Purpose of Research Plan

The portfolio of projects in Research Plan 2022 reflects the high priority research needs identified through engagement between Hub research partners and research-users in RP2021 projects, particularly scoping projects, or other relevant research-user input. The projects are also those that could deliver a process or outcome to address the high priority needs within the timeframe and available budget, had capacity for co-design to address research-user needs, and more broadly addressed the defined NESP project assessment criteria.

Across the seven projects in Research Plan 2022 as detailed in the table above, the expected high-level outcomes include:

  • Improved management of marine park continental shelf assets by enabling managers to target their monitoring priorities to inform condition assessments and the effect of management interventions

  • Best practice approaches to collecting, analysing, managing and reporting marine data

  • An integrated national approach to Australian Marine Park data and data products to allow the condition of park values to be evaluated with the latest available data/knowledge

  • Improved access to information on natural assets and pressures

  • Provision of knowledge of nutrients and contaminants (i.e. chemicals of emerging concern, antimicrobials and microplastics) to inform assessments of risk associated into the marine environment

  • Improving a considered, longer-term approach to voluntary compliance with marine parks through implementation and evaluation of the use of behavioural change interventions with recreational boaters and fishers

  • Improved understanding of habitats dependency and key threats to Australian sea lion populations required to support future conservation actions to recover the species

  • Information on population trends required to assess the Conservation Management Plan for Southern Right Whales (2011-21) and development of future management plans.

These projects deliver outcomes to a wide range of Australian Government research-users, as well as relevant State agencies, stakeholders and the broader community. A number of projects are nationally focussed (2.2, 2.3), developing approaches that can be applied in different regions (2.1, 2.4, 2.5), or focussed regionally reflecting the distribution of the environmental asset (2.6, 2.7). 

PRODUCTS