A NEW report from the state\u2019s Auditor-General has sounded a warning on coastal assets, and appears to support a significantly different management model for the Great Ocean Road.<\/p>\n
The Victorian Auditor-General\u2019s Office audited the Great Ocean Road Coast Committee, the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, and five other agencies responsible for protecting coastal assets to produce its \u201cProtecting Coastal Assets\u201d report.<\/p>\n
The audit examined whether natural and built assets on Victoria\u2019s coastline were adequately protected against existing and future erosion and inundation hazards.<\/p>\n
\u201cA common theme in many of our audits that examine infrastructure is that agencies generally are not managing their assets as well as they need to,\u201d the report concludes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the case for Victoria\u2019s coastal assets \u2013 agencies are not managing their assets adequately to protect them from current and future hazards.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a real risk, in the near future, of Victorians losing valued assets and infrastructure along the coast. This is partly because not all agencies have complete knowledge of all the assets for which they are accountable, or of the assets\u2019 age and condition.<\/p>\n
\u201cTargeting of scarce funding also does not properly consider risks, and significant unfunded maintenance backlogs remain unaddressed.<\/p>\n
\u201cCompounding this, poorly integrated planning and fragmented responsibility for coastal assets across agencies of various sizes and capabilities works against a cohesive and strategic perspective.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a strong case for more top-down management that takes a statewide view of our coastal assets, hazards and risks.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile such an approach requires investment in a consolidated asset inventory, it would make it possible to eliminate the inconsistency in management approaches and practices across agencies.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Auditor-General\u2019s report comes only weeks after the Great Ocean Road Taskforce released a governance issues paper, which noted there are 14 entities with some accountability towards the Great Ocean Road along its length.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A NEW report from the state\u2019s Auditor-General has sounded a warning on coastal assets, and appears to support a significantly different management model for the Great Ocean Road. The Victorian Auditor-General\u2019s Office audited the Great Ocean Road Coast Committee, the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, and five other agencies responsible for protecting coastal […]<\/p>\n