The tourist beach town where the ocean threatens a way of life

The popular beach town of Inverloch has for decades attracted flocks of tourists and sea-changers drawn to the laid-back coastal lifestyle.

It is a mecca for fishers, surfers and anyone who loves spending time on near-pristine beaches. Its population has expanded in recent years, especially during the pandemic, when many city dwellers moved to the country.

Defences established in front of the Inverloch Surf Life Saving Club. Credit: Jason South

But the ocean itself is threatening Inverloch as the town’s main beach is eaten away by coastal erosion.

In September, wild storms lashed the beach, dramatically exacerbating erosion and further exposing a shipwreck that dates to the 1860s.

A report by coastal erosion experts, released in 2023, showed the shoreline receded more than nine metres over a three-year period at Inverloch’s main beach. Sandbags and other defences have been erected in front of the Inverloch Surf Life Saving Club, but they provide only temporary protection from the encroaching ocean.

Houses just metres away from the beach are considered at risk in coming decades as climate change results in sea level rises and more extreme coastal conditions.

Inverloch Surf Life Saving Club treasurer Steve Duncan stands on the sandbag defences.Credit: Jason South

Inverloch Surf Life Saving Club treasurer Steve Duncan said Inverloch was on the front line of an erosion problem that was becoming widespread.

“It’s going to affect every coastal community,” he said. “The [Inverloch] surf club is in the first line of fire but the roads and houses immediately adjacent to the surf club are all under threat.”

Over summer, communities rallied in both Inverloch and nearby Silverleaves on Phillip Island, calling on the government to act on erosion.

Inverloch Tourism Association president Glenn Morris said major work was needed to protect his town.

“This is not just about protecting the beach and houses along the affected foreshore – it’s about the long-term future of the town. The economy, tourism, nature and our community,” he said.

Morris said the government appeared to have dismissed some options, including submerged artificial reefs and sand-covered rock revetment walls like one installed at Apollo Bay.

He said retreat – moving the town back from the water – would be very expensive, requiring removal of houses, utility assets and infrastructure.

The government is developing a “resilience plan” for Inverloch and nearby locations, including Tarwin Lower, Venus Bay and Pound Creek. It is due to be finalised later this year.

Erosion has ravaged the beach at Inverloch. Credit: Jason South

A draft resilience plan, released last year, considered a sea level rise of no less than 0.8 metres by 2100. It said that under the most extreme scenario, there would be widespread damage or loss of property and infrastructure reaching $25 million in value with potential for loss of lives. It also estimated losses resulting from temporary closure or loss of beach access could reach up to $7.4 million annually.

The plan said up to 38 per cent of Inverloch’s public park and recreation areas were at medium or high risk, increasing to 67 per cent with a sea level rise of 0.8 metres by 2100.

It found the Inverloch Surf Life Saving Club was at increasing risk of erosion, reaching “significant risk” under a sea level rise projection of 0.2 metres expected to be reached by 2040.

Motorways are also vulnerable with tides expected to regularly inundate more than three kilometres of roads within South Gippsland under the 0.8 metre sea level rise scenario.

Inverloch’s main beach receded by an average 3.1 metres between 2018 and 2020. Credit: Jason South

“With 0.5 m sea level rise, the erosion hazard extent is likely to expand inland to Surf Parade. This means likely impacts to public facilities such as the Surf Lifesaving Club, private dwellings, services, infrastructure, vegetation, cultural assets and the natural dune buffer,” the draft report said.

It said retreat would involve decommissioning or relocating existing structures or assets away from areas that were already or would be negatively affected by coastal hazards.

Other responses mooted included non-intervention, avoiding development in vulnerable areas, enhancing natural features such as dunes, designing structures to decrease the impact of erosion and building physical barriers.

The report listed retreat and building barriers as the lowest-order responses.

An excavator builds an emergency rock wall in an attempt to prevent coastal erosion at Inverloch in 2020.Credit: Royce Millar

However, developing a tailored approach for the retreat of private assets in the residential streets of Surf Parade and Lohr Avenue was designated a priority within the next five to 10 years.

A study by Melbourne and Deakin universities and the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action, published in Coastal and Ocean Management, found the shoreline at Inverloch’s main beach receded by an average 3.1 metres between 2018 and 2020.

One of the study’s authors, Melbourne University’s David Kennedy, said Inverloch’s main beach was more sensitive than other parts of the surrounding coastline.

“It does seem to be eroding there more rapidly than other parts,” he said.

Kennedy said building sea walls would not save the beach in front of the clubhouse. He said the ideal option would be to shift the clubhouse, although he accepted that would be expensive and there was a lack of suitable locations.

“Once you put in a sea wall, you turn it from a beach to a rock cliff,” he said. “Sea walls are designed to protect the assets behind them. They’re not designed to protect the beach.”

Kennedy said replenishing the sand was probably the best response in the short term to buy researchers time.

Deakin University marine science professor Daniel Ierodiaconou said beaches were not static and moved constantly over time.

“We often forget that when we put in infrastructure,” he said.

Ierodiaconou said research also indicated that ocean waves were becoming more powerful across Bass Strait due to climate change.

“We are seeing our shorelines respond accordingly.”

A state government spokeswoman said erosion was a naturally occurring part of the coast and the Cape to Cape Resilience Plan presented options to the community on ways to adapt.

She said sand renourishment works in 2025, funded by a $3.3 million federal grant, at the surf beach was an immediate measure to protect the area and no decisions had been made on the final adaptation model.

The government does not expect private dwellings to be at risk in the next few decades. The spokeswoman said community engagement had highlighted the importance of the natural beach setting for recreation, tourism and the town’s “liveability”.

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