White Rock
A Hidden Crisis Gripping Australia’s Underwater Forests
White Rock Tour – See the Film, Join the Movement
The White Rock documentary is touring Australia, bringing together scientists, chefs, fishers, and policymakers to tackle one of the biggest environmental challenges facing our oceans—the longspined sea urchin crisis.
From overgrazed reefs to thriving kelp forests, this film explores how we can turn a marine crisis into an opportunity for restoration, sustainable seafood, and policy action. Featuring Damon Gameau, White Rock is both a wake-up call and a roadmap for change.
Join us at a screening near you and be part of the conversation.
upcoming screenings & EVENTS
Join the White Rock documentary tour and explore how science, seafood, and policy can restore Australia's Great Southern Reef. Find screening dates, Q&A events, and ways to take action.
Premiere & Q&A – Hobart, Tas
📅 May 16, 2025 | 📍 State Cinema
NSW Premiere & Q&A – Bendalong, NSW
📅 April 26, 2025 | 📍 Washerwomans Beach
Community Screening + Q&A – Bawley Point, NSW
📅 April 27, 2025 | 📍 Kioloa campus
VIC Premiere & Q&A – Melbourne, Tas
📅 May 23, 2025 | 📍 Melbourne Uni
🔹 White Rock + Q&A – Torquay, VIC
📅 April 30, 2025 | 📍4 Pines Brewery.
🔹 White Rock + Q&A – Warrnambool, VIC
📅 May 2, 2025 | 📍Lighthouse Theatre.
🔹 White Rock + Q&A – Narooma, NSW
📅 May 3, 2025 | 📍 Narooma Surf Club
🔹 White Rock + Q&A – Merimbua, NSW
📅 May 5, 2025 | 📍 The Picture Show Man
🔹 White Rock + Q&A – Byron Bay, NSW
📅 May 6, 2025 | 📍 Stone & Wood
🔹 White Rock + Q&A – Manly, NSW
📅 May 8, 2025 | 📍 Harbord Hotel
🔹 White Rock + Q&A – Dunetown - Marlo, VIC
📅 May 17, 2025 | 📍 Sailors Grave cellar door
🔹 White Rock + Q&A – Bicheno, TAS
📅 June 7, 2025 | 📍 TBA
Interested in hosting a screening?
Fill out the form below.
“this feels like a huge opportunity for australia”
Damon Gameau
Impact Campaigner, Filmmaker and Narrator of White Rock
why this matters
A Growing Crisis: Longspined sea urchins have stripped reefs bare affecting 2,000 km of Australia’s coastline, threatening fisheries, biodiversity, and marine industries.
An Economic Opportunity: With the right investment, Australia could lead the world in sustainable urchin harvesting, turning this crisis into jobs, industry, and seafood innovation.
Hope for the Reef: Research shows that with targeted intervention, kelp forests and marine ecosystems can recover quickly.
White Rock is more than just a film—it’s a movement to protect the future of the Great Southern Reef. Learn more about the film here.
Centro Task Force
The recently published Senate Inquiry report recommends that the government consider making an immediate national investment into Centro control, guided by the Centro Task Force Plan's action areas and goals.
The Centro Task Force is advocating for an immediate national investment of $55 million over the next five years. This funding is earmarked for research, monitoring, and modelling, as well as for the sustainable and cultural removal and harvesting of Centro, coupled with processing opportunities. It also calls for the development of a coordinated management approach, policy, and communication strategies to combat this urgent threat.
The Centro Task Force has developed a Business Plan to drive a unified national approach to tackling the varying challenges presented by Centro across its range.
The Centro business plan aims to protect, restore, and rehabilitate the health of the GSR, particularly in areas of ecological, economic, and cultural significance. It sets out to manage the impact of Centro on priority reef areas by implementing targeted management programs, monitoring reef recovery and preventing the formation of urchin barrens.
The plan includes four key action areas:
1) Reef Monitoring and Modelling to track changes and management outcomes
2) In-Water Centro Control and Rehabilitation Strategies to manage and restore affected areas,
3) Support for Harvesting and Processing to encourage sustainable industry practices
4) Management of Sea Country to empower Aboriginal stewardship using traditional knowledge.
Success hinges on research and development for informed management, strategic communication and community engagement for stakeholder support, a collaborative national approach involving robust partnerships across sectors, and policy development to facilitate cross-jurisdictional collaboration and effective Centro control. See the full plan here.
TAKE ACTION
Sign the petition to support urgent government funding for urchin management.
Attend a screening and learn how you can help.
Follow the journey – Stay updated on new events by subscribing to our newsletter (bottom of this page).
Join the conversation on social media: #WhiteRockFilm #EatAnUrchin #GreatSouthernReef
Investment & partnerships
Directed by Stefan Andrews, White Rock was filmed over the winter of 2024. This initiative supports the Great Southern Reef Foundation’s mission to enhance the reef's public profile and ensure its prosperity for future generations.
With our impact partners, we aim to tour the film through affected regions along Australia’s east coast, driving both awareness and political pressure to address the crisis.
We are actively seeking partners to join us in maximising the film’s reach through a high-impact media campaign and the creation of an educational toolkit for schools. If you're interested in hosting a film screening or facilitating a way to bring this film to your audience, then please get in touch.
For partnership opportunities please contact us at info@greatsouthernreef.com.
StefaN Andrews
DIrector
Dr. Scott Bennett
Producer
narrator
damon gameau
Minderoo Pictures
The Ian Potter Foundation
The Nature Conservancy
The Jock Clough Marine Foundation
Funding partners
impact support
documentary australia foundation
White Rock is a Documentary Australia Environmental Accelerator project.
