information:classification
Protection

The Coral Sea Commonwealth Marine Reserve was proclaimed in December 2013, but it was not seen to offer enough protection for the environment. A group of 10 environmental NGOs came together as a coalition called the Protect our Coral Sea campaign, asking the government to create a very large highly protected Coral Sea Marine Park. In November 2011 the Australian government announced that a 989,842 square kilometres (382,180 sq mi) protected area was planned and pending approval.

The Coral Sea Commonwealth Marine Reserve was renamed as the Coral Sea Marine Park in October 2017. It covers an area of 989,836 km (382,178 sq mi) and is assigned IUCN category IV, with some area assigned IUCN categories VI, and II. It is Australia's largest single marine park and is one of the world's largest protected areas.

The Marine National Park protection (IUCN II) protected areas of the original 2012 announcement were subsequently significantly reduced from 50.78% to 24% in the 2018 management plan. This 50% reduction in protection was enacted contrary to the recommendations of then Commonwealth Government's expert review panel.