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Director of National Parks Annual Report 2017–18

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Director of National Parks Annual Report 2017–18 Director of National Parks Annual Report 2017–18 Director of National Parks Annual Report 2017–18 Acknowledgement of traditional owners and country We acknowledge the traditional owners of country throughout Australia and their continuing connection to land, sea and community. We pay our respects to them and their cultures and to their elders both past and present. © Director of National Parks 2018 ISSN: 1443-1238 (Print) ISSN: 2204-0013 (Online) The Director of National Parks Annual Report 2017–18 by the Director of National Parks is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia with the exception of the Coat of Arms of the Commonwealth of Australia, government agency logos, content supplied by third party, and all images depicting people. For licence conditions see: creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/au/. All reasonable efforts has been used to identify third party content using ‘©organisation’. This work should be attributed in the following way (use “Source:” if the work is reproduced without any changes; use “Based on” if the work is adapted or altered): Source/Based on: Director of National Parks Annual Report 2017–18 by the Director of National Parks [2018] licensed under CC-BY 3.0 AU. Original available at: environment.gov.au/resource/annual-report-2017-18-director-national-parks Director of National Parks Australian Business Number: 13 051 694 96 d Director of National Parks | Annual Report 2017-2018 Letter of transmittal The Hon Melissa Price MP Minister for the Environment Parliament House Canberra ACT 2600 Dear Minister As the accountable authority for the Director of National Parks I am pleased to present the annual report on the activities of the Director of National Parks for the reporting period ending 30 June 2018 in accordance with section 46(1) of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 (PGPA Act). The Director of National Parks Annual Report 2017–18 has been prepared in accordance with the PGPA Act and includes the: • annual financial statements for the Australian National Parks Fund, including the matters required by the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability (Financial Reporting) Rule 2015 • matters required by the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Rule 2014 for the reporting period • matters required by the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. In accordance with the Commonwealth Fraud Control Framework, as the accountable authority for the Director of National Parks I have taken all reasonable measures to prevent, detect and deal with fraud relating to the Director. I am satisfied that this agency has prepared fraud risk assessments and implemented fraud control plans, has in place appropriate fraud prevention, detection, investigation, reporting and data collection procedures and processes that meet the specific needs of this agency, and has taken all reasonable measures to minimise the incidence of fraud in this agency and to investigate and recover the proceeds of fraud against the agency. Judy West Acting Director of National Parks 12 October 2018 Letter of transmittal i The Director of National Parks The Director of National Parks is responsible for the conservation and management of the Australian Government’s terrestrial and marine protected area estates established under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. As at 30 June 2018, our area of responsibility included seven terrestrial reserves (six national parks and the Australian National Botanic Gardens) and 59 Australian Marine Parks. The location of Commonwealth reserves are shown in Figure 1 with further details for each reserve available in Appendix B. Three of our parks, Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa, Kakadu and Booderee, are leased to the Director of National Parks by their Aboriginal owners. These parks are jointly managed by the Director and a Board of Management and are generously made available by their traditional owners to visitors and tour operators to enjoy and appreciate. Brief history of our reserves 1977 Uluṟu (Ayers Rock-Mount Olga) National Park is declared. Name changed to Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park in 1993. 1979 Kakadu National Park is first declared. 1980 Christmas Island National Park is declared. 1982 Lihou Reef National Nature Reserve and Coringa-Herald National Nature Reserve are declared, the first of 12 individual marine reserves to be declared throughout Commonwealth waters over the period 1982 to 2000. 1986 Norfolk Island National Park and Botanic Garden is declared. 1991 Australian National Botanic Gardens is declared. 1992 Jervis Bay National Park is first declared. Name changed to Booderee National Park in 1995. 1995 Pulu Keeling National Park is declared. 2002 Heard Island and McDonald Islands Marine Reserves is declared. 2007 South-east Commonwealth Marine Reserves Network is declared comprising fourteen individual reserves. 2012 Commonwealth Marine Reserves Networks first declared, comprising 44 individual reserves and incorporating 12 pre-existing reserves, and the Coral Sea Commonwealth Marine Reserve. ii Director of National Parks | Annual Report 2017–18 Our vision Outstanding natural places that enhance Australia’s well-being. What we do We protect the natural environment and cultural values of Commonwealth reserves by managing them jointly with traditional owners and the wider community. We provide enriching experiences to attract and inspire visitors and we look to deliver economic, social and cultural benefits to traditional owners and regional economies. Like many private sector, public and community organisations we are dedicated to maintaining Australia’s unique plants and animals and halting species extinction. Our values and approach As Australian Public Service employees, Parks Australia employees uphold the values of the service. As conservation area managers we strive for an approach that is: • Knowledge-based: we use evidence about our conservation assets and management performance to make decisions about future management activities and investments. • Transparent: we use clear criteria to determine our priorities and we communicate and explain our decisions. • Accountable: we clearly articulate what we seek to achieve through management interventions and measure our progress towards set outcomes. • Collaborative: we seek and support genuine partnerships to deliver conservation and tourism outcomes. • Adaptive: we incorporate lessons and performance information into management and business planning. • Innovative: we create the space for devising creative solutions and promote exposure of our staff to diverse experiences in conservation area management. Vision, values and approach iii iv Director of National Director of National Parks in2017–18 Parks ofNational Director responsibility ofthe the reserves whichare and parks ofCommonwealth 1:Location Figure Parks North Australian Marine Parks Network N 52 | 54 North-West 57 Christmas Island 50 53 National Park Australian Marine 49 T5 Parks Network 48 56 47 55 Christmas 46 T2 Cocos-Keeling Island Islands 51 Kakadu Annual Report 2017–18 Annual Report National Park 58 Coral Sea Marine Park 45 44 T7 42 41 Pulu Keeling 43 National Park Uluru-KataUluru-Kata Tjuta Tju ta 39 National Park 40 National Park T3 Norfolk Island 38 37 National Park and 2 Botanic Garden 5 T6 BoodereeBooderee 3 36 NationalNational ParkPark 35 26 AustralianAustralian 28 National T1 34 National 6 BotanicBotanic T4 Norfolk 30 24 Gardens 7 Island Gardens 1 33 32 4 23 8 27 19 18 Temperate East Australian 29 9 10 Marine Parks Network 31 Australian Waters 25 South-West 22 11 Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Australian Marine 21 17 12 (Managed by Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority) Parks Network 20 14 Heard Island and South-East 59 McDonald Islands 16 15 Australian Marine Marine Reserve Parks Network Macquarie 13 Heard Island and Island McDonald Islands 0 500 1,000 2,000 Km © Commonwealth of Australia, 2018 Table 1: Key to the location of the Commonwealth parks and reserves Reserve Name Map Label Reserve Name Map Label Reserve Name Map Label Terrestrial Reserve Huon 14 North-west Booderee National Park T1 South Tasman Rise 15 Marine Parks Network Kakadu National Park T2 Tasman Fracture 16 Gascoyne 39 Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park T3 Zeehan 17 Ningaloo 40 Australian National Boags 18 Montebello 41 T4 Botanic Gardens Apollo 19 Dampier 42 Christmas Island National Park T5 Franklin 20 Eighty Mile Beach 43 Norfolk Island National Park Nelson 21 Roebuck 44 T6 and Botanic Garden Murray 22 Mermaid Reef 45 Pulu Keeling National Park T7 South-west Argo-Rowley Terrace 46 Temperate East Marine Parks Network Kimberley 47 Marine Parks Network Southern Kangaroo Island 23 Ashmore Reef 48 Norfolk 1 Western Kangaroo Island 24 Cartier Island 49 Gifford 2 Western Eyre 25 North Central Eastern 3 Murat 26 Marine Parks Network Lord Howe 4 Great Australian Bight 27 Joseph Bonaparte Gulf 50 Solitary Islands 5 Twilight 28 Oceanic Shoals 51 Cod Grounds 6 Eastern Recherche 29 Arafura 52 Hunter 7 Bremer 30 Limmen 53 Jervis 8 South-west Corner 31 Arnhem 54 South-east Two Rocks 32 West Cape York 55 Marine Parks Network Geographe 33 Gulf of Carpentaria 56 East Gippsland 9 Perth Canyon 34 Wessel 57 Beagle 10 Jurien 35 Coral Sea Marine Park 58 Flinders 11 Abrolhos 36 Heard Island and McDonald 59 Freycinet 12 Shark Bay 37 Islands Marine Reserve Macquarie Island 13 Carnarvon Canyon 38 v Vision, values and approach Kakadu National Park visitors cool off at Maguk Gorge. (Image: Parks Australia). Contents Chapter 1 Director’s message 1 Chapter 2 Overview 5 Chapter 3 Organisational structure 13 Chapter 4 Annual Performance Statement 25 Chapter 5 Management and accountability 55 Chapter 6 Financial Statements 75 Chapter 7 Appendices 103 Contents vii Chapter 1 Director’s message Chapter 1 Director’s message 1 Director’s message I am proud to present the collective achievements of Parks Australia, our joint management Boards and our valued partners for 2017–18 in this annual report. The report presents our results and achievements directly against the strategies and performance indicators that are set out in the Director of National Parks Corporate Plan 2017–2021.
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