CSIRO’s climate projections group has developed, delivered and supported uptake of Australian climate change projections for 29 years, and more recently in collaboration with the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BoM). CSIRO and the BoM have also developed climate projections for the Western Tropical Pacific and Southeast Asia. The latest national projections for Australia were developed in partnership with NRM groups (www.climatechangeinaustralia.gov.au).

Regionally specific projections can be valuable for a range of reasons. For example, they are likely to be regarded as more relevant by communities than broader-scale projections, or perhaps need to be nuanced to local conditions such as projections relating to non-standard seasons. Over the past year, CSIRO has value-added the national projections to meet the regional planning needs of State and Local governments. Projections were developed for six regions in Victoria to inform the Victorian government's “Climate-Ready” brochures (http://www.climatechange.vic.gov.au/). Similarly, we recently completed climate projections for the Sunshine Coast Regional Council (Qld) to inform the revision of their climate adaptation planning.

Regional climate projections pose a number of scientific challenges, including increased uncertainty and the risk of clients over-interpreting results (e.g. ‘false precision’). These must be explained honestly and transparently to ensure decision-makers are using the best and most complete information. In this presentation we will discuss the Victorian and Sunshine Coast projects.