ALCA has 6 key recommendations relating to the establishment of key Committees under the Act and the transfer of money from the current Native Vegetation Fund to the new Biodiversity Administration Fund.
- For reasons of administrative efficiency, that the Clearance Assessment Committee should ideally consist of 3 members, and certainly not as many as 7 members.
- The required skills and expertise of the Clearance Assessment Committee should be focused on skills and expertise that are not already available from the Departmental secretariat that will service that Committee.
- South Australian public servants should not be members of the Clearance Assessment Committee.
- The Regulations should require consultation on proposed members to the Clearance Assessment Committee with bodies as listed in s15(4) of the Biodiversity Act 2025, and at least with the Conservation Council of South Australia (as the representative of the environment sector) on membership of the Scientific Committee.
- The proposed transfer of Funds from the Native Vegetation Fund to the Biodiversity Administration Fund (‘the Administration Fund’) should only include the State-appropriated money within the Fund. However, if the Government decides to include interest, it must only be real interest (i.e. not include the interest that has been paid due to indexation for inflation / CPI).
- The breakdown of the proposed $3 million fortransfer into the Administration Fund should be provided to the public.
