Policy Briefs

Our work at the IWF is periodically made available via policy briefs. These briefs are overviews and key messages of Institute research projects, and are freely available to download and distribute.

Currently available briefs are below, listed from most recent. For further information, please contact the lead author on the brief of interest for research specific queries, or waterfutures@anu.edu.au for any general or media enquiries.

Ecological character of Ramsar wetlands marginalised under

May, 2021

The constitutional mandate for water reforms in the Murray-Darling Basin is based largely on implementation of Australia’s obligations under the Ramsar Convention (treaty) wetlands. We examined whether a key Ramsar Convention test of “maintaining the ecological character” has been applied under the Basin Plan.

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Threatened Species Left High and Dry

May, 2021

The aim of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan is to return irrigation water to the environment to maintain wetlands and their biodiversity. We examined whether the Plan is meeting its objectives for eight threatened flow-dependent species.

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A Trickle, Not a Flood

November, 2020

Government action to reconnect rivers to their floodplains, promised since 2013, is essential to conserve wetlands, reduce uncertainty for water users, and implement the Basin Plan.

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Investing in river health

October, 2020

Governments have an opportunity to invest $864 million of already allocated funds in river-sidefarms and towns to improve the health of rivers in the southern Murray-Darling Basin (MDB).

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Acknowledgement of Country

The Australian National University acknowledges, celebrates and pays our respects to the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people of the Canberra region and to all First Nations Australians on whose traditional lands we meet and work, and whose cultures are among the oldest continuing cultures in human history.