The impacts of sea level rise  and the options  and costs of adaptation are  not widely understood or accepted by our coastal communities.

For many living by the coast is considered a privilege and right and they feel the dunes beach and coastal edge will afford endless aesthetic and recreational enjoyment and protection from inundation and property & public infrastructure damage.

The Coastal Community in South Australia may not physically see the 90mm rise in sea level that has occurred in the past twenty years and so far, not may dwellings have been washed away from coastal erosion.

However the time has come where public infrastructure along foreshores and private dwellings are at risk of damage due to either coastal inundation or erosion from more frequent storm surge events and higher spring tides.

This paper argues through various South Australian case study projects undertaken by the author that the coastal community and broader public needs to be made more aware of the coastal hazards and to start believing in climate change and sea level rise so that appropriate risks are acknowledged and adaptation is implemented by our current generation before it is too late for our future generation