The Director of National Parks has appointed 56 new members to the Australian Marine Park Advisory Committees (AMPACs) for the Coral Sea Marine Park and the North, North-west, South-west and Temperate East marine parks networks, for a three-year term.

Parks Australia is responsible for the management and protection of 60 Australian Marine Parks covering 3.8 million square kilometres. The role of the AMPACs is to provide advice to the Director of National Parks (DNP) to support the management of Australian Marine Parks. This includes advising on key and emerging AMP priorities, particularly First Nations engagement, climate change, and ecosystem resilience and recovery.

Following the expiration of existing memberships in June 2023, the Director of National Parks completed an expression of interest process to find the next cohort of members with the passion and knowledge to help Parks Australia protect and manage Australian Marine Parks.

Candidates were assessed based on their skills, experience, and ability to contribute to the needs of Australian Marine Parks and the outcomes under management plan programs, including; communication, education, and awareness, tourism and visitor experience, First Nations engagement, marine science, assessments and authorisations, park protection and management, and compliance.

Committees are made up of people with different career backgrounds and knowledge of marine issues and they generally meet twice a year.

Membership of the South-east AMPAC was approved by the Director of National Parks in June 2023 and the committee will operate until 31 December 2024. The South-east AMPAC is advising on development of the new South-east Marine Park Network Management Plan (2013‑23).

For more information on the AMPAC’s and to view the full list of committee members, please visit Partnerships.