In November 2025, the Commonwealth Parliament passed the most significant reforms to Australia’s national environment law in a generation. The stated objective in amending the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) was to strengthen environmental protection and restoration while delivering more efficient, robust and transparent project assessments.
Whether that objective is realised will depend on two things occurring in parallel.
The first is the effective implementation and administration of the amended EPBC Act. New statutory tests, new institutions, new enforcement powers and a new streamlined assessment pathway are either already operative or imminent. Their success will depend on whether assessments are conducted with adequate data, consistent guidance and the institutional confidence to apply the framework as intended, rather than defaulting to excessive caution in the face of continuing uncertainty.
The second is the finalisation of the regulatory framework that supports the amended EPBC Act. Much of the detail that will determine how the framework operates in practice – the National Environmental Standards (NES), the offsets framework, the definition of the net gain test, and the rules governing streamlined assessments – remain under development. These instruments, and the guidance that will sit beneath them, should be finalised through close and early engagement with industry, rather than settled in isolation and presented to proponents once drafting is complete.
This report sets out CEIG’s recommendations to assist in achieving both outcomes. A fit-for-purpose framework must not only strengthen environmental protection but also support the timely delivery of the renewable energy projects. Meeting Australia’s energy transition targets and legislated greenhouse gas reduction targets contributes to very conservation matters that the EPBC Act exists to protect.
As CEIG observed at the outset of this reform process, the ultimate success of the reforms will be determined by their administration. Government has articulated its own objectives for these reforms; this report is intended to assist the Minister, the National Environmental Protection Agency, and the Environment Department in meeting them.
Download the report: Implementing the EPBC Act: Recommendations to support better, faster decisions for renewable energy projects.
