The Australian Government today released the Interim Report of the National Review of Environmental Regulation, as part of our commitment to undertake an audit of all environmental legislation and regulation at both state and federal level.
The report has been developed in conjunction with states and territories and is a snapshot of the substantial environmental regulatory reform efforts being undertaken across Australia.
It also identifies some current themes in environmental regulatory reform, and some areas where further work could be undertaken.
All levels of government have an important role to play in regulating the impact of human activity on the natural environment. That is why Australian governments are collaborating to identify unworkable, contradictory or incompatible regulation.
These changes will maintain or improve environmental outcomes and ensure that regulation is simple and streamlined, while avoiding unnecessary duplication between levels of government and encouraging innovation and efficiency.
The review will help governments to keep their eyes on achieving real environmental outcomes on the ground, including by taking a risk-based approach to regulation, having the level of intervention match the problem it’s meant to address, removing duplication between the Commonwealth and the states and territories, and collaborating to streamline environmental regulation.
The review assessed a wide range of matters in seven key themes ranging from the listing process for threatened species, to simplifying the environmental aspects of land use planning, to integrated waste management.
The Australian Government and state and territory governments will collaborate further to identify and work on other reform opportunities.
The report results from an agreement in April 2014 when Australia’s environment ministers agreed to build on existing reform efforts and identify unworkable, contradictory or incompatible regulation and seek opportunities to harmonise and simplify regulations.
The Interim Report is available at http://www.environment.gov.au/mem
(ENDS)