Western Australia Regional Forest Agreement: five and ten yearly review

It is a requirement of the Western Australian Regional Forest Agreement (RFA) that its performance is reviewed every five years. Clauses 36, 37, 38 and 39 of the Western Australia RFA require the five–yearly reviews to provide an assessment of performance against the milestones and commitments in the Western Australia RFA, including:

• the extent to which milestones and obligations have been met, and the management of the National Estate
• the results of monitoring the sustainability indicators, and
• inviting public comments on the performance of the RFA.

Where appropriate, the review also links to the Western Australian Forest Management Plan revision process.

The Western Australian Department of Parks and Wildlife provides further details on the process for conducting the review.

Scoping Agreement

The Western Australian RFA five and ten yearly review formally commenced in May 2013 with the signing of the Scoping Agreement. The Scoping Agreement set out the arrangements agreed by the Western Australian and Australian governments for undertaking the review.

• Review of Progress with the Implementation of the Regional Forest Agreement for the South-West Forest Region of Western Australia—Scoping Agreement PDF [97 KB]

The Scoping Agreement provides for the Western Australian RFA to be reviewed for the first and second five-yearly periods in a single review process. The review covers the first period from the date the Western Australia RFA was signed for the ensuing five years i.e. 1999—2004 and the second five years i.e. 2004—2009.

Report on Progress and public consultation period

In accordance with the Scoping Agreement, a report on progress in implementing the Western Australian RFA was prepared by the Western Australian and Australian governments:

• A Report on Progress with the Implementation of the Regional Forest Agreement for the South-West Forest Region of Western Australia (July 2013) PDF [1.4 MB]

Stakeholders and members of the community had the opportunity to comment on the Report on Progress for an eight week public consultation period, which commenced on Monday 29 July 2013 with a public notice in the Perth metropolitan and Western Australian regional newspapers. The public submission period closed on Monday 23 September 2013.

Publically available submissions

During the review process, 12 submissions were received commenting on A Report on Progress with the Implementation of the Regional Forest Agreement for the South-West Forest Region of Western Australia (July 2013). The call for public submissions indicated that by tendering a submission, permission was granted to make it publicly available on this website.

To promote equitable access to the public submissions, they may have been re-formatted to allow electronic screen readers to view them. This may have resulted in changes to the appearance of some submissions. Original submissions received by the governments were provided to the Independent Reviewer.

• Leeuwin Environment PDF [110 KB]
• The Warren Blackwood Alliance of Councils (Inc) PDF [102 KB]
• Shire of Manjimup PDF [117 KB]
• Department of Mines and Petroleum (WA) PDF [2.4 MB]
• Department of Water (WA) PDF [432 KB]
• Forest Industries Federation (WA) Inc. PDF [216 KB]
• Timber Communities – Western Australia DOC [42 KB]
• Timber Communities – Western Australia PDF [61 KB]
• WA Forest Alliance PDF [89 KB]
• Environmental Defenders Office (Tasmania, Victorian and NSW), Lawyers for Forests and Friends of the Earth PDF [5.9 MB]
• Institute of Foresters of Australia (WA Division) DOC [23 KB]
• Institute of Foresters of Australia (WA Division) PDF [14 KB]
• Australian Forest Products Association PDF [175 KB]
• Shire of Murray PDF [884 KB]

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Independent Reviewer's report

An Independent Reviewer was appointed to review A Report on Progress with the Implementation of the Regional Forest Agreement for the South-West Forest Region of Western Australia (July 2013) as well as all of the public submissions received during the public consultation period. In January 2014, the Independent Reviewer provided to the Australian and Western Australian governments a Review of the Implementation of the Regional Forest Agreement for the South-West Forest Region of Western Australia for the period 1999-2009, which included a summary of issues raised in all public submissions. The report was tabled in the Australian Parliament on 18 March 2014.

The Independent Reviewer provided 13 recommendations to the Australian and Western Australian governments to consider in their ongoing implementation of the Western Australian RFA.

Joint Government Response to the Independent Reviewer's report

The Western Australian and Australian governments responded to the 13 recommendations in a report tabled in the House of Representatives and the Senate of the Australian Parliament on 11 February 2015:

• Joint Australian and Western Australian Government Response to the Review of the Implementation of the Regional Forest Agreement for the South-West Forest Region of Western Australia for the Period 1999-2009 DOC [569 KB]
• Joint Australian and Western Australian Government Response to the Review of the Implementation of the Regional Forest Agreement for the South-West Forest Region of Western Australia for the Period 1999-2009 PDF [1.4 MB]

This formally concludes the review process.