Students who undertake this unit will develop their knowledge and understanding of the evolution of environmental, biodiversity and protected area policy in Australia, within the international context, and how this evolution impacts current priorities, decision making and policy development. Topics investigated in this include the role of NGOs in this decision making landscape, the operation and evaluation of joint-management, and the interaction of property rights with the management of land, water and biodiversity. National policy developments and their implications, through the reforms of Commonwealth Government and the Council of Australian Governments (COAG), will be reviewed and explored with case studies such as the reform of the national water market, policies associated with priced carbon, mineral resources rent taxation, and key legislation such as the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. These case studies will be investigated through publically available reviews and other documents. All this will be explored at its intersection with the billions of dollars of mineral and other developments flagged for the region.

Unit Description