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Governments urged to overhaul environment laws to avoid ongoing decline
A once-in-a-decade review of Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act has found that “fundamental reform”, independent bodies and rigorous compliance regimes are critical in addressing consistent failures from Australian governments.
Naomi Neilson
The Morrison government will be watched closely on the responses to an independent, overdue review into the effectiveness of the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act after the head of the review, Professor Graeme Samuel AC, attributed the legislations failure to two decades of government failures.
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With 38 recommendations, Professor Samuel has called on the governments to create “sensible and staged pathways” to reform existing laws, which have so far failed to keep the environment protected from an overall state of decline and constant threat. He said as they are, the environment will not be resilient enough to withstand climate change.
“To shy away from fundamental reforms recommended by this review will be to accept continued decline of our iconic places and the extinction of our most threatened plants, animals and ecosystems. This is unacceptable,” Professor Samuel wrote, adding that a firm commitment from stakeholders is needed to enable future environment survival.
The recommendations included setting clear outcomes for all new, legally enforceable national environmental standards that set boundaries for decision-making and to take an adaptive approach in measuring the effectiveness of implementation. New changes should also harness the knowledge of Indigenous Australians for better management.
“The operation of the EPBC Act failed to harness the extraordinary value of Indigenous knowledge systems that have supported healthy Country for over 60,000 years. A shift in attitude is required so that we stop, listen and learn from Indigenous Australians and enable them to effectively participate in decision-making,” Professor Samuel said.
The review also recommended establishing new independent bodies to take on unique responsibilities for monitoring the environment and enforcing compliance. In a big shift, Professor Samuel recommended abolishing effective exemption from environment law granted to all native forest logging covered by regional forestry agreements.
The review also took aim at the frequency that the laws have been reviewed prior, and suggested that rather than wait another decade, the government establish a “sensible, process of continued improvement”. He also asked governments to avoid the temptation to “cherry pick” recommendations and instead find a common ground.
“Changes should be made immediately to deliver the best possible outcomes from the dated law. This should be followed by a concerted effort to fundamentally re-write and modernise the Act and its implementation,” Professor Samuel wrote.
