Grant Barnes
Sponsored by Wynn Williams
Grant Barnes is a senior environmental regulator and public sector executive with more than 20 years’ experience leading complex regulatory systems across Australia and New Zealand.
As Chief Regulatory Officer of the Natural Resources Access Regulator (NRAR), Grant leads NSW’s independent water compliance and enforcement agency, overseeing compliance, investigation and enforcement functions under NSW water legislation. Since NRAR’s establishment in 2018, he has built the agency’s regulatory capability, strengthened governance and accountability, and led the use of advanced technologies, including remote sensing and machine learning, to support evidence-based regulation.
Grant operates in highly scrutinised regulatory environments, working with Ministers, government agencies, industry, communities and environmental stakeholders to maintain public confidence and improve regulatory outcomes.
He also serves as Chair of the Australasian Environmental Law Enforcement and Regulators Network (AELERT), supporting collaboration and capability across environmental regulators in Australia and New Zealand.
The Natural Resources Access Regulator (NRAR) hit the ground running in April 2018 with 69 staff, 845 open cases, and a New South Wales public that had stopped believing water laws were being enforced. We quickly established a visible presence across 800,000 square kilometres of New South Wales, leading with enforcement because, at that time, nothing else would have been credible while people waited to see whether this regulator would be different.
What I want to talk about today is what came next: how NRAR moved from visible enforcement to a more mature regulatory model that encourages the compliant, enables the willing, and punishes the wilful and reckless through risk-based, intelligence-led, and outcome-focused compliance and enforcement. We understood that most water users wanted to do the right thing but often found the system complicated and unwieldy. At the same time, we also encountered those who saw profit in deliberate non-compliance.
Eight years on, NRAR’s education and engagement program has become a hallmark of best practice regulation. Combined with satellite monitoring, remote sensing, and a steadfast focus on harm reduction, it is helping to increase voluntary compliance.
I will cover how NRAR has worked to regain public trust and confidence, and what we have learned along the way. Transparency and accountability are challenges faced by regulators across Australasia, so I will also reflect on the broader lessons NRAR’s experience may offer to others.