The presentation describes the outcomes of a sequence of nationally-funded projects that have identified the practice support needs of climate adaptation decision-makers in Australia; and priority initiatives to address those needs at national, sectoral and regional/local levels. The projects, reporting progressively during 2013/2014,  included input from a wide range of stakeholders, reviewed current international and Australian products and services, and synthesised leading practice from Australian and international experience.

Categories of end-user need identified included entry-level planning, more complex decision-making, undertaking transformational as well as incremental change, and assurance on good adaptation governance. The consultations confirmed that some requirements are common across sectors and regions, and others highly differentiated.

The priority support initiatives, now underway, address common needs that can be met nationally, whilst distributed demand-driven approaches best meet differentiated needs.  They also build on existing products and initiatives which, positioned within an overall strategy, can collectively make a significant difference. 

The solutions include nationally-endorsed best practice guidance that also points to the most credible data/knowledge sources; increased collaboration and sharing across public/private/community sectors; and enabling strategies including national/sectoral/regional communities of practice and brokering services.

The context is that current support is highly fragmented, leading to problems of end-user confusion, unsustainable duplication of effort, and limited product support and improvement.  A positive feature has been significant growth in activity in the private and community sectors to complement that in the public sector. For organisations in all sectors, the next wave of products and support can provide better guidance and more confidence.