Response from the Sea Country Alliance to the Blue Economy Cooperative Research Centre Marine Spatial Planning Framework

This submission responds to three draft documents developed as part of the Australian Marine Spatial Planning Framework (AMSPF): the Guiding Principles (October 2024) and the two Draft Project Reports on implementation and key enablers (June 2025). The SCA’s central concern is that Traditional Owners are treated as stakeholders to be consulted rather than as rightsholders with distinct legal rights to Sea Country recognised under Australian and international law, including native title rights extending up to 200 nautical miles.

The submission calls for the AMSPF to explicitly recognise Traditional Owners as rightsholders, to engage through Traditional Owner Representative Institutions (TORI) consistent with existing models such as the Offshore Electricity Regulations, and to embed genuine Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) and agreement-making (including recognition of Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property) as core requirements, in line with Australia’s commitments under UNDRIP. While supportive of the AMSPF’s continued development, the SCA states the framework must be substantially reframed to meet these obligations.