The Regulations must define net gain, and further, define it as absolute net gain if the Commonwealth’s offsetting system is intended to deliver real improvements – rather than on-paper improvements – to the condition of Australia’s biodiversity.
The current approach in the Regulations of allowing for the possibility of merely relative net gain (i.e. net gain relative to a declining baseline, rather than an absolute improvement on the starting condition) would only set the Commonwealth’s reimagined offsetting regime up to be a low-integrity, poor outcomes scheme. Getting net gain right must be the highest priority for reform to the current draft Regulations and should not be left to case-by-case Ministerial discretion.
Streamlined assessment pathways should only be available to uncomplicated projects, with low levels of (likely) public concern, and with a low risk of significant environmental impacts, in accordance with appropriate criteria that should be included in the Regulation.
Further, the Government should adopt the NSW Government's approach for offsets that are not delivered within the 3-year period, namely, that the Restoration Contributions Holder must enter into an agreement with the relevant Minister about how they will meet their obligation to spend the offset funds.
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