Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment (Reconsiderations) Bill 2025

The majority voted in favour of a motion to agree with the main idea of the bill. In parliamentary jargon, they voted to read the bill for a second time, which means it can now be considered in more detail.

What does this bill do?

This bill limits the circumstances in which the Minister has to the power to reconsider past decisions in order to create greater stability for certain projects.

According for the explanatory memorandum, which is a political document prepared by the Government, who introduced the bill:

The 2021 State of the Environment Report made clear that all aspects of the Australian environment are under stress, and many are declining. Multiple pressures from factors like climate change, habitat loss, invasive species, and pollution create cumulative impacts that amplify threats to our environment. Better information, along with the increasingly dynamic nature of the environment increases the likelihood that actions originally determined to be unlikely to have a significant impact on a protected matter under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) could in future meet the threshold for reconsideration.

Under the EPBC Act, an action can be lawfully taken if the Minister decides that it is not a controlled action. In contrast, if the Minister decides that the action is a controlled action, the action is subject to further assessment under the EPBC Act and cannot be taken unless and until the Minister approves the taking of the action. The EPBC Act requires the Minister to decide that an action is a controlled action if the Minister is satisfied that the action has, will have, or is likely to have, a significant impact on a protected matter.

The EPBC Act currently allows reconsideration of decisions regarding whether an action is a controlled action in specific circumstances. For example, in response to the availability of substantial new information about the impacts of the action, or a substantial change in circumstances not foreseen at the time of the original decision.

It is important that the Minister be able to reconsider a decision that an action is, or is not, a controlled action in response to these kinds of circumstances. However, the operation of the current provisions of the EPBC Act create significant uncertainty for established industry, workers and communities. The Minister can reconsider an earlier decision that an action is not a controlled action, even when the action is already being lawfully undertaken. In this situation and under current settings, if the Minister decides, as a result of the reconsideration, that the action is now a controlled action, the proponent must cease operations in relation to the action until a full assessment is completed and a decision on whether to approve the taking of the action is made. The economic and social impacts of stopping an action can be severe, creating uncertainty and putting jobs, businesses, communities and individual livelihoods at risk.

The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment (Reconsiderations) Bill 2025 (the Amendment Bill) would amend the EPBC Act to address this issue, balancing the need for environmental protection with the need to provide certainty and fairness to industry, workers and communities, where industries have already been operating for a significant amount of time.

The Amendment Bill would provide this certainty by exempting decisions made under subsection 75(1), which relate to whether an action needs to be assessed and approved under the EPBC Act (the first decision), from revocation if the following criteria are met:

• the first decision was that the action was not a controlled action if undertaken in a particular manner (also known as an NCA-PM decision); and

• the particular manner required in the first decision included that the action would be undertaken in accordance with a management arrangement made, approved or administered by the government of a State or self-governing Territory; and

• the action is being taken; and

• either:

• in the case of where a person (other than a State or Territory Minister) has made a request for reconsideration - at the time of the request, the action has been taken in a way that is ongoing or recurring for at least 5 years; or

• in any other case - the action has been taken in a way that is ongoing or recurring for at least 5 years.

The effect of these amendments would be to provide greater certainty by removing the Minister’s ability to revoke and substitute a past decision relating to whether an action needs to be assessed and approved under the EPBC Act where the above criteria are met.

The intention is to balance the need to reassess the environmental impacts of the action against the need for certainty and stability for industry, workers and communities that rely on the relevant action and would otherwise be greatly impacted should they be required to stop undertaking the action for an uncertain period of time.