Brisbane City Council water testing has recorded faecal contamination at up to 275 times Queensland Health guidelines across popular Moreton Bay swimming spots, raising fresh concerns about possible sewage inputs into local waterways.
Monitoring data from late June shows elevated enterococci levels – a key indicator of faecal contamination – at multiple sites between Sandgate and Wynnum–Manly, during peak school holiday use of the foreshore.
At Shorncliffe, the latest reading was 790 – nearly 20 times the guideline of 40 per 100 millilitres. At nearby Cabbage Tree Creek, levels reached 2,500, more than 60 times the guideline.
At Lota Creek near Wynnum–Manly, the highest reading hit 11,000 – 275 times the safe threshold.
At the Sandgate foreshore, levels reached 190 – lower than nearby creeks but still nearly five times the guideline.
Environmental advocate Adam Bowden, founder of Stop Raw Sewage into SEQ Waterways, highlighted the council data in a recent online video.
“Especially during school holidays, young families bring their children, walk their dogs, and kitesurfers come down to enjoy this beautiful part of Moreton Bay,” Bowden said.
“The public is not being adequately warned. Along the Shorncliffe foreshore, I could only see one public warning sign. At Sandgate, I could not see any signage informing the community before they enter the water.”
Bowden said the results indicate likely sewage inputs into local waterways.
“Families, children and the wider community deserve to know these results before they enter the water.”
Council’s monitoring program triggers temporary warning signs at affected sites, though Bowden said signage remains inconsistent.
Conservationist Brad Farmer AM, a former senior adviser to the Australian Parliament, said the pollution is particularly damaging in Moreton Bay due to its shallow, semi-enclosed nature.
“The bay’s limited flushing capacity means pollutants linger, harming sensitive marine and wetland environments,” Farmer said.
“Untreated sewage into waterways is something befitting Roman times, not a modern, affluent Australia.
“The ongoing decline of seagrass meadows is the canary in the coalmine – we are knowingly causing slow ecocide.”
Farmer pointed to broader systemic failures, including fragmented coastal management and weak enforcement.
The affected Sandgate foreshore sits within the Moreton Bay Marine Park, a Ramsar-listed wetland of international significance. Bounded by two of the world’s largest sand islands, the bay functions as an estuarine basin where contaminants can accumulate.
Under the marine park’s 2019 zoning plan, discharging any sewage – treated or untreated – into marine national park green zones carries a $5,500 penalty.
“The fines are grossly inadequate,” Farmer said.
“As it would appear, regulatory and enforcement mechanisms fall well short of community expectations. Protection must come first.”
The findings come amid Bowden’s ongoing push for transparency. His Right to Information request seeking details on sewage discharges across Brisbane waterways – spanning about 1,850 pages –remains unresolved more than six months past its statutory decision date of December 4, 2025.
The matter is now under external review by the Office of the Information Commissioner.
Farmer said structural reform is needed to overcome fragmented oversight.
“This is why I will continue to lobby for a National Coastal and Marine Commission governed by federal legislation,” he said.
“We need accountability and action for a more sustainable coast.”
He said he is in discussions with Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt and called for stronger leadership at both state and federal levels.
If current trends continue, Farmer warned the consequences could be severe.
“Ramsar, World Heritage and marine park areas risk being downgraded as ‘threatened’, while a vast marine ecosystem faces potentially irreversible damage,” he said. “Tourism – including so-called eco-tourism – will suffer.”
Council data for the 2025–26 monitoring period is publicly available. Authorities advise avoiding contact with waterways during and up to three days after heavy rain and to heed all posted warnings.
Residents experiencing symptoms such as gastrointestinal illness, skin infections, or eye and ear irritation after water exposure are advised to contact Queensland Health on 13 HEALTH.
