We recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders as the sovereign Traditional Owners of Australia and thank them for their stewardship of this Country, its lands, waters and skies. We respectfully acknowledge their culture and customary practices, and pay respect to their Ancestors, Elders and future leaders.

For the first time, the State of the Environment report includes a strong Indigenous narrative across all 12 thematic chapters, a narrative crafted through recognising the leadership, collaboration and authorship of Indigenous Australians who continue their connection as Traditional Owners to their lands, waters and skies.

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Table 8 Key aspects of Indigenous commercial fisheries in Australia

Jurisdiction	Current and future opportunities
Commonwealth	Release of the Commonwealth fisheries resource-sharing framework
NSW	Aboriginal Fishing Trust Fund to develop businesses associated with fisheries resources (see case study: Indigenous commercial fishing in New South Wales)
NT	Aboriginal coastline licence to build economic development via small-scale community fishing business at low start-up costs
Qld	Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander commercial fishing development policy
SA	Establishment of a respectful and constructive relationship to assist Traditional Owners to secure cultural, social and economic wellbeing
Tas	Development of business case exploring the benefits of Indigenous Tasmanian access to wild-caught abalone
Torres Strait Islands^a	Roadmap to 100% ownership of Torres Strait commercial fisheries by Torres Strait communities
Vic	Victorian Aboriginal Fishing Strategy aims to facilitate economic opportunities for Aboriginal people through participation in the fishing industry
WA	WA is transitioning Aboriginal commercial fishing arrangements into more secure licensing arrangements that carry a greater level of access right

NSW = New South Wales; NT = Northern Territory; Qld = Queensland; SA = South Australia; Tas = Tasmania; Vic = Victoria; WA = Western Australia

Torres Strait Fisheries are considered Commonwealth fisheries and are managed at the national level.

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Table 9 Recently introduced Australian Commonwealth regulations to prevent marine pollution

Instrument	Commencement	Summary
Marine Order 93 (Marine pollution prevention – noxious liquid substances) 2014	13 December 2016	Requirements for preventing any contaminating liquids and chemicals from entering the marine environment for Australian vessels
Marine Order 32 (Cargo handling equipment) 2016	1 January 2017	Certification, and safe operations, of vessels carrying dangerous liquid chemicals and liquefied gases in bulk
Marine Order 54 (Coastal pilotage) 2014	1 January 2018	Requirements for coastal pilotage and pilots
Marine Order 95 (Marine pollution prevention – garbage) 2018	1 March 2018	Management of cargo residues, discharge of animal carcasses and garbage management
Marine Order 91 (Marine pollution prevention – oil) 2014	1 April 2018	Requirements for preventing pollution of the environment by oil for regulated Australian vessels
Marine Order 96 (Marine pollution prevention – sewage) 2018	1 April 2018	Requirements for preventing marine pollution by sewage from ships
Marine Order 97 (Marine pollution prevention – air pollution) 2013	1 March 2020	Requirements for preventing air pollution by vessels
Marine Order 58 (Safe management of vessels) 2020	1 July 2020	Requirements for safe management and operation of vessels, and pollution prevention

Source: Adapted from AMSA (2021)

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Table 10 Management effectiveness grades

Grade	Description
Very effective	Approach Understanding of environmental and cultural systems, and factors affecting them is good for most management issues. Effective legislation, policies and plans are in place for addressing all or most significant issues. Policies and plans clearly establish management objectives and operations targeted at major risks. Responsibility for managing issues is clearly and appropriately allocated. Financial and staffing resources are largely adequate to address management issues. Biophysical and socio-economic information is available to inform management decisions. Well-designed management systems are being implemented for effective delivery of planned management actions, including clear governance arrangements, appropriate stakeholder engagement, active adaptive management and adequate reporting against goals. Outputs Management objectives are being met with regard to timely delivery of products and services and reduction of current pressures and emerging risks to environmental values. Management responses are mostly progressing in accordance with planned programs and are achieving their desired objectives. Targeted threats are being demonstrably reduced. Outcomes Management objectives are being met with regard to improvements in resilience of environmental values. Resilience of environmental values is being maintained or improving. Values are considered secure against known threats.
Effective	Approach Understanding of environmental and cultural systems, and factors affecting them is generally good, but there is some variability across management issues. Effective legislation, policies and plans are in place, and management responsibilities are allocated appropriately, for addressing many significant issues. Policies and plans clearly establish management objectives and priorities for addressing major risks, but may not specify implementation procedures. Financial and staffing resources are mostly adequate to address management issues, but may not be secure. Biophysical and socio-economic information is available to inform decisions, although there may be deficiencies in some areas. Well-designed management systems are in place, but are not yet being fully implemented. Outputs Management responses are mostly progressing in accordance with planned programs and are achieving their desired objectives. Targeted threats are understood, and measures are in place to manage them. Outcomes Resilience of environmental values is improving, but threats remain as significant factors affecting environmental systems.
Partially effective	Approach Understanding of environmental and cultural systems, and factors affecting them is only fair for most management issues. Resilience of environmental values is improving, but threats remain as significant factors affecting environmental systems. Financial and staffing resources are unable to address management issues in some important areas. Biophysical and socio-economic information is available to inform management decisions, although there are significant deficiencies in some areas. Management systems provide some guidance, but are not consistently delivering on implementation of management actions, stakeholder engagement, adaptive management or reporting. Outputs Management responses are progressing and showing signs of achieving some objectives. Targeted threats are understood, and measures are being developed to manage them. Outcomes The expected impacts of management measures on improving resilience of environmental values are yet to be seen. Managed threats remain as significant factors influencing environmental systems.
Ineffective	Approach Understanding of environmental and cultural systems, and factors affecting them is poor for most management issues. Legislation, policies and planning systems have not been developed to address significant issues. Financial and staffing resources are unable to address management issues in many areas. Biophysical and socio-economic information to support decisions is deficient in many areas. Adequate management systems are not in place. Lack of consistency and integration of management activities across jurisdictions is a problem for many issues. Outputs Management responses are either not progressing in accordance with planned programs (significant delays or incomplete actions) or the actions undertaken are not achieving their objectives. Threats are not actively being addressed. Outcomes Resilience of environmental values is still low or continuing to decline. Unmitigated threats remain as significant factors influencing environmental systems.

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