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Recommendations
Recommendation 1
2.32 The committee recommends that the Department
of the Environment and Heritage, in conjunction with other relevant departments
and agencies, undertake a review of programs addressing inland rivers
and waterways. The review should consider:
- rationalisation of current rivers and waterways programs into a single
river health strategy, incorporating and strengthening the National
Water Quality Management Strategy;
- a proposal for developing mandatory national water quality standards;
and
- development of a national database on water quality, incorporating
data collected by the National Land and Water Resources Audit.
Recommendation 2
2.73 The committee recommends that the Department
of the Environment and Heritage examine the extent to which data collected
for other portfolio and agency programs is used in the compilation of
the state of the environment report. The department should then develop
its state of the environment reporting framework around existing data
resources as far as possible, to draw upon the whole of government's resources
and its expertise across program areas. State of the environment reporting
should provide a basis for future decision-making for all environment
policies and programs.
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