A draft strategic management framework for one of inland Australia’s most significant World Heritage sites has prompted serious questions about the reach of its public consultation process.

Balranald Shire Council says it has no record of being directly notified the document was open for public review.

Concerned stakeholders are saying they only discovered the consultation was underway through a Google Alert.

The Willandra Lakes Region World Heritage Property Draft Strategic Management Framework, which includes Mungo National Park, was released for public consultation on April 13 and closes July 3, an 80-day window that operates through the NSW Government’s standard public exhibition process.

That mechanism, which relies on interested parties finding and engaging with the document themselves, has drawn sharp criticism from those who say it was wholly inadequate for a framework with such significant implications for the region’s future.

The Willandra Lakes Region was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1981, recognised for both its outstanding natural and cultural significance.

The region contains evidence of human habitation stretching back more than 40,000 years, including the remains of Mungo Lady and Mungo Man, among the oldest human remains ever found in Australia.

The Walls of China, a series of ancient lunette formations on the eastern shore of Lake Mungo, are among the site’s most distinctive natural features and a major drawcard for visitors from across Australia and internationally.

The property spans approximately 240,000 hectares across the far west of New South Wales and sits entirely within Balranald Shire.

The draft framework sets out a ten-year vision for the protection, management and governance of the World Heritage property.

Among its desired outcomes is a review of future ownership and governance arrangements for the park.

This proposal has drawn widespread comparisons with the model applied at Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park.

Ownership of Uluru was transferred to the Anangu people in 1985 and the park leased back to the federal government for joint management.

The framework states any future governance changes would remain subject to consultation and government consideration, and that existing leaseholder land ownership and management rights would remain unchanged.

However, critics argue the lack of direct stakeholder engagement during the consultation period undermines confidence in those assurances.

Balranald Shire Council Chief Executive Officer Terry Dodds confirmed with The Riverine Grazier that council had checked its formal content management system, where all official correspondence is received and processed.

No record of any notification from NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service or any other government agency about the framework or its public exhibition period, was found.

“If we got notification, we certainly cannot find it,” Mr Dodds said.

“Official things like that normally get addressed to council@balranald.nsw.gov.au and processed via our content management system.

“No such document exists there, so I think the answer is no.”

The significance of that finding is considerable.

Balranald Shire is the local government area in which Mungo National Park sits, making it not merely an interested party but the most directly affected level of government in the entire consultation process.

The absence of any record of formal notification raises fundamental questions about how the NSW Government defines meaningful stakeholder engagement.

Council considered endorsing a formal submission at its ordinary meeting held yesterday, May 26, with a draft published in this month’s publicly available business paper raising serious concerns across multiple fronts.

The results of this meeting is not available at the time of publication, and will be reported on in future editions.

The submission will only be formally lodged if councillors vote to endorse it at that meeting.

“Council has grave concerns that aspects of the draft framework risk repeating management approaches seen elsewhere in Australia where governance transitions, while well-intentioned, have coincided with declining visitation, reduced tourism confidence, increasing complexity, and weaker regional economic outcomes,” the draft submission states.

The draft submission references the experience of Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park directly, arguing that governance reform must be accompanied by a strong commercial, tourism and access strategy.

“Balranald Shire cannot afford a policy model where symbolic governance outcomes are achieved while regional economic activity deteriorates,” the draft states.

Mungo National Park is described in council’s own report as Balranald Shire’s premier tourism attraction and a cornerstone of the local visitor economy, supporting accommodation businesses, hospitality and retail trade, fuel sales, tourism operators and regional employment across a shire with limited economic diversification.

Council’s submission notes that any decline in visitation would carry direct and severe consequences for local jobs, businesses and community viability in an already remote and economically vulnerable region.

Council is requesting the final framework include explicit commitments to grow sustainable visitation over the next decade, maintain reliable public access, improve roads, signage and visitor facilities, and ensure formal local government representation in governance and advisory structures going forward.

It is also calling for mandatory socio-economic impact assessments before any major management change affecting access, operating conditions or visitor numbers is implemented.

Council argues that communities like Balranald cannot be exposed to economic risk without proper evidence-based analysis.

The notification concerns extend well beyond council.

A concerned stakeholder, who asked not to be identified, told The Riverine Grazier they had also received no direct notification of any kind and had only discovered the consultation was underway through a Google Alert.

“I’m supposed to be a stakeholder, and this is supposed to be asking stakeholders, and I have never received any email or anything from National Parks to be able to submit,” the stakeholder said.

“The only way I knew about it was because of a Google Alert.”

The stakeholder said the framework’s potential implications for long-term access, licensing conditions and business viability in the region were a significant and ongoing source of concern.

They questioned whether the consultation process had genuinely reached the people most directly affected by whatever decisions ultimately flowed from the framework.

The stakeholder also raised concerns about whether Balranald Shire Council itself had been formally invited to participate.

They noted that the local government body for the area in which the park sits should reasonably have been among the first organisations contacted.

Mr Dodds’ subsequent confirmation that no such notification could be found in council’s system appears to validate that concern.

A National Parks and Wildlife Service spokesperson told The Riverine Grazier that public exhibition is the standard government consultation mechanism and provides an opportunity for all interested stakeholders to review the document and make submissions.

“NPWS encourages all interested stakeholders, including leaseholders, to review the draft framework and provide feedback during the public exhibition period,” the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson confirmed the draft framework does not propose any changes to Parks Eco Pass licence conditions, and said existing leaseholder land ownership and management rights would remain unchanged.

The proposed future ownership and governance arrangements outlined in the framework remain subject to consultation and government consideration, the spokesperson said.

NPWS also told The Riverine Grazier the framework had been informed through ongoing engagement over several years, including the Willandra Future Directions workshops held between January and March 2023, which involved a range of stakeholders connected to the region.

However, critics have questioned whether workshop participants in 2023 are the same as the broader stakeholder community that would be affected by any changes flowing from the framework, and whether the passage of time between those workshops and the current public exhibition has allowed awareness of the process to lapse.

The Riverine Grazier subsequently asked NPWS to clarify which regional publications carried formal public notice advertising of the exhibition period and on what dates, whether all current accredited Parks Eco Pass operators were included on the stakeholder distribution list that received direct notification of the exhibition, and when the Aboriginal cultural awareness training condition was first introduced as a licence requirement for accredited operators.

NPWS had not responded to those questions at the time of going to press.

The Willandra Lakes Region World Heritage Advisory Committee, which includes representatives from Traditional Tribal Groups, leaseholders, the tourism industry, local government, science, the National Parks and Wildlife Regional Advisory Committee and an independent chair, was also contacted for comment and did not respond before deadline.

NSW member for Murray Helen Dalton and federal member for Farrer David Farley were contacted for comment and did not respond either.

With the submission window closing July 3, community members, tourism operators, landholders and other interested parties have limited time remaining to make their voices heard.

Written submissions can be made by completing the online feedback form at the NSW Environment and Heritage Public Consultation page or by emailing npws.willandralakes@environment.nsw.gov.au.

The Riverine Grazier will continue to report on this matter as further responses are received and as the May 26 council vote outcome becomes known.

This article appeared in The Riverine Grazier, 27 May 2026.