Bek Christensen, ESA Vice-President (Public Policy and Outreach) and President-elect

The Ecological Society of Australia (ESA) is becoming the trusted voice on ecological matters, thanks to the contributions and expertise of our members. Because of your work, the evidence we provide and submissions we make to government are respected, and are regularly referenced by parliamentarians and policy makers. Here, we discuss how you can contribute by talking with parliamentarians, sharing your expertise, or writing a Hot Topic.

Since our formation 60 years ago, the ESA has been committed to sharing ecological knowledge and working with government and other groups to ensure ecological principles and evidence are used in policy and management. Since 2015 we have had a dedicated Policy Working Group to focus our efforts—and they have been busy!

Here are just some of the things ESA has done through the Policy Working Group over the last four years:

• Submissions to Federal or State inquiries as well as consultations on matters relating to STEM policy and environment policy,
• Appeared at Parliamentary Committee hearings to give evidence to inquiries relating to STEM policy and environment policy,
• Collaborated with other STEM-sector organisations and environmental organisations to coordinate messaging and efforts in the policy space,
• Released its first Conference Statement in 2018 on key environmental policy concerns, unanimously endorsed by conference attendees, and
• Released its first ever Election Statement in 2019, supported by a strategy to empower members to engage with parliamentarians.

Get involved

Talking with parliamentarians

Since the federal election, the ESA has been in contact with every MP and Senator to introduce the Society,

explain our work, and request meetings to discuss ways we can provide them with ecological knowledge to support their deliberation of policy. You may be surprised to hear that we have had many responses: many of your parliamentarians want to know more and they want to meet ecologists working in their electorates. If you’re interested in meeting with your local MP or Senators, please make sure you keep your ESA member profile up to date with your address and your fields of expertise—this makes it really easy for us to find you and connect you with opportunities!

Share your expertise

Also keep an eye on your eNews and Twitter. When we’re working on a submission or looking for expertise on a particular topic this is how we reach out to members to get your input. As you’ll read about in this Bulletin, the 20-year review of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 will commence later this year. The ESA has started planning for our interaction with this process, and we will need active input from members. If you’re interested in getting involved please contact the Policy WG.

Write a Hot Topic

You can also consider writing an ESA Hot Topic. Hot Topics are evidence-based syntheses of ecological topics relevant to policy development, land management, and to broadening the community’s ecological knowledge base. Hot Topics are incredibly useful tools for the ESA when we are interacting with policy- and decision-makers. If you’ve got questions about Hot Topics, or if you’d like to join the Hot Topics editorial Board, please get in touch with A/Prof Dale Nimmo, Chair of Hot Topics Editorial Board.

Through our strategic planning process, we’re looking at ways to strengthen our knowledge-sharing activity and engagement over the coming three years, including resources and tools we can provide to help ESA members communicate with diverse audiences about your work. Stay tuned later in the year for more details on this and other ESA Policy news!

For further information get in touch with me or our Policy WG.