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Rock slope instabilities affecting several coastal cliffs in Australia, such as rockfalls, block topples and wedge sliding failures, pose a significant risk to people and infrastructure located along important national transport networks. Such instability phenomena, mostly driven by pre-existing structures within the rock mass, is expected to increase in the coming years upon the rise of predicted extreme climatic events. An accurate estimation of the likelihood and severity of these instabilities is essential to minimize the risk, assess the efficiency of existing mitigation measures and design the most appropriate protection solutions. This paper presents the case study of a very popular walking path along the Newcastle coastline, also known as Newcastle Shortland Esplanade, located in Newcastle (NSW, Australia). Following a previous significant rockfall event in 2002, rockfall protection measures are currently in place, including rock face bolting and rockfall barriers located at the bottom of the slope. High-resolution three-dimensional models of the site obtained by recent drone surveys and field investigations allowed us to assess potential rock volumes involved. Rockfall simulations using the new software RocFall3 (Rocscience) have been conducted to verify the efficiency of current rockfall barrier installed at the base of the rock face.