The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) has provided insights into relevant considerations for proposed solar farms in three recent decisions, in which three of the five projects considered were refused. Read more

On 17 October 2019 the Commonwealth government introduced the Native Title Legislation Amendment Bill 2019 (Cth) (Bill) to amend (amongst other legislation) the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth) (NTA). The Bill proposes the same amendments to the Act as an earlier amendment bill introduced in February 2019 and which lapsed with the federal election. The proposed amendments to the NTA are the most substantive since the ‘Wik’ amendments in 1998.  To assist project proponents in understanding the potential impacts of the Bill, the table below sets out proposed key amendments with the likely implications for existing and future development. Read more

This week, the Victorian EPA and DELWP released draft regulations and other subordinate instruments required under the Environment Protection Act 2017 for public input, providing insight into the EPA’s proposed approach to many features of Victoria’s new environment protection framework. Read more

In November 2017, the Equator Principles Association (EP Association) announced a review of the Equator Principles in response to the changing approach of financial institutions, regulators, proponents and civil society to environmental and social risks. On 24 June 2019, the EP Association released a draft version four of the Equator Principles (Draft EP4). There are four proposed key amendments that financial institutions and proponents should be aware of. Read more