Posted on December 8, 2025 by Taylor Finnegan and Stuart Simington

Australian Parliament Passes Environment Protection Reform Bill

On 28 November 2025, Parliament passed reforms to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth) (EPBC Act). This completes a suite of reforms  that represent the most significant overhaul of Australia’s environmental laws since the commencement of the EPBC Act in 2000.

The reform package comprises of seven Bills including:

  • Environment Protection Reform Bill 2025 (Reform Bill),
  • National Environmental Protection Agency Bill 2025 (NEPA Bill),
  • Environment Information Australia Bill 2025 (EIA Bill), and
  • four separate acts regarding the imposition of restoration, general customs and excise charges under the EPBC Act (Charges Bills).

The reforms follows the second independent review of the EPBC Act delivered in 2020 which recommended fundamental reform, finding that the Act as currently in force “does not enable the Commonwealth to effectively fulfil its environmental management responsibilities to protect nationally important matters”.

The amendments have substantial implications for environmental assessment and approval of projects across Australia. It is therefore important for all stakeholders, including proponents and regulators, to familiarise themselves with the new requirements under the reforms and consider whether current and proposed activities will be compliant. We set out below some of the key amendments , particularly in relation to assessment and approval processes and new government agencies.

National Environmental Standards 

The Reform Bill introduces a power for the Minister for the Environment (Minister) to make national environmental standards (Standards), and to apply the Standards to decision-making under the EPBC Act. Standards will prescribe outcomes or objectives to promote the objects of the EPBC Act and Australia’s obligations under international agreements.

A number of actions of the Minister are to be consistent with the relevant Standards, including a decision to:

  • make a declaration that actions do not need approval,
  • approve the taking of an action,
  • revoke, vary or add to a condition attached to the approval of the taking of an action,
  • extend the approval period,
  • make a bioregional guidance plan, bioregional plan or protection statement, and
  • enter into a bilateral agreement.

New Approval Tests

The Reform Bill introduces new tests that the Minister must take into account prior to approving an action under the EPBC Act. These reforms will amend the assessment of approvals process as follows:

  • Require an action must be consistent with any relevant new Standard.
  • Introduce a tabulated definition of the impacts that are ‘unacceptable impacts’ for each protected matter under the EPBC Act. The Minister must not approve the taking of certain actions unless the Minister is satisfied that the taking of the action will not have an ‘unacceptable impact’ on a prescribed matter.
  • Amend how offsets and compensation for ‘residual significant impacts‘ will be managed. Residual significant impacts are significant impacts that will not be avoided, mitigated or repaired in the course of taking the action or complying with an approval condition. The ‘Mitigation Hierarchy’ will be legislated so that proponents are required to demonstrate that they have taken appropriate measures to avoid, mitigate, or repair environmental impacts before a condition related to offsets for residual significant impacts are attached to an approval. Further, the ‘no net loss’ test will be replaced with a ‘net gain test’ so the environment is better off than before the action (i.e. require conditions compensating for damage or payment of a restoration contribution charge).

A discretionary power will be conferred on the Minister  to approve the taking of an action that will be inconsistent with a Standard, result in an unacceptable impact or not deliver a net gain, where the proposed action is a ‘national interest proposal‘.

Assessment Pathways for Controlled Actions 

The Reform Bill consolidates the assessment approaches available to the Minister to assess controlled actions under the EPBC Act. The Reform Bill repeals the ‘assessment on referral information documentation’ and ‘public environmental reports’ pathways and replaces them with a new 30-day ‘streamlined assessment’ pathway. The Minister may make a decision by streamlined assessment only if the Minister is satisfied the action is not a fossil fuel action, the greenhouse gas emissions information for the action have been provided and the approach will still allow the Minister to make an informed decision on whether or not to approve the actions.

Bioregional Planning

Bioregional plans consider cumulative environmental impacts at a landscape and/or seascape scale. The existing bioregional planning provisions have been significantly amended under the Reform Bill to assist proponents to identify zones for development and reduce assessment timelines.

The Minister will be able to make bioregional plans relating to a Commonwealth area, State or Territory that are to be taken into account by the Minister when granting approvals. Historically, bioregional plans only related to a Commonwealth area. Plans must now be developed in collaboration with States and Territories and cannot be made by the Minister without the relevant State or Territory’s agreement.

A bioregional plan will identify:

  • Development zones, and the class of priority actions that can be undertaken in each development zone,
  • Conservation zones and the class of restricted actions that are prohibited in each zone, and
  • Bioregional restoration measures which the Minister is satisfied are necessary or convenient to mitigate, repair or compensate likely damage to the impacted protected matters caused by priority actions.

Certain registered priority actions will be able to be undertaken in bioregional plan development zones without approval under Part 9 of the EPBC Act. Restricted actions will not be able to be undertaken in a conservation zone unless the proponent has obtained an exemption. Fossil fuel actions involving the production or extraction of petroleum or coal cannot be a priority class of actions or granted an exemption in conservation zones.

National Environment Protection Agency

The NEPA Bill establishes the National Environment Protection Agency (NEPA), Australia’s first national independent environmental regulator. The Minister will remain responsible for decision-making and approval of actions. The function of NEPA is to assist the CEO of NEPA in the performance of regulatory and enforcement powers and functions.

The functions and powers of the CEO will include to:

  • carry out the functions conferred on the CEO by a range of environmental Commonwealth laws (e.g. undertaking audits and issuing environment protection orders under the EPBC Act),
  • advise and assist the Minister in relation to the exercise of any powers or the performance of any functions of the Minister under those Cth laws,
  • make recommendations to the Minister in relation to opportunities to improve regulation under those Cth laws,
  • monitor and audit the operation of declarations, bilateral agreements and bioregional plans made under the EPBC Act,
  • request information, advice or documents relating to the CEO’s functions from any person or body,
  • disclose relevant information to Commonwealth entities, State or Territory government bodies and the police force in certain circumstances for the purposes of law enforcement, preventing or lessening a serious risk to human health, administering a State or Territory law or assisting the entity to perform its functions or exercise its powers, and
  • establish an advisory group to provide the CEO advice or assistance in relation to the performance of the CEO’s functions and exercise of powers.

Other Key Reforms

Other key reforms under the package include:

  • Establishment of Environment Information Australia under the EIA Bill as an independent body responsible for improving the availability and accessibility of high quality national environmental information and data.
  • Increase to maximum penalties for a breach of the EPBC Act, including a new formula for determining penalties that takes into account either or both of the benefit derived and the detriment avoided because of the non-compliance.
  • Expanding the involvement of the Indigenous Advisory Committee in a range of matters under the EPBC Act, including requiring consultation with the Committee during the development of Standards relating to engagement with Indigenous persons.
  • Phasing out of the exemptions for high-risk land clearing and Regional Forest Agreements under Part 3 of the EPBC Act, with a sunset period of 12 months beginning on 1 July 2026.

Next Steps

It is anticipated that the complete package of reforms will come into effect by mid-2026.

Parts of the Reform Bill, notably the transitional provisions and provisions enabling the establishment of Standards, will commence following Royal Assent.

The NEPA Bill and the EIA Act Bill will commence on 1 July 2026, together with consequential amendments and transitional provisions for NEPA under the Reform Bill.

The Charges Bills and the provisions of the Reform Bill will commence upon proclamation or within 12 months.

Further subordinate legislation is required to implement the reforms package, including the National Environmental Standards, regulations and rules.

Two draft National Environmental Standards for Matters of National Environmental Significance and Environmental Offsets have been released for public consultation. We are currently reviewing these draft standards.

The full text of the seven bills as passed in both Houses of Parliament are here:

If you have any questions regarding this article, please leave a comment below or contact Stuart Simington on 02 8235 9704 or Taylor Finnegan on 8235 9723.

2 replies on “Australian Parliament Passes Environment Protection Reform Bill”

  1. Paul Le Mottee says:
    December 9, 2025 at 1:42 pm

    There is an awful lot of reading there. Is any part of this intended to speed up the process?

    1. stuart simington says:
      December 10, 2025 at 12:42 pm

      Hi Paul, Thank you for the question. One of core objectives of the reforms identified by the Government is to deliver “more efficient and robust project assessment”. DCCEEW has prepared a summary of how the new laws are proposed to streamline assessment pathways which can be accessed here

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