Lend a hand

For over 60,000 years, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have maintained deep cultural, spiritual and custodial connections to the lands and seas of the Great Barrier Reef region. Today, more than 70 Traditional Owner groups live along the coast and islands from Bundaberg to Cape York and across to the Torres Strait. Their enduring knowledge, customs and lore continue to guide the care and sustainable use of Sea Country, ensuring its health for future generations.

Establishment of the Queensland Littoral Society (later renamed the Australian Marine Conservation Society). Founding Director of Littoral Society, Ed Hegerl, would lead the organisation's campaign to defend the Reef from mining.

The Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland (WPSQ) together with the Queensland Littoral Society, successfully opposed the mining proposal through the Innisfail Mining Warden’s Court, leading the Warden to reject the application in December 1967. Conservation societies including the WPSQ and Queensland Littoral Society launched a state-wide ‘Save the Reef’ campaign calling on the Australian Government to declare a marine park. Through the ‘Save the Reef’ campaign, John Büsst (pictured) helped garner support for a moratorium on oil drilling from both sides of politics and soon made international headlines as the campaigners dispatched more than 4,000 letters around the globe - including to his former housemate and future Prime Minister Harold Holt - to raise awareness of their plight and that of the Great Barrier Reef. 

The Canberra Times reported that "some time before Christmas...an oil-drilling rig will bite into the sea bed just 16 miles from two of Queensland's most popular holiday islands." Scientists, conservationists, tourism operators, and local communities began to voice strong opposition, fearing irreversible damage to coral ecosystems and marine life. Six exploration holes had already been drilled by different companies in the reef area. Australian – Japanese venture Japex announced plans to start drilling by February 1970 in Repulse Bay in the Whitsundays.

The Australian and Queensland Governments agreed to establish a Crown‑of‑thorns Starfish Joint Committee. This marked the first formal collaboration between the two governments to investigate and manage the threat posed by this native predator to the Great Barrier Reef. The committee’s work included research funding, coordinating control efforts, and laying the groundwork for long-term monitoring programs.

The Australian Institute of Marine Science is established under the Australian Institute of Marine Science Act 1972. Located near Townsville in North Queensland, AIMS was strategically positioned close to the Great Barrier Reef to enable direct access to the Reef for research and monitoring.

Prime Minister Gough Whitlam announced the Australian Government would create a Marine Park to protect the Reef from oil drilling. Whitlam’s declaration signalled a turning point in environmental policy, reflecting a national shift toward conservation and federal responsibility for natural heritage. It also asserted Commonwealth authority over the waters surrounding the Reef, setting the stage for the passage of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Act 1975.

Dr D F McMichael (Commonwealth Director of Environment) appointed as acting Chairman for one year. First permanent employee of the Reef Authority, Rod Williams, started as Executive Officer in September 1976. Before this, the agency was serviced by Department of Environment officers.

The first section of the Marine Park is officially declared—the Capricornia section (Central Queensland), covering 12,000 km2. This first step in the staged rollout of the Marine Park set a precedent for collaborative marine planning and marked a new era in large-scale marine conservation. 

A zoning plan, with rules and regulations describing the types of activities that can occur in an area, comes into effect for the Capricornia section. Meanwhile, the Cairns Section and Cormorant Pass (north of Cairns) officially declared as part of the Marine Park. Graham Kelleher, Chairman of the Reef Authority at the time, notes that marine park concept "...provides for multiple uses of the marine environment to proceed with a minimum of conflict and in ways which ensure that the natural qualities of the Reef and its environment are conserved. The concept is rapidly gathering acceptance in many other parts of the world, with the encouragement of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN)."

Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (Prohibition of Drilling for Petroleum) Regulations 1983 comes into effect, banning drilling in areas of the Great Barrier Reef Region not already included in the Marine Park. 

The world’s first floating hotel opened on John Brewer Reef, off Townsville, in March 1988, and closed just a year later. The floating hotel contained 140 double rooms and 34 luxury suites. Despite the hotel's short life, the project led to one of Australia’s most complex environmental assessments to date. The monitoring program set new standards in Reef management, guiding future developments in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.

Significant amendments to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Act 1975 including a fourth member appointed to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority Board to represent the interests of Indigenous communities. This milestone led to the appointment of Dr Evelyn Scott AO, a renowned Indigenous leader and educator, as the fourth member of the Board of the Reef Authority in 1996. Her appointment helped lay the foundation for stronger partnerships between the Authority and Indigenous communities across the region.

Severe coral bleaching event affected 60 per cent of reefs in the Great Barrier Reef. Despite being the worst bleaching event on record at the time, according to AIMS, the Reef's recovery was generally good, with fewer than 5% of the reefs suffering high mortality. Also in 2002, a Memorandum of Understanding between the Australian and Queensland governments is enacted to halt the decline in water quality entering the Marine Park. 

A school-based community reef protection program known as Reef Guardians was developed and trialled in 24 schools along the length of the Great Barrier Reef during 2002-03.

First Traditional Use of Marine Resources Agreement with Traditional Owners, the Girringun Aboriginal Corporation Sea Country groups: Djiru, Gulnay, Bandjin, Warragamay and Nywaigi. The Girringun TUMRA created a model for sustainably co-managing Sea Country, combining traditional knowledge with modern marine resource management. It paved the way for future agreements between Traditional Owner groups and government bodies throughout the Great Barrier Reef region. 

Chinese registered bulk carrier Shen Neng 1, fully laden with coal, ran aground at Douglas Shoal (north-east of Gladstone). The vessel remained on the shoal until 12 April 2010, during which time it moved significantly due to winds and tides, causing significant impacts to the habitats of Douglas Shoal. In response to the grounding, significant legal measures, such as the Maritime Legislation Amendment Act 2011 were introduced with new offences relating to the negligent operation of a vessel in a manner that causes pollution or damage to the marine environment, and failure to report an incident by a ship in a mandatory reporting area.

The Reef Ranger joins the Field Management fleet. The $5 million, 24-metre aluminium catamaran improved our ability to protect the Reef and its biodiversity. It has a range of up to 2,000 nautical miles, a speed of up to 25 knots and can carry 28 people, enabling it to reach remote areas of the Marine Park.

Australia bans the disposal of capital dredge material within the entire World Heritage Area. The federal ban was announced at the World Parks Congress in 2014 and came into effect on 2 June 2015.

The release of the Reef Blueprint marked a significant shift in the Reef Authority’s management approach. Rather than focusing solely on individual threats, the Authority adopted a broader, systems-based strategy aimed at strengthening the overall resilience of the Great Barrier Reef. This means managing the Reef’s ability to recover from and adapt to a range of cumulative pressures, including climate change, poor water quality, coastal development and unsustainable fishing. The Blueprint outlined targeted actions to support ecological and community resilience, recognising that protecting the Reef into the future requires coordinated, adaptive management at both local and regional scales.

Sixth recorded mass coral bleaching event occurred. For the first time, the mass bleaching event occurred during a La Niña year (which are typically associated with cooler ocean temperatures and more cloud cover). Worst affected was the central region of the Reef, where the most heat stress occurred.

The Reef Authority marked 20 years of zoning on the Great Barrier Reef. The evidence from numerous monitoring and evaluation studies demonstrates the benefits of zoning, including gains in fish populations, lower crown-of-thorns starfish outbreaks on green versus blue zone reefs, and increased Reef resilience.