Consultation open for NOPSEMA’s new Research Strategy

A two-month feedback period has today been opened on NOPSEMA’s revised Research Strategy published to provide industry with a clear vision on what research priorities need addressing to improve the knowledge base to inform decision making and environmental management of the offshore energy sector.
 
As Australia’s independent regulator for offshore energy operations in Commonwealth waters, we use balanced and quality research outputs to fulfil our legislated functions. While we do not carry out or commission research, NOPSEMA is in a unique position to identify key science needs and research priorities relevant to offshore energy industries.
 
Cameron Grebe, NOPSEMA’s head of environment, renewables and decommissioning, said the new document is designed to encourage industry and the research community to collaborate in terms of what research is needed.
 
“Offshore energy companies routinely commission monitoring and research programs for that are beneficial to the management of offshore energy activities and the wider community,” Cameron said.
 
“While there are many examples of where a collaborative approach to research has produced quality research outcomes, further opportunities exist for industry to strengthen collaborations to fill scientific knowledge gaps that are needed to achieve a sustainable offshore energy industry in the long-term.”
 
Raquel Carter, NOPSEMA’s Chief Environmental Scientist, who has been central to the strategy’s production, said this collaborative and strategy approach is needed to better leverage the research capabilities of industry and academia to support the approvals process and environmental management of offshore activity.
 
“We’ve been promoting an industry-wide collaborative approach and encouraging both the collection and sharing of fit-for purpose data to address key research priorities which we’ve identified through the course of our regulatory work,” Raquel said.
 
“Addressing these needs and priorities collaboratively, especially where regional scale research effort is needed, will deliver benefits for risk and impact management to regulators and industry that would otherwise be challenging to achieve when tackled by individual companies."

The Research Strategy will be open for a period of public consultation from 20 March 2023, closing on 12 May 2023. To provide feedback, visit the Consultation Hub.