Climate Activities in Australia 2003

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Chapter 8 Summary of International Linkages and National Activity

National Activity > State Agencies

The inherent variability of Australia’s climate has a significant impact on state economies, the social well-being of rural communities and the sustainable use of natural resources. Over recent years, state agencies have increased their use of climate information in support of agricultural production and other weather sensitive industries, and in developing managing systems for natural resources.

An indication of state agency involvement in applying climate information is shown in

Table 8.1 Indicative Commonwealth expenditure on climate-related activities, for the 2002-03 financial year. Expenditure that is directly related to climate is identified as well as that for a broad range of activities that underpin, or are indirectly related to, climate activities. The summary includes the main climate-related activities in the Commonwealth departments and agencies listed above, and is not exhaustive.

Commonwealth Agency / Program	Department	Climate Directly related	Expenditure Directly & Indirectly related
		$M	$M
Australian Greenhouse Office (AGO)			$93.863¹
Bureau of Rural Sciences	DAFF	$2.1	$2.6
Climate Variability in Agriculture R&D Program (CVAP)		$0.5	$0.5
Natural Heritage Trust	DAFF/DEH	-	$156.4⁴
Australian Antarctic Division	DEH	$2.5	$27.2
Bureau of Meteorology		$40.4	$97.0
GBRMPA, SOE, ERISS, ERIN		-	$0.1
AusAID	Foreign Affairs and Trade	$29.98	$29.98
Geoscience Australia	Industry, Tourism & Resources	-	$0.25
Australian Institute of Marine Science		-	$1.8
Australian Nuclear Science & Technology Organisation		$0.59	$5.75
CRC for Catchment Hydrology		$0.53	$1.5
CRC for Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems		-	$4.7
CSIRO Climate and Atmosphere Sector²		$20.5²	$20.5²
	TOTAL	$97.07	$442.14

¹ All AGO activities are either directly or indirectly climate related. This figure is a revised estimate for the year 2002-03 drawn from the Portfolio Budget Statement 2003-04.
² This is calculated as 40% of $68.2 million and is an expense figure for 2002-03, not a cash figure. This amount will be drawn down over a period of ten years.
³ In-kind $0.4M, Commonwealth $0.1 M
⁴ This includes the Bushcare and Landcare Programs, which include indirect climate-related activities.

Table 8.2 Some of the climate activities undertaken by state government departments and agencies.

STATE	AGENCY/DEPARTMENT	ACTIVITIES
Australian Capital Territory	Environment ACT, Department of Urban Services	ACT Greenhouse Strategy Energy efficiency
New South Wales	Environment Protection Authority of NSW	Air pollution studies including resarch into the health impacts of air pollution Air quality monitoring and collection of associated meteorology data Investigation of the relationship between climate change and air pollution
	Department of Health	Research on the effects of air pollution on health Monitoring of the relationship between climate and human health e.g. arboviral diseases
	NSW Agriculture	Promotion of climate/seasonal information through workshops, publications etc. Drought monitoring agroclimatic risk/opportunity management and tactical decision support. Climate variability and drought research.
	Department of Public Works and Services	Water monitoring and planning; climate impact mitigation.
	Pacific Power	Wind studies for potential wind farms
Northern Territory	Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Environment	Climate change impact on coastal vulnerability
	Health and Family	Climate impacts on health
	Parks and Wildlife Commission	Sustainable management
	Department of Business Industry and Resource Development	Climate impacts on grazing land
Queensland	Environmental Protection Agency	Climate change impact on coastal vulnerability, air pollution studies
	Department of Health	Climate impacts on disease vectors
	Department of Primary Industries, Department of Natural Resources and Mines, Queensland Centre for Climate Applications	Promotion of climate/seasonal information. Climate applications research, development and extension work in primary industries. Integrated impact assessment of climate change, greenhouse gas inventory studies. Development of drought and land and pasture degradation alert systems.
	Department of Public Works	Climate responsive building design
South Australia	Department of Environment and Heritage	Climate change impact on coastal vulnerability
South Australia	Primary Industry and Forestry South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI)	Promotion of climate/seasonal information and its use in decision support tools, development of seasonal response, crop planting strategies, evaluation of seasonal forecasting guidance, land use change
Tasmania	Department of Primary Industries, Water and Environment	Promotion of climate information in property management planning. Air quality and impact on water resources.
Victoria	Department of Sustainability and Environment	Sustainable farming systems
	Sustainable Energy Authority	Climate efficient design, energy usage patterns
	Department of Human Services	Climate and health
	Environment Protection Agency	Air pollution studies
Western Australia	Agriculture Western Australia	Promotion of seasonal forecast applications. Development of climate risk management and decision support systems for seasonal risks. Effects of climate on rangelands. Assessing and manag ing vineyard Managing water resources in a highly variable climate, promotion of renewable energy technology
	Department of Land Administration	Climate change impact on coastal vulnerability
	Ministry for Planning	Climate efficient design and planning
	Waters and Rivers Commission	Water resource management
	Department of Environmental Protection	Air quality studies

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