The need for a governing or oversight body for the Port River and Barker Inlet has been repeatedly raised over the past 20 years.

In 2004, the Barker Inlet and Port Estuary Committee (BIPEC) called for a formal management body to take an ecosystem level approach to improve the health of the region.

More recently, in their 2022 interim report, the Select Committee on Dolphins in the Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary and Port River recommended the establishment of a transparent governance framework to provide clarity of regulatory authority of the Sanctuary.