The Great Ocean Road (GOR) spans 243 km from Torquay to Warrnambool along Victoria’s southwest coast, including the iconic Twelve Apostles rock formation at Port Campbell.

The area’s Traditional Owners are the Eastern Maar and Wadurrung people.

The region is Victoria's top tourist attraction, attracting 5-7 million visits annually. It also has 73,000 permanent residents living in 21 communities.

The high visitor numbers as well as increasing development put pressure on small, local communities and the natural environment.

The region is facing other challenges, such as the impacts of climate change; biodiversity loss and invasive species; ageing infrastructure; and the desire to bring greater understanding to the importance of cultural heritage and cultural practices in caring for Country.

These issues have been compounded by a fragmented approach to management of the GOR: more than 30 organisations are involved, including local and state government agencies, land managers, park managers, catchment management authorities, tourism bodies, and fire management agencies.

Simplifying the complex and fragmented governance of the Great Ocean Road was a key priority for establishing the Great Ocean Road Coast and Parks Authority.

In 2017, the Great Ocean Road Taskforce recommended major governance reforms, including the establishment of a single integrated body to manage the GOR coast and parks.

In 2018, the Victorian Marine and Coastal Act came into effect, providing a simpler, more integrated and more coordinated approach to coastal management. This was followed by the Great Ocean Road and Environs Protection Act in 2020 and the establishment of the Great Ocean Road Coast and Parks Authority.

Great Ocean Road Coast and Parks Authority is the lead agency for coordination of visitation management and, as the manager of public land, also has emergency management obligations and plays a vital role in the management of ports and waterways. Ultimately, its role is to protect, conserve, enhance and manage Crown land and coastal assets within the GOR coast and parks.

The authority has a similar structure to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority; the ability to impose an environmental charge on users; partnership with Traditional Owners and support for Traditional Owners to engage in economy and environmental management.

The five-year transition of management to the authority will be complete on 1 November 2025; with about 700 parcels of land transferred to its operations, representing 150,000 ha and 25,000 assets.

The model for the authority is underpinned by the aspiration of strong partnerships and collaboration with the two Traditional Owner groups of the Great Ocean Road and the desire to bring greater understanding to the importance of cultural heritage and cultural practices in caring for Country.

The authority works closely with Traditional Owner groups, including having two representatives on its board. One of its objectives is to enable the fulfilment of Traditional Owner aspirations of self-determination and co-management.

The authority also works with and values the engagement of the 21 communities who live along the GOR, who contribute to the environmental, social and heritage values of the region as it works to deliver the reform program.

The local communities understand the various challenges and have continued to work closely with the authority to understand the reforms which aim to ensure future generations will continue to enjoy the unique and world-class marine and coastal environments

The authority is on its way to becoming a self-funding entity.

It currently generates revenue through accommodation fees (six caravan parks, one campground and three recreation reserves along the GOR). In future it will also be able to implement user access fees, including visitor parking. This revenue is reinvested back into the GOR Coast and Parks and used for the protection, conservation and management of the coast.

The state government has recently endorsed a user pays strategy, a critical next step is the process of creating and enacting the regulations to implement it.

The GOR’s reputation as a must-see tourist destination brings with it huge visitor pressure.

One of the most famous sites, the 12 Apostles, attracts 2.8 million visitors each year, which is forecast to grow to four million by 2026. Many of these visitors undertake return day trips to Melbourne, experiencing very little of the Great Ocean Road and contributing very little to the local economy.

One of the authority’s goals is to improve the visitor experience – encouraging people to slow down and immerse themselves in the environment. This could involve, for example, supporting different types of accommodation close to the 12 Apostles to encourage overnight visitation, and working with tour operators and businesses by improving the visitor experience in other parts of the region to incentivise broader visitation dispersal and investment.

Now having regional view of the visitor economy, the five local councils can more easily coordinate their efforts rather than replicating what they do to support visitors. This approach also acknowledges that what happens in one part of the region affects what happens somewhere else, and so together councils can plan to make it more attractive for tourists to stay longer in the region.

A key part of the reform is a strategic framework plan for the entire region, which will investigate how to attract development to support the visitor economy.

This case study was prepared by NCCARF. Please cite as: NCCARF, 2024, Great approach to coastal governance – the Great Ocean Road reform. Case study for CoastAdapt, National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility, Griffith University, Gold Coast.