10/06/2026
Australia's federal marine park review is a rare opportunity to strengthen ocean protection at a national scale.
Our inshore and offshore NSW waters are in urgent need of protection and should be a stand out priority for government. Only about 4% of the Temperate East Marine Region is fully protected. This is a unique region with a mix of tropical and temperate species that stretches from the southern tip of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, Queensland, all the way south to Bermagui, NSW, and out to Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands.
Boosting protection for the Temperate East Marine Region could help to fill major gaps in protection across southeast Australia and contribute to the nation's 30x30 target - to highly protect 30% of our marine waters. No-take marine sanctuaries are nature's nurseries—giving fish, reefs and marine life the chance to recover, grow and thrive for future generations.
NPA NSW calls on both the state and federal reviews to work together on a formal arrangement to design a connected marine sanctuary network which adequately protects a full range of habitats and the full life cycle of species, as our marine life do not recognise lines on maps.
Australia's dive industry has backed calls to expand no-fishing and no-drilling zones across the nation's oceans ahead of a federal review of marine parks.
