In a significant move for environmental conservation, the Australian parliament has passed sweeping reforms to the nation's key environmental legislation, the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act.
A Watershed Moment for Environmental Governance
The successful passage of these long-awaited reforms during the final sitting week of 2025 represents a powerful demonstration of democratic governance in action. According to Dr Ken Henry AC, former treasury secretary and chair of the Australian Climate and Biodiversity Foundation, this achievement shows that ambitious economic reform remains possible even in challenging global times for democracies.
The parliamentary process saw Labor strike a deal with the Greens to pass the comprehensive overhaul of nature protection laws. This constructive engagement, rising above partisan politics, has resulted in what experts describe as 21st-century reforms supporting a modern economy while improving environmental health.
Addressing Systemic Failures in Environmental Protection
The reforms come after multiple reviews, including Graeme Samuel's comprehensive assessment delivered more than five years ago, highlighted systemic failures in Australia's environmental protection framework. Report after report told the same story: the environment was simply not being protected, biodiversity was not being conserved, and nature was in systemic decline.
Dr Henry noted in a National Press Club address earlier this year that the existing environmental impact assessment systems were not fit for purpose and incapable of supporting an economy in transition to net zero. The poorly constructed laws had been undermining productivity through slow, opaque, and contested environmental planning decisions.
Key Components of the Reformed Legislation
The overhauled EPBC Act introduces several critical measures designed to strengthen environmental protection:
- National environmental standards that clearly define impacts considered unacceptable and therefore must be avoided
- Establishment of an independent national Environmental Protection Agency to build integrity into administration of the laws
- Elimination of the absurd carveout for native forests, which remain Australia's most biodiverse landscapes
- Development of regional plans enabling collaboration between three levels of government and local communities, including First Nations custodians
Significantly, the reforms provide long-overdue protection for Australia's forests, described as the lungs of the Earth, a lifeboat against climate change, and a haven for wildlife. The legislation also includes incentives to support a modern forestry industry based on plantations rather than native forest logging.
A Fundamental Shift in Economic Thinking
Perhaps the most profound aspect of these reforms is their acknowledgment that environmental protection and biodiversity conservation underpin everything else. For centuries, economic and social progress has been pursued at the expense of the natural world, treating environmental destruction as a necessary trade-off for material gains.
This week's amendments represent a fundamental shift, recognising that without rebuilding natural capital, future economic and social progress cannot be secured. As Dr Henry emphasised, the state of the natural world is foundational to all other aspects of human prosperity.
The passage of these reforms stands as an unprecedented bequest to future generations of Australians, demonstrating that democratic institutions can successfully address long-term environmental challenges while supporting sustainable economic development.
