Overview

The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 was enacted to provide comprehensive protection for the environment and conservation of biodiversity, addressing significant gaps in environmental protection by listing and regulating threatened species, ecological communities, and key threatening processes. The Act empowers the responsible Minister to establish and amend lists of these entities based on assessments. This legislative framework seeks to ensure the protection and conservation of Australia's unique biodiversity and mitigate threats to ecosystems. The Parliament of Australia introduced the Act to fill the legislative gap in adequately protecting and conserving the country's threatened species and ecological communities. The Act includes provisions for nominating and listing species and processes that threaten biodiversity, with the policy objective of maintaining and enhancing the nation's environmental health and ecological integrity.

Scope and Application

The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth) is a Commonwealth Act that applies to all persons and entities within Australia, as well as to any actions or activities that may have a significant impact on matters of national environmental significance, including threatened species, ecological communities, and key threatening processes. The Act's scope extends to any conduct or transactions that may affect these areas of environmental concern, regardless of where they occur within Australia or its territorial boundaries. The Act allows the Minister to establish and amend lists of threatened species, ecological communities, and key threatening processes, and mandates the Minister to prioritise certain conservation themes during assessment periods. This legislative instrument, which came into effect after its registration on the Federal Register of Legislation, sets a conservation theme for the assessment period starting 1 October 2020, focusing on listed threatened species that require reassessment to harmonise their listing status across range states and territories. While the Act provides for the possibility of disallowance, this particular instrument is not subject to disallowance under section 42 of the Legislation Act 2003.

Key Provisions

The main operative sections of the legislation focus on setting a conservation theme for a specified assessment period under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (the Act). Specifically, section 194D(1) allows the Minister to determine one or more conservation themes that should be prioritised during an assessment period. In this case, the Instrument designates 'Listed threatened species which require reassessment to harmonise their listing status across range states and territories' as the priority conservation theme for the assessment period beginning 1 October 2020 (Section 194D). This theme guides the focus of the nomination and listing processes outlined in Subdivision AA of the Act. The Act imposes several obligations on the relevant parties. The Minister must consider advice from the Threatened Species Scientific Committee when determining conservation themes (Section 194D(3)). Furthermore, the Act mandates that before making a legislative instrument, the rule-maker must be satisfied that any appropriate consultation has been undertaken (Legislation Act 2003, Section 17(1)(a)). Although public consultation was not deemed necessary for this Instrument due to its nature, the rule-maker was required to consider the scientific committee's advice. Offences and penalties under the Act pertain to the non-compliance with the provisions for the protection and conservation of threatened species, threatened ecological communities, and key threatening processes. However, the specific Instrument in question does not introduce new offences or penalties but rather sets the stage for reassessment of listed species. The Act itself outlines various civil and criminal penalties for breaches, which can include substantial fines and imprisonment, depending on the severity and nature of the offence. The Instrument, being a legislative instrument under the Legislation Act 2003, commenced on the day after its registration on the Federal Register of Legislation. Notably, section 42 of the Legislation Act 2003 does not apply to this Instrument, meaning it is not subject to disallowance (Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, Section 194D(4)). Consequently, this Instrument does not require a statement of compatibility under the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011, as it is not a disallowable instrument (Legislation Act 2003, Section 15J(2)(f)).