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NSW
Statutory Authority
Energy and Resources

Natural Resources Commission

https://www.nrc.nsw.gov.au/

Annual Budget

$12M

2025-26 Budget
Flat vs prior year
Total Revenue

$12M

2024-25 Total Revenue
Staff

45

Headcount (2024-25)
Ideas relevant to this department

12 tagged

Reform proposals on YourGov that name this department as a delivery partner — drawn from citizen voice, government strategy, research, international examples and gap analysis.

STRATEGY SUMMARY

Managing our natural resources effectively benefits all of NSW and ensures healthy and resilient communities, environments and industries – now and into the future. [CP p.6]

PURPOSE

Managing our natural resources effectively benefits all of NSW and ensures healthy and resilient communities, environments and industries – now and into the future. [CP p.6]

Strategic priorities

· 5

1

provide independent advice on complex issues

2

provide improved evidence-base for decisions on forest management

3

continue to improve water planning and implementation

4

conduct audit and other evaluations

5

provide corporate services and management excellence

Outcomes

· 3

Independent advice on complex issues

The Commission provides independent advice on complex natural resource management issues, leveraging expert panels and community consultation to ensure robust, science-based recommendations. [AR p.10]

KEY ACTIVITIES

  • advising on strategic or investment priorities
  • undertaking significant reviews, inquiries and assessments
  • auditing and reviewing water sharing plans
  • helping to reconcile complex and contentious issues

Improved evidence base for decisions on forest management

The Commission oversees significant reviews, inquiries, and assessments to provide an improved evidence base for forest management decisions, including monitoring forest recovery post-wildfires and developing new tools to track canopy dieback. [AR p.13]

KEY ACTIVITIES

  • monitoring forest recovery after wildfires and drought
  • reviewing the koala food tree list
  • developing new tools to track canopy dieback

Continuous improvement of water planning

The Commission reviews water sharing plans to ensure they achieve environmental, social, and economic outcomes consistent with the Water Management Act 2000, recommending substantial changes where necessary. [AR p.18]

KEY ACTIVITIES

  • reviewing water sharing plans
  • advising on water management regime
  • auditing water management plans

Values

· 4

trust

accountability

integrity

service

Performance measures

· 2

CodeMeasureTarget 2025-26Latest resultStatus

CCE01

Coastal Integrated Forestry Operations Approval (IFOA) monitoring program

100 percent of audit recommendations supported by peer review

100 percent of audit recommendations supported by peer review

Annual Report 2024-25 · p.22
Achieved

PNF01

Private Native Forestry (PNF) Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting (MER) program

Develop a new statewide koala habitat suitability model

Draft koala habitat suitability model developed

Annual Report 2024-25 · p.22
Partially achieved

Ideas distilled from this entity's strategy & evidence

· 12

Risk & Assurance

Recommendation tracker for audits, reviews, and inquiries

Publish a single internal tracker for audit/review recommendations, owners, due dates, and implementation evidence.

Impact: High
Effort: Low
small

cap-audits)

Risk & Assurance

Integrated assurance and lessons-learned system

Create an assurance system that connects audit findings, risk registers, delivery reviews, and investment decisions.

Impact: Very High
Effort: High
large

cap-audits)

Regulation & Policy

Regulatory burden scan for forms, guidance, and reporting

Identify the top 10 highest-friction reporting obligations and simplify guidance, forms, or evidence requirements.

Impact: High
Effort: Low
small

corporate-policy-risk-management-june-2021.pdf?downloadable=1)

Regulation & Policy

Adaptive regulation program with live feedback loops

Create an adaptive regulation model using sandboxes, industry data, risk scoring, and regular rule updates.

Impact: Very High
Effort: High
large

corporate-policy-risk-management-june-2021.pdf?downloadable=1)

Data & Performance

KPI evidence register with named owners

Create a simple register mapping each KPI to source data, owner, frequency, target, and last result.

Impact: High
Effort: Low
small

2025-lls-strategic-plan-audits-western.pdf?downloadable=1)

Data & Performance

Outcome dashboard linking budget, delivery, and public impact

Build a public-facing outcome dashboard showing spend, outputs, outcomes, and delivery confidence.

Impact: Very High
Effort: High
large

2025-lls-strategic-plan-audits-western.pdf?downloadable=1)

Staff Productivity

Reusable briefing and summary assistant for internal documents

Create controlled templates for summarising reports, submissions, minutes, and ministerial briefs.

Impact: High
Effort: Low
small

2025-lls-strategic-plan-audits-north-west.pdf?downloadable=1)

Staff Productivity

Department-wide knowledge and briefing platform

Build a secure knowledge platform that lets staff search, summarise, and cite approved departmental material.

Impact: Very High
Effort: High
large

2025-lls-strategic-plan-audits-north-west.pdf?downloadable=1)

Citizen Participation

Consultation feedback summaries with response tracking

Summarise consultation submissions by theme and publish what changed in response.

Impact: High
Effort: Low
small

corporate-policy-risk-management-june-2021.pdf?downloadable=1)

Citizen Participation

Always-on policy participation platform

Create a standing participation platform where citizens and stakeholders can propose, vote, and track ideas.

Impact: Very High
Effort: High
large

corporate-policy-risk-management-june-2021.pdf?downloadable=1)

Citizen Services

Plain-language service pages and proactive status updates

Rewrite high-volume pages and letters into plain language, add status notifications, and measure contact reduction.

Impact: High
Effort: Low
small

corporate-policy-risk-management-june-2021.pdf?downloadable=1)

Citizen Services

Single front door for life-event based services

Bundle services around life events so citizens can complete related steps across agencies in one journey.

Impact: Very High
Effort: High
large

corporate-policy-risk-management-june-2021.pdf?downloadable=1)

Risk & Assurance

Recommendation tracker for audits, reviews, and inquiries

Publish a single internal tracker for audit/review recommendations, owners, due dates, and implementation evidence.

Impact: High
Effort: Low
small

cap-audits)

Risk & Assurance

Integrated assurance and lessons-learned system

Create an assurance system that connects audit findings, risk registers, delivery reviews, and investment decisions.

Impact: Very High
Effort: High
large

cap-audits)

Regulation & Policy

Regulatory burden scan for forms, guidance, and reporting

Identify the top 10 highest-friction reporting obligations and simplify guidance, forms, or evidence requirements.

Impact: High
Effort: Low
small

corporate-policy-risk-management-june-2021.pdf?downloadable=1)

Regulation & Policy

Adaptive regulation program with live feedback loops

Create an adaptive regulation model using sandboxes, industry data, risk scoring, and regular rule updates.

Impact: Very High
Effort: High
large

corporate-policy-risk-management-june-2021.pdf?downloadable=1)

Data & Performance

KPI evidence register with named owners

Create a simple register mapping each KPI to source data, owner, frequency, target, and last result.

Impact: High
Effort: Low
small

2025-lls-strategic-plan-audits-western.pdf?downloadable=1)

Data & Performance

Outcome dashboard linking budget, delivery, and public impact

Build a public-facing outcome dashboard showing spend, outputs, outcomes, and delivery confidence.

Impact: Very High
Effort: High
large

2025-lls-strategic-plan-audits-western.pdf?downloadable=1)

Staff Productivity

Reusable briefing and summary assistant for internal documents

Create controlled templates for summarising reports, submissions, minutes, and ministerial briefs.

Impact: High
Effort: Low
small

2025-lls-strategic-plan-audits-north-west.pdf?downloadable=1)

Staff Productivity

Department-wide knowledge and briefing platform

Build a secure knowledge platform that lets staff search, summarise, and cite approved departmental material.

Impact: Very High
Effort: High
large

2025-lls-strategic-plan-audits-north-west.pdf?downloadable=1)

Citizen Participation

Consultation feedback summaries with response tracking

Summarise consultation submissions by theme and publish what changed in response.

Impact: High
Effort: Low
small

corporate-policy-risk-management-june-2021.pdf?downloadable=1)

Citizen Participation

Always-on policy participation platform

Create a standing participation platform where citizens and stakeholders can propose, vote, and track ideas.

Impact: Very High
Effort: High
large

corporate-policy-risk-management-june-2021.pdf?downloadable=1)

Citizen Services

Plain-language service pages and proactive status updates

Rewrite high-volume pages and letters into plain language, add status notifications, and measure contact reduction.

Impact: High
Effort: Low
small

corporate-policy-risk-management-june-2021.pdf?downloadable=1)

Citizen Services

Single front door for life-event based services

Bundle services around life events so citizens can complete related steps across agencies in one journey.

Impact: Very High
Effort: High
large

corporate-policy-risk-management-june-2021.pdf?downloadable=1)

Want the full analysis?

Download this month's report covering Natural Resources Commission