A victory for coastal communities: NSW Government reverses decision on requiring Councils to fund Beachwatch monitoring

5 June 2025

The Sydney Coastal Councils Group (SCCG) warmly welcomes the NSW Government’s recent decision to continue funding the Beachwatch Program, a pivotal initiative that monitors water quality across our state’s beloved beaches and swimming spots. This commitment, announced by the Minister for the Environment, Penny Sharpe, ensures that the program will remain state-funded, safeguarding public health and environmental integrity.

The SCCG has been at the forefront of advocating for the Beachwatch program to remain a fully funded state responsibility. This advocacy was in response to proposed changes that would have shifted the financial burden of water quality monitoring onto local councils – a move that many councils, already facing budget constraints, opposed. The SCCG highlighted that local councils are not legally responsible for monitoring water quality in coastal waters, a responsibility that traditionally falls under state jurisdiction. It also identified that the majority poor beachwatch ratings are also due to sewer leaks, which are not the responsibility of Sydney Councils.

The Beachwatch program is instrumental in providing the public with accurate and timely information about the safety of our swim sites. The collation of long-term monitoring data into the Annual State of the Beaches reports, also enables the health of our swim sites to be tracked and efforts to improve sewer leaks prioritised.

The NSW Government’s decision acknowledges the concerns raised by the SCCG and its member Councils. However, there are still concerns that this backflip is only a temporary reprieve and is urging the NSW Government to rule out future cost-shifting of this vital long term monitoring program for Sydney.

Read the Minister’s media release here.

For more information on Beachwatch, click here.