INTRODUCTION:
CoastRI Initiative:
CoastRI is a national coastal research initiative funded through the 2026 National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) funding round, where it was awarded $58.8 million over the next two years. The initiative brings together 13 NCRIS capabilities for the first time to better connect land and sea through integrated, national-scale coastal observing, data, and modelling activities. By coordinating, aggregating, and expanding coastal data collection across Australia - and working closely with partners such as Geoscience Australia, the Bureau of Meteorology, state and federal governments, industry, First Nations communities, and citizen scientists - CoastRI aims to drive meaningful and impactful action to address the complex challenges and opportunities posed by climate change and other environmental stressors across Australia's coasts.
This integrated initiative will deliver consistent, high-value data to support modelling, risk assessment, adaptation and mitigation planning, improved understanding of weather and climate patterns, and informed decision-making for industry operations and coastal infrastructure. Collectively, these efforts will provide significant benefit to Australia’s economy, communities, and environment.
Definition of Coast: For the purposes of CoastRI “coastal” will include oceanographic processes on the shelf and near-shore waters and estuarine systems extending up to 10 km inland from the shoreline and surrounding catchments including associated cities, communities, and infrastructure.
CoastRI Activities: CoastRI is structured around 7 Work Packages (see Table 1), each addressing critical gaps in observations, data collection, modelling, prediction, and the management and integration of coastal data across sectors. Together, these Work Packages support a better understanding of coastal processes, risks, and trends. They were developed through an extensive 14-month consultation process involving research users, federal, state and local governments, industry operators, and First Nations representatives. Each Work Package is interconnected and underpinned by strong partnerships with First Nations communities, along with firm commitments to data stewardship, and data sovereignty.
Table 1. Description of categories and themes identified through stakeholder and end-user consultation, organized by work packages. 
More information about CoastRI can be found here: https://www.coastri.org.au/
