Victoria’s Resilient Coast – Adapting for 2100+

Coastal hazards

Victoria has over 2,500 km of coastline, including extensive sandy beach systems, rocky coasts, bays, inlets and estuaries, coastal lakes and floodplains. These diverse bio-cultural landscapes have been nurtured by Traditional Owners of Country for countless generations, and are dynamic environments shaped by natural coastal processes.

At times, coastal processes including erosion, inundation, and other physical/chemical processes, may have a negative impact on coastal values and uses. When this occurs, we often refer to these processes as coastal hazards.

Coastal hazard exposure occurs periodically across the coast, and is projected to increase with changes in wave action, storm activity and sea level rise associated with climate change.

A strategic approach

Victoria’s Resilient Coast – Adapting for 2100+ provides a framework, guidelines, and support for Local Government, land managers and their communities to:

• Enable place-based, best practice and long-term coastal hazard risk management and adaptation.
• Build on the directions in the Marine and Coastal Policy 2020.

In building on the Policy directions, Victoria’s Resilient Coast provides a staged approach to the technical, strategic and engagement elements of risk management and adaptation:

This approach was developed through a collaborative process, including a project partnership with Traditional Owners, and a Working Group including representatives from coastal Councils, Committees of Management, Catchment Management Authorities, government agencies, water authorities and peak body groups.

Our Victorian framework and guidelines have been informed by:

• Leading research on climate adaptation
• National / international approaches
• Victoria’s place-based adaptation needs
• The collaborative development process.

Victoria’s Resilient Coast guidelines (PDF, 15.7 MB) have been made under section 41 of the Marine and Coastal Act 2018. These guidelines must be followed when planning for, assessing, or managing coastal hazard risk under the Marine and Coastal Policy 2020.

Supporting technical reports are also available to support use of the guidelines:

• Coastal hazards extended guidelines (PDF, 6.8 MB), Water Technology Ltd, 2022
• Adaptation actions compendium (PDF, 7.9 MB), BMT Ltd, 2023
• An economic approach to inform adaptation (PDF, 2.3 MB), Alluvium Consulting and NCEconomics, 2022
• Adaptation pathways template guide (PDF, 4.0 MB), BMT Ltd
• Blue Carbon and Sea Country Opportunities Report (PDF, 4.4 MB), Deakin University 2023

Project timing

The collaborative development of the statewide approach was undertaken over June 2021 to July 2022.

Implementation of the framework and guidelines has commenced, with ongoing review.

Grants Program

Grants are available to support eligible organisations with pilot projects, including technical, engagement and strategic planning activities aligned to one or more stages of Victoria’s Resilient Coast framework.

Round 3 grants open 11 September 2023 and close 4pm 17 November 2023. Eligible organisation must submit their application via https://deeca.my.site.com/publicform?id=a0h8u000000bzeq.

Information on the grant application is available here:

VRC Grant Application Guideline 
(PDF, 994.6 KB)

Please contact vicresilientcoast@delwp.vic.gov.au for further information.

Round 1 grants closed on 28 April 2022 and were awarded for the following projects:  

Round 2 grants closed 16 March 2023 and were awarded for the following projects:

Further information and resources

If you would like to know more please email vicresilientcoast@delwp.vic.gov.au

Resources:

Victoria's Marine and Coastal Policy 2020

Victorian Marine and Coastal Strategy 2021

Coast Adapt