COASTAL DEVELOPMENT

Australia's coastline is 59,700 kilometres in length, comprising a mainland coastline (including Tasmania) of 35,900 kilometres, and 23,800 kilometres of island coastlines (Geoscience 2009). The coastline is under increasing pressure from urbanisation, with the coastal zone being one of the fastest growing areas in Australia in terms of population.

The expansion of coastal urban development places increasing pressure on the natural environment through the effects of land clearing, waste disposal and pollution. Building along the foreshore and on sand dunes can affect the coastal landscape, coastal processes, and the natural movement of sand. Structures built on the coastline can increase erosion, leading to the need for beach replenishment. Coastal planning and management is now being undertaken to try to take into account these physical processes to avoid further erosion. As well as increased erosion, coastal communities are also vulnerable to rising sea levels, tropical cyclones and a loss of wetlands. In addition, the discharge of sewage and stormwater, land run-off, groundwater, and river inputs of nutrients and sediments to estuaries and the coastal waters constitutes one of Australia's greatest coastal management challenges (NLWRA 2002).

In 2008-09, populations of coastal areas in Western Australia were among the fastest-growing of coastal areas in Australia, including Capel (6.0%), Mandurah (5.1%) and Port Hedland (4.9%). In Queensland, the largest population increases were in the Gold Coast (increase of 15,600 people), Sunshine Coast (increase of 9,600 people), Townsville (increase of 5,600 people) and Cairns (increase of 5,200 people). Lake Macquarie on the coast north of Sydney had the largest population growth in NSW outside of Sydney (increase of 2,900 people) (ABS 2010).

The population density of Australia's coastal areas increased by 14.0% between 2001 and 2009, compared to 13.1% for Australia as a whole. The coastal area outside of the capital cities is the fastest growing, increasing by 15.0% between 2001 and 2009.

Measuring the impact that human settlements have upon estuaries and coastal areas is difficult as there is no national-level data that comprehensively records discharge into marine ecosystems or its impact on biodiversity. In 2002, (the most recent data available) the National Land and Water Resources Audit assessed the condition of about 1,000 estuaries around Australia and found that 50% were near-pristine, 22% were largely unmodified, 19% had been modified and 9% had been extensively modified (NLWRA 2002). Most of the near-pristine estuaries were located away from population centres.

Population density in coastal areas - persons per km²

				% change
	2001	2006	2009	2001-2009
All coastal areas	3.75	4.01	4.27	14.0
Coastal areas excluding capital cities	1.46	1.58	1.68	15.0
Coastal areas within capital cities	352.38	374.94	399.63	13.4
Australia	2.52	2.69	2.85	13.1