THE State Government’s Climate Resilience Inquiry report is out, and Inverloch’s erosion crisis is in it, front and centre.
Finding 3 of the Legislative Council Environment and Planning Committee’s report admits we’ve got problems, serious erosion problems at Inverloch, and it’s the subject of the inquiry’s first recommendation, one of 93 findings and 82 recommendations, coming out of the climate resilience report released this week.
“The current Cape to Cape Resilience Project does not adequately reflect the immediacy of the threat faced by Inverloch and surrounding communities. Key assumptions are outdated, and risk classifications are too low to trigger timely intervention,” says the report.
The Recommendation 1: “That the Victorian Government urgently revise the Cape to Cape Resilience Plan to incorporate updated environmental data, recent storm impacts, and local stakeholder input and include short-term engineered protection options alongside longer-term adaptation strategies.”
So, while the inquiry is recommending “short-term engineered protection options”, it’s also recommending “longer-term adaption strategies” which, according to the Cape-to-Cape Resilience Project report includes the following adaption options, in this order: 1. Non-intervention, 2. Avoid, 3. Nature-based, 4. Accommodate, 5. Retreat, 6. Protect.
- Non-intervention: Allow marine and coastal processes, and the hazards they may pose, to occur.
- Avoid: Locate new uses, development and redevelopment away from areas that are or will be negatively impacted by coastal hazards.
- Nature-based: Enhancing or restoring natural features to mitigate coastal hazard risk. Includes dune and vegetation enhancement and small scale renourishment.
- Accommodate: Structures can be designed to reduce the exposure to, or decrease the impact of, coastal hazard risk, thus ‘accommodating’ the risk.
- Retreat: Existing structures, assets, or uses may be decommissioned or relocated away from areas that are, or will be, negatively impacted by coastal hazards.
- Protect (major engineering): Existing physical barriers are enhanced, or new ones constructed, to mitigate the impact of coastal hazards. Includes, engineered structures (groynes, seawalls, breakwaters) and major dune and beach renourishment.
The first step “in a pathway of adaptation actions”, according to the most recent ‘Project Update’ from the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (July 2025), features the renourishment of a 1km section of Inverloch surf beach with approximately 150,000m3 of sand to be sourced from Anderson Inlet, to reconstruct the dunes and beach according to a design plan developed by registered professional coastal engineers, through a $3.3M federal grant from the Coastal and Estuarine Risk Mitigation Program.
But wait, there’s more.
The report makes no fewer than 21 references to Inverloch including an additional finding:
“Finding 37: Delays in implementing erosion control measures at Inverloch and Loch Sport are increasing risks to infrastructure, community safety, and local economies. Interim works such as sandbagging have had limited success.”
And another recommendation about the government protecting “high risk” locations:
“Recommendation 29: That the Victoria Government initiate temporary protection works at high-risk locations while longer-term adaptation strategies are developed in partnership with local communities.”
During the community consultation phase, Bass Coast was well represented.
Public hearings (September 3, 2024 Century Inn Traralgon):
- Donna Taylor Acting General Manager, Place Making, Bass Coast Shire Council
- Glenn Arnold President, Inverloch Surf Life Saving Club
- Stephen Duncan Treasurer, Inverloch Surf Life Saving Club
Submissions:
- South Gippsland Conservation Society Inc
- Bass Coast Shire Council
Impact of Coastal Erosion
The report said this about Inverloch, coastal erosion and the Cape to Cape Resilience Project:
“Initiated in 2020, the Cape-to-Cape Resilience Project was established to address long-term climate risks along the Bass Coast and South Gippsland shoreline, including Inverloch. While its intent was to identify pathways for adaptation, including nature-based dune rehabilitation and retreat strategies, community evidence suggests that delays in implementation have weakened public trust in the process.
“The Inverloch Surf Life Saving Club and the Inverloch Tourism Association raised significant concerns about the project’s timelines, risk classifications, and economic modelling.
“Despite clear evidence of worsening erosion and rising sea levels, key hazards have been assessed as only ‘medium’ risk — a designation that does not trigger immediate action under current policy frameworks.
“Stephen Duncan, Treasurer for the Inverloch Surf Life Saving Club stated that ‘The report is already out of date. We are at the 2040 trigger point now, not 15 years from it’.
“Stakeholders describe a system where no single authority takes ownership, and departmental overlap leads to stagnation. Community members expressed frustration at the lack of urgency and the absence of short-term trial solutions such as rock walls or groynes — options that are already working elsewhere along the same beach.
“The risks include the loss of critical infrastructure, economic decline, increased safety hazards, environmental degradation, social impacts, and escalating costs due to delayed action. Immediate intervention is necessary to prevent these outcomes.”
Case study
Case Study 2.1: The impacted coastal erosion case study 1: Inverloch Surf Life Saving Club.
The Inverloch Surf Life Saving Club (SLSC) provides a clear example of coastal vulnerability. Once buffered by wide dunes, the club now sits just 10 metres from the encroaching ocean. Since 2013, over 60 metres of protective dune has been lost, placing both infrastructure and public safety at significant risk.
Club President Glenn Arnold and Treasurer Stephen Duncan shared with the Committee their concerns about delayed reports, underwhelming interim measures, and unclear decision-making structures. They stressed the need for timely, coordinated action.
Glen Arnold, President, SLSC stated:
- “We are literally metres from dropping a multimillion-dollar building into the ocean …
- “… the longer this takes the more it will ultimately cost to resolve it.
- “The layers of bureaucracy are ultimately just crippling any decision-making and paralysing any action moving forward.”
Stephen Duncan, Treasurer, SLSC stated:
- “I was involved in a rescue late last year in the entrance area to Andersons Inlet…
- “That is because of the erosion that is pushing it all into that area and that is changing on a daily basis.
- “Erosion is forcing ‘beachgoers’ to move further down the beach, away from lifesaving resources, increasing risks. It is spreading the risk down the beach and around the corner into the inlet.”
The Inverloch Tourism Association estimates economic losses could exceed $7 million annually if erosion continues unchecked. Inverloch attracts over 20,000 visitors each year and contributes over 5000 volunteer patrol hours. The beach’s value extends well beyond recreation – it’s a pillar of the local economy and social fabric.
Community support
The parliamentary committee also heard from Bass Coast officer Donna Taylor on the task of community engagement.
According to the report effective community support is essential for building climate resilience, yet local councils have identified significant barriers in engaging and educating their communities on climate risk.
The importance of education and community-led resilience initiatives is explored further in later Chapters. This section addresses the broader challenges councils face in mobilising community support for climate adaptation. Communicating complex climate risks to the public remains a persistent challenge for local government. Bass Coast Shire Council illustrated the difficulties faced when engaging with residents in coastal regions susceptible to erosion and sea-level rise.
Donna Taylor acknowledged that there is a “general acceptance that climate change is real”, however gaps and delays in important climate data can impede community support for resilience projects.
She explained to the Committee that: “I think there is always a challenge when you knock on an individual landowner’s door and say, ‘We have got some updated science, and this is what it looks like for you.’
“We have seen councils in Gippsland in very recent history abandon flood amendments because it has been too hard and too complex to work with communities to get them over the line.
“And even on local projects, we have got a proposed path along Surf Parade in Inverloch, and we have got half of our community saying, ‘Don’t build the path. Leave Mother Nature alone,’ and then another half who really wants this great piece of community infrastructure.
“So, the work that we do is, via consulting on things like our climate change action plan, on those individual projects as they come through, but it is a lot of work for local government.”
Opposition minority report
But, with the release of the committee’s inquiry report on Tuesday, August 12, the Opposition MPs on the committee have issued a minority report over “the Government’s failure to deliver practical, community-led climate adaptation across coastal Victoria”.
They include Nationals’ Member for Eastern Victoria Region, Melina Bath, Nationals Member for Eastern Victoria Region, Melina Bath, Nationals Member for Northern Victoria Region, Gaelle Broad and Liberal Member for Northern Victoria Region.
They said this about coastal erosion
“Coastal erosion poses a profound threat to communities, particularly when it undermines critical infrastructure and public safety. The case of the Inverloch Surf Life Saving Club is a stark illustration of this issue.
“Since 2013, the loss of over 60 metres of protective dune has exposed vital assets to the elements, jeopardising not only the physical structures but also the lives of those who rely on them.
“In Victoria, hotspots already showing accelerated change include Bass Coast, Gippsland and along the Great Ocean Road. This is having a cascading effect across Victorian coastal communities: damaging public and private infrastructure, threatening tourism and local businesses, and eroding community confidence.
“Coastal erosion requires a coordinated response supported by consistent funding and shared urgency. A balanced strategy combining appropriate engineered infrastructure with ecosystem-based adaptation (e.g. dune restoration, wetlands) to provide both immediate protection and long-term resilience.
“Solutions must be site specific, adaptable and flexible to accommodate future climate scenarios, with collaboration between governments, communities, and experts using best practice.
Findings include”
- Government coastal risk classifications are no longer valid.
- No single authority is accountable for action.
- Temporary works have not been deployed quickly enough.
Recommendations:
- Urgently revise the Cape-to-Cape Resilience Plan using updated data.
- Deliver interim protection works at high-risk sites like Inverloch and Loch Sport.
- Provide clear funding pathways for erosion-prone communities.
- Legislate agency accountability for coastal adaptation.
Melina Bath said the State Government is all talk and no action on the issue of climate resilience.
“Bass Coast, Gippsland and the Great Ocean Road need urgent real solutions – protection from erosion, affordable housing, and infrastructure that can withstand future disasters – not more reports out of step with the urgency required,” said Ms Bath.
“Coastal communities are watching as erosion threatens their infrastructure and public safety—government reports remain incomplete and out of step with the urgency required. We need action—not more studies.”
More recommendations
The climate resilience report goes well beyond concerns about coastal erosion. Other recommendations include:
- That the Victoria Government initiate temporary protection works at high-risk locations while longer-term adaptation strategies are developed in partnership with local communities.
- That the Victorian Government provide regular, consolidated, and publicly accessible updates on their progress for all climate Adaptation Action Plans.
- That the Victorian Government implement a transparent funding framework that explicitly identifies and tracks budget allocations for climate resilience and adaptation initiatives across all relevant departments and programs.
- That the Victorian Government update the Asset Management Accountability Framework to include climate resilience as a consideration.
- That the Victorian Government mitigate the impact of bushfire on the built environment by appropriately using strategic fuel reduction and planned burns, and fuel load removal to better manage fuel loads.
- That the Victorian Government, through collaboration with key planning stakeholders including councils, improve the consistency of how climate resilience is considered in planning processes at the state government level.
- That the Victorian Government provide clear guidance within the planning system regarding tree canopy coverage and vegetation, with a view to retaining existing canopy trees and vegetation where possible, and achieving at least 30% tree canopy coverage as outlined in Plan for Victoria.
- That the Victorian Government explore options for diversifying funding streams for local councils to adapt important public infrastructure to be more climate resilient, including considering providing financial incentives for private investment in resilient infrastructure.
- That the Victorian Government, in collaboration with local councils, ensure consistent community engagement across all projects, including fast-tracked developments, to prevent communities from being left behind. This should include clear communication strategies, targeted support, and funding for local councils to lead adaptation initiatives.
You can view a copy of the report HERE
