Break O'Day Council | This project addresses increasing risks to public and private assets from coastal erosion and inundation at the Scamander River mouth when high seas and floodwaters combine during extreme weather. | $165,000.00 |
| Coastal Hazard Risk Reduction in Southern Beaches Region | Sorell Council | The project intends to promote disaster risk reduction in communities. The main objective of the project is to deliver safe coastal living to Southern beaches region by safeguarding erosion prone dunes, remediating already eroded dunes and by providing safe stormwater services. | $1,868,508.00 |
| Project title | Recipient | Description | Funding |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contaminated Soil and Coastal Hazard Disaster Risk | Department of Environment Land Water and Planning | This project will be a flagship project for dealing with contaminated coastal land in Victoria. This will include a first pass state-wide review, documenting coastal hazard risk management and adaptation principles for coastal land fill sites, and a pathways approach to long-term strategic management. | $750,000.00 |
| Port Phillip Bay North-Western | Department of Environment Land Water and Planning | This project will provide State led support to develop a regional Coastal Hazard Adaptation and Resilience Plan. This will be delivered through a statutory Regional and Strategic Partnership. | $950,000.00 |
| South Gippsland Shire Coastal Levee Review and Infrastructure Planning | Department of Environment Land Water and Planning | This project will incorporate a coastal levees assessment with disaster risk mitigation and adaptation planning, aligned to progressing regional adaptation for communities and primary industries. | $150,000.00 |
| Mainstreaming Nature Based Adaptation in Victoria | Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning | This project will implement a suite of pilot on-ground nature based treatments in priority areas, to reduce erosion and inundation risk and maximise multiple benefits. | $1,500,000.00 |
| Cape to Cape Resilience Project on-ground works | Department of Environment Land Water and Planning | This project will reduce disaster risk to critical infrastructure and services for the Inverloch township and surrounding region. | $3,300,000.00 |
| Victorian Estuary Resilience and Hazard Risk Reduction | Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning | This project will help mitigate coastal hazard risk for a diversity of estuary values including public infrastructure and critical assets, and reduce the need for artificial estuary openings. | $1,500,000.00 |
| Victorian Coastal Monitoring Program Early Warning Pilot System and Sentinel Sites | Department of Environment Land Water and Planning | This project will build on the Victorian Coastal Monitoring Program, and expand into the realm of developing early warning system capabilities. | $826,985.00 |
| Project title | Recipient | Description | Funding |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coast Capture WA | Department of Fire and Emergency Services, Department of Transport, and Landgate | This project will support the state to conduct an updated coastal landform and seabed capture to build coastal digital elevation models. These models will help develop a better understanding of potential social, environmental and economic exposure, vulnerability and impacts. | $7,865,500.00 |
| C Y O'Connor Engineered Fringing Reef Stage 2 | City of Cockburn | This project supports the extension of the wave-attenuating Engineered Fringing Reef at C Y O’Connor Beach to create an additional 100m length of modular reef. This will help reduce erosion risk to vulnerable foreshore areas. | $600,000.00 |
| Upgraded revetment for Denham Foreshore and Town Centre | Shire of Shark Bay | This project will upgrade the existing foreshore revetment to an engineered structure designed to provide increased protection to the town site from risks associated with coastal hazards, including inundation. | $1,609,986.75 |
| West Busselton Coastal Stabilisation | City of Busselton | This project aims to provide longer term coastal protection to mitigate the impacts of coastal hazards along the coast between King Street and Gale Street in Busselton. | $1,070,500.00 |
| City of Joondalup Coastal Risk Adaptation Program | City of Joondalup | This project will include the upgrading of the City of Joondalup’s coastal assets. | $943,697.00 |
| Vincent Street Seawall Refurbishment | City of Busselton | This project will refurbish the existing 400m seawall structure to ensure it continues to function as a coastal protection structure for a reasonable design life. | $1,636,078.75 |
| Mindarie Breakwater Upgrade | City of Wanneroo | This project will deliver significant breakwater upgrades to Mindarie Breakwater to reduce safety risks and ensure continued functionality over the next 50 years. | $3,383,000.00 |
| Esperance Bay -Sand Back- Passing Infrastructure | Shire of Esperance | This project will install a permanent pipeline infrastructure from Bandy Creek Boat Harbour to the erosion hotspot in the Esperance Bay and install two electric slurry booster pumps along the pipeline. | $2,062,196.00 |
Applications for this program opened on 8 March 2022 and closed on 17 June 2022.
On 30 June 2023, the ERF was terminated but the program will continue to honour existing programs.