The Australian Government is developing a new National Environmental Standard for Matters of National Environmental Significance. This Standard will guide how environmental impacts on threatened species, ecological communities, and other important values are assessed and managed under Australia’s environment laws.
The Standard sits at the heart of the Government’s broader reform of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act. It is intended to give decision‑makers “clear standards,” but ALCA finds that in its current form, the draft Standard falls short of this promise, and does not yet provide the clarity, consistency, or scientific robustness needed to protect Australia’s most important environmental assets.
The draft uses flexible or ambiguous language, such as allowing actions to merely “consider” certain requirements, and does not align with widely accepted conservation standards used internationally or in most Australian states.
A central concern is the mitigation hierarchy. This is the internationally recognised framework that ensures environmental harm is properly avoided, minimised, repaired, and finally offset as a last resort. The draft Standard uses a non‑standard approach that replaces “minimise” with “mitigate.” This shift is unorthodox and confusing, given that the entire hierarchy is designed to mitigate impacts.
Given ongoing declines in threatened species and the pressures of climate change, decisions made under the MNES Standard must be built on strong evidence, rigorous processes, and clear legal requirements.
ALCA puts forward two overarching recommendations, supported by detailed legislative amendments.
1. Adopt the standard mitigation hierarchy: avoid, minimise, restore/rehabilitate, offset
Most Australian states and the International Union for Conservation of Nature use this structure. The Commonwealth should align with this standard approach and require - not merely encourage - its application.
2. Strengthen integrity throughout the Standard
Across several sections, the draft uses permissive language such as “should” instead of “must,” weakening the enforceability of environmental protections. ALCA recommends tightening integrity requirements in three areas:
- Assessing impacts: Decision‑makers must consider the full context of past, present, and foreseeable future threats, not just the immediate action.
- Compensation: Residual impacts should only be compensated after avoidance, minimisation, and repair have been properly applied.
- Evidence and consultation: Actions must be supported by appropriate data and require meaningful engagement with First Nations communities. ALCA also encourages exploring ways to integrate Free, Prior, and Informed Consent.
If the Standard is finalised without major changes, Australia risks adopting a framework that lacks clarity and weakens environmental decision‑making at a time when many protected species and places are already under significant pressure.
Strengthening the MNES Standard is essential to ensuring Australia’s environmental laws deliver clear, consistent, and scientifically sound protection for the species and ecosystems that matter most.
