Establishing an Australian national sustainability charter : challenges in a federated system of government

In August 2005, House of Representatives Standing Committee on Environment and Heritage released the Sustainable Cities report which recommended in part that the Australian government establish national sustainability objectives (a sustainability charter) together with reporting mechanisms for progress towards those targets. In September 2007, the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Environment and Heritage released their subsequent Inquiry into a sustainability charter, which made a number of specific recommendations as to the implementation of this charter. In view of the national importance of sustainability to Australia’s future, this paper seeks to examine what some of the challenges might be to establishing a National Sustainability Charter. Through a review of relevant literature and policy documents, a number of challenges to the establishment of a national set of sustainability targets became clear. These challenges can be broadly classified as: coordinating policy in a federal system of government; gaining the attention of government(s); the process for establishing national values, objectives and indicators; the cost to industry and the need for government funding and incentive mechanisms; and the suitability of current ratings systems for assessing progress towards national goals. The paper also outlines how a Sustainability Commission might respond to these challenges.