The changing nature of the environmental policy agenda in New South Wales, Australia, 1979–2010

While the detail of policy change has been often examined, there is a lack of fine-scale empirical investigation into actual policy agendas over time. This is especially the case for environmental policy in Australia. A time-based trend analysis of 505 environmental policies made by the New South Wales Government between 1979 and 2010 found the most commonly addressed issue was flora and fauna, followed by pollution and climate change. Between 1979 and 1994, policy-making on the coast, forests, rivers, soils and catchments was much more common. Then between 1995 and 2010, policy on climate change, pollution, water quantity, waste and wetlands became more common and the marine and alpine environments were also addressed. These overall trends provide a basis for understanding the changing policy agenda. The simple issue-based categorisation of a large number of policies reveals trends not discernible from a deeper analysis of fewer policies. Using actual policies (rather than proposed policies or positions) provides an understanding of the practical ability of governments to address environmental issues, where intent mixes with political, social and economic constraints.