The NSW Government has finalised the Cumberland Plain Conservation Plan and announced the establishment of a Biodiversity Credits Supply Fund and Taskforce. These initiatives seek to simplify the biodiversity assessment process for parts of Western Sydney and fast track the acquisition of biodiversity credits throughout NSW while improving conservation outcomes. Read more

Government has announced that it will review the operation of the Safeguard Mechanism with a view to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from Australia’s highest emitting facilities. Comments on the discussion paper are due by 20 September 2022, with key issues in the discussion paper being calculation of baselines, the use of crediting mechanisms. Read more

The Environment Council of Central Queensland has submitted reconsideration requests for 19 projects under section 78A of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth) (EPBC Act). The projects are all coal and gas projects, principally but not exclusively in Queensland, that are currently undergoing assessment under the EPBC Act. Read more

Going into the recent Federal election, the Australian Labor Party committed to establishing an independent Environment Protection Agency and providing a full response to the review of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth). With the new Ministry now sworn in, we look at what changes these commitments might bring. Read more

The recent Australian Federal election has resulted in a change of government. While the government is settling in, our Environment, Planning and Communities partners set out their top 5 predictions for coming change on environmental matters, and where the priorities should lie. Read more

The NSW Department of Planning and Environment has consolidated 45 State Environmental Planning Policies (SEPPs) and deemed SEPPs into 11 new environmental planning instruments. Read more

On 1 March 2022 the Supreme Court of Western Australia published its decisions in the matters of Conservation Council of Western Australia Inc. v Chairman, Environmental Protection Authority [2022] WASC 58 and Conservation Council of Western Australia Inc. v Chairman, Environmental Protection Authority [2022] WASC 59. The decisions are in respect of the Conservation Council of … Read more

DWER recently published the WA Environmental Offsets Calculator and associated guidelines (Environment Offsets Metric: Quantifying Environmental Offsets in Western Australia), creating WA’s new environmental offsets metric. We provide an overview of the key points to note about the offsets metric. Read more