This book provides an introduction to Australian coastal management, primarily for university students. It will also be of use to government employees and coastal planning consultants in drawing linkages between coastal processes and management. The book will give a better understanding of Australian coastal issues in a global context and also provide an overview of current Australian coastal management practices. It draws heavily on case studies from different states in order to make the text as relevant and practical as possible.

The first chapter of this book attempts to place Australian coastal management in a global context by outlining the importance of the world's coasts for humans and illustrating the international concern for unsustainable coastal resource use and development-related pressure on coastal ecosystems. This chapter clearly outlines how there is a growing international consensus of the need for integrated coastal management as the most effective way forward for the sustainable use of coastal resources. The factors influencing the recent reform of Australian coastal management are then examined. It is noted that there have been significant international influences, such as global change, integrated resource management, sustainable development, and a call for greater community participation. This chapter then outlines some of the major changes to Australian coastal management that have taken place in the 1990s and notes the complexity of management responsibilities and legislative mechanisms between the Commonwealth, state and local governments. This introductory chapter of the book then asks the question ‘What is the coast?’ and illustrates the diversity of scientific and management definitions, concluding with management definitions of the Australian coastline.