AGY-3860 | Healthy Rivers Commission

Full description

The Healthy Rivers Commission (HRC) was established in November 1995 as part of the NSW Government's water reform programme. (1) The Commission was established under section 23 of the State Pollution Control Commission Act 1970, but the precise date of commencement is difficult to determine.

The purpose of the Commission was to conduct independent public Inquiries into selected NSW rivers and make recommendations to the government on appropriate long-term approaches and strategies to achieve environmental, social and economic objectives for the river systems investigated. (2) Various government departments, including the Department of Land and Water Conservation, made submissions to the Healthy Rivers Commission. (3) The Commissioner provided advice directly to the NSW Government via the Minister for the Environment. (4) The first and only Commissioner was Dr Peter Crawford. The first inquiry, into the Williams River, began in March 1996.

The Commission was administered by staff from the Environment Protection Authority (EPA), four in its first year growing to between 12 and 13 in the years 1998-2000. (5) The EPA made submissions to the HRC as well as reviewing its recommendations. (6) In 1999 the Commission's term was extended to mid 2002. (7)

Following the March 2003 State elections there was considerable reorganisation of responsibilities and administrative arrangements between NSW government agencies involved with the management of natural resources. On 2 April 2003 a new Department of Sustainable Natural Resources, was formed and the staff of the HRC were removed from the EPA to comprise part of the Department. On 29 May 2003 it was announced that, from 1 July 2003, the Department of Sustainable Natural Resources and the Department of Urban and Transport Planning would be merged to form the Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Natural Resources. Although still an independent agency in terms of its activities, the HRC was to be funded from the new Department's budget. (8)

In the second half of 2003 the government decided to integrate the functions of a number of existing resource assessment and advisory bodies and announced the establishment of a Natural Resources Commission. One result of this policy was the abolition of the Healthy Rivers Commission. (9)


Endnotes
1. Environment Protection Authority, Annual Report 1995-96, p.20.
2. Peter J Crawford, NSW Commissioner for Healthy Rivers, 'Water Law and Policy: Back to Basics', p.1. Based on a paper prepared for the 4th Australasian Water Law and Policy Conference, Sydney, 24-25 October 2002.
3. Department of Land and Water Conservation, Annual Reports 1997-98, pp.10-11; 1999-2000, p.37.
4. Department of Sustainable Natural Resources, Annual Report 2002-03, p.62.
5. Environment Protection Authority, Annual Report 1999-2000, p.70.
6. Environment Protection Authority, Annual Reports 1995-96, p.20; 1996-97, p.19; 1997-98, p.16; 1998-99, p.16; 1999-2000, pp.2809.
7. Environment Protection Authority, Annual Report 1998-99, p.19.
8. NSW Government Gazette, 67, 2 April 2003, p. 4328; Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Natural Resources, Annual Report 2002-03, pp.49, 62.
(9) Health Rivers Commission web site http://www.hrc.nsw.gov.au/site/about/future.html (accessed 25 February 2004); Natural Resources Commission Act 2003 (Act No.102, 2003), Part 2(2); NSW Government Gazette (No.16), 23 January 2004, p.259.