Natural resource managers are tasked with a range of challenging and sometimes competing management objectives but often have limited resources with which to achieve them. Natural resource management (NRM) objectives typically include conserving biodiversity, maintaining healthy ecosystems, achieving water quality targets and restoring degraded habitats. A key challenge is to identify where, when and how to implement effective activities to achieve these objectives with the least cost and impact on stakeholders. This project provided and tested an appropriate decision support framework for cross-realm planning and supporting synthesis of NRM plans to assist natural resource management groups in northern Australia successfully tackle this challenge.