Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999

The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) is Australia’s principal environmental legislation. The Act establishes a national framework for environmental assessment and approval of projects that may have a significant impact on matters of national environmental significance (MNES). These include World Heritage properties, National Heritage places, Ramsar wetlands, nationally threatened species and ecological communities, migratory species, Commonwealth marine areas, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, and nuclear actions. The Act requires that projects likely to significantly impact MNES undergo rigorous assessment and approval by the Commonwealth Environment Minister. The Act also provides for the conservation of biodiversity, the identification of threatened species, and the management of protected areas.

Legal area: Environmental law regulates human activities affecting the environment, including biodiversity conservation, environmental impact assessment, and biosecurity.

Year enacted: 1999

Full text: https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C1999A00091

Key Provisions

• Part 3: Matters of national environmental significance (MNES triggers)
• Part 7: Assessment and approval of controlled actions
• Part 8: Environmental impact assessment (accreditation of state processes)
• Part 13: Biodiversity conservation (threatened species, ecological communities)
• Part 14: Protected areas (Commonwealth reserves, conservation zones)
• Part 15: Strategic assessments (broad-scale assessment of policies and plans)
• Part 17: Enforcement (remedial orders, injunctions, civil and criminal penalties)
• Section 487: Third-party standing (environmental organisations may enforce the Act)

Significance

The EPBC Act is the cornerstone of Australian environmental law. The Act’s third-party standing provision (section 487) has enabled environmental organisations to enforce environmental protections through litigation. The Act has been the subject of multiple independent reviews (the ‘Hawke Review’ 2009, the ‘Samuel Review’ 2020), which identified systemic failures in its implementation. The Samuel Review found the Act was ‘ineffective’ in protecting Australia’s environment and led to the government’s 2022 commitment to establish a new Environment Protection Agency and reform the Act’s regulatory framework.