Divers don’t travel for average. They travel for the abundant reef, the resident grey nurse shark, the seasonal gathering of giant cuttlefish, the chance encounter with a whale shark. Now, as the Federal Government reviews management plans covering 44 Australian Marine Parks, the dive industry is arguing that those experiences depend entirely on how well those places are protected, and that current protections don’t go far enough.
Australian dive travel specialist Diveplanit Travel has made a formal submission to the review, joining other dive industry voices in calling for a substantial expansion of National Park Zones, the strictest level of marine park protection, guided by science and shaped through genuine engagement with Traditional Owners, marine users and regional communities. The review, held once a decade, covers marine parks across the Coral Sea, Temperate East, South-west, North-west and North networks, making it a rare opportunity to reset protection levels across some of the country’s most significant marine habitats.
Why divers have a stake in the outcome
Diveplanit co-founder Deborah Dickson-Smith says the dive industry’s interest in the review isn’t abstract. Healthy oceans are what the entire experience, and the businesses built around it, depend on.
“Divers travel to experience abundant marine life, healthy reefs and encounters with iconic species such as sharks, rays, turtles, whale sharks, giant cuttlefish and sea dragons,” Dickson-Smith said.
“When those environments are thriving, people travel further, stay longer and support dive operators, accommodation, restaurants, transport providers and other regional businesses. Marine protection isn’t simply an environmental issue. It is about protecting one of the natural assets on which Australia’s nature-based tourism industry depends.”
That link between marine health and tourism revenue is more than sentiment. Australia’s recreational scuba diving industry has been estimated to contribute up to $4.2 billion annually to the national economy, according to Diveplanit’s submission, a figure that puts a concrete dollar value on the reefs, wrecks and wildlife aggregation sites divers travel to see.
Where the protection gaps sit
Diveplanit’s submission identifies specific priorities across each of the five marine park networks under review. These include reef systems in the Coral Sea; Cod Grounds and Pimpernel Rock in the Temperate East; Bremer Canyon and the Great Australian Bight in the South-west; Ningaloo Reef and Rowley Shoals in the North-west; and significant tropical marine habitats across Australia’s North.
The submission calls for National Park Zones to cover representative and ecologically important habitats, among them reefs, seagrass meadows, canyons, seamounts, continental shelf habitats and important breeding, feeding and migratory sites for marine wildlife. It also pushes for sustained long-term investment in science, monitoring, surveillance, compliance and education, alongside meaningful Traditional Owner participation and cultural stewardship in how these areas are managed.
Protection doesn’t mean locking people out
A common misconception about stronger marine protections is that they come at the cost of access. Diveplanit Managing Director Simon Mallender pushes back on that framing directly.
“National Park Zones allow activities such as diving, snorkelling, boating, tourism, education and research while protecting the wildlife and habitats that make those experiences worthwhile,” Mallender said.
“We want more people to experience Australia’s extraordinary underwater world, but we also want to make sure it remains extraordinary.”
The submission points to international destinations including Palau, Misool and Wakatobi as examples of how strong marine protection can become a competitive advantage rather than a limitation, allowing destinations to compete on the quality of their marine environments rather than on price alone.
“Australia has some of the world’s most distinctive marine wildlife and spectacular underwater environments,” Dickson-Smith said.
“Protecting those places is an investment in biodiversity, regional communities and Australia’s reputation as a world-class dive and nature destination. Our message is simple: protect Australia’s best underwater places so they remain alive, abundant and worth travelling for.”
For travellers who plan holidays around what’s beneath the surface, the outcome of this review will shape what Australia’s marine parks look like, and what still swims through them, for the next decade.
