EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Issued by the delegate of the Minister for the Environment and Water
Industrial Chemicals Environmental Management (Register) Act 2021
Industrial Chemicals Environmental Management (Register) Instrument 2022
Industrial Chemicals Environmental Management (Register) Amendment (2026 Measures No. 1) Instrument 2026
Authority
The Industrial Chemicals Environmental Management (Register) Act 2021 (the Act) establishes a national framework to manage the ongoing import, export, manufacture, use, handling and disposal of industrial chemicals, in order to reduce impacts on the environment and limit people's exposure to industrial chemicals.
Subsection 11(1) of the Act allows the Minister to make one or more scheduling decisions for a relevant industrial chemical. Subsection 11(2) provides that if the Minister makes a scheduling decision for a relevant industrial chemical, the Minister must ensure that the decision for the chemical is recorded in that register.
Subsection 12(1) of the Act allows the Minister to vary or revoke one or more scheduling decisions for a relevant industrial chemical. Subsection 12(2) provides that if the Minister revokes or varies a scheduling decision for a relevant industrial chemical, the Minister must ensure that the decision for the chemical, as so varied is recorded in that register.
Subsection 22(1) of the Act provides that the Minister may, by legislative instrument, establish a register of scheduling decisions for relevant industrial chemicals that are made or varied under Division 2 of Part 2 of the Act.
Subsection 33(3) of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 provides that where an Act confers a power to make a legislative instrument, the power shall be construed as including a power exercisable in the like manner and subject to the like conditions (if any) to repeal, rescind, revoke, amend, or vary any such instrument.
The Industrial Chemicals Environmental Management (Register) Amendment (2026 Measures No. 1) Instrument 2026 (the Amending Instrument) is made under subsection 22(1) of the Act.
Subsection 74(1) of the Act allows the Minister to delegate the Minister’s power under subsection 22(1) to, among others, a Senior Executive Service (SES) employee or acting SES employee in the Environment Department (currently the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water). The Branch Head of the Chemicals, Atmosphere and International Branch is a delegate of the Minister for the purpose of exercising the powers in subsections 22(1), 11(2) and 12(1) of the Act.
Purpose
The purpose of the Amending Instrument is to amend the Industrial Chemicals Environmental Management (Register) Instrument 2022 (the Register) to record scheduling decisions made under subsection 11(1) of the Act in relation to twenty-one relevant industrial chemicals, to record a variation to a scheduling decision made under subsection 12(1) of the Act in relation to one relevant industrial chemical and to make consequential amendments to include definitions required to support those scheduling decisions and correct an administrative error.
The scheduling decisions recorded in the Amending Instrument have the effect of listing one chemical in Schedule 2, five chemicals in Schedule 3, five chemicals in Schedule 4, eight chemicals in Schedule 5, and two chemicals in Schedule 7 of the Register. These scheduling decisions also impose risk management measures on those listed chemicals, including prohibitions and restrictions for those to be added to Schedule 7 of the Register.
It is intended that the scheduling decisions in the Register will be adopted, implemented and enforced by all Australian jurisdictions under their own legislation to create a national standard for the management of the environmental risks of industrial chemicals.
The instrument also amends Section 4 to include a number of definitions to be incorporated into the Register.
Background
In July 2015, the Commonwealth, States and Territories agreed to establish a National Standard for the Environmental Risk Management of Industrial Chemicals (the National Standard – now known as the Industrial Chemicals Environmental Management Standard, or IChEMS). IChEMS was intended to provide for a consistent, nation-wide approach to managing the risks that industrial chemicals may pose to the environment.
The Act provides the legislative basis for establishing IChEMS by enabling the Minister to make scheduling decisions in relation to an industrial chemical. A scheduling decision can categorise an industrial chemical based on its risk characteristics and set out the controls applicable to the import, export, manufacture, use, handling, and disposal of an industrial chemical. Controls may include restrictions or prohibitions on any of these activities.
The Register is a legislative instrument made under subsection 22(1) of the Act that sets out all scheduling decisions made or varied by the Minister under that Act.
The Register contains 7 schedules. These schedules are titled:
Schedule 1 – Relevant industrial chemicals that are not appropriate for listing in the other Schedules;
Schedule 2 – Relevant industrial chemicals that are unlikely to cause harm to the environment;
Schedule 3 – Relevant industrial chemicals that have the potential to cause harm to the environment;
Schedule 4 – Relevant industrial chemicals that may cause harm to the environment;
Schedule 5 – Relevant industrial chemicals that are likely to cause harm to the environment;
Schedule 6 – Relevant industrial chemicals that are likely to cause serious or irreversible harm to the environment with essential uses;
Schedule 7 – Relevant industrial chemicals that are likely to cause serious or irreversible harm to the environment with no essential uses.
Risk characteristics are detailed for each of the 7 schedules in the Industrial Chemicals Environmental Management (Register) Principles 2022 (the Principles). Under the Act, the Minister is required to comply with the Principles when making, varying or revoking a scheduling decision for a relevant industrial chemical. Under the Principles, if an industrial chemical, or a particular use of the industrial chemical, is classified as having the risk characteristics for a particular Schedule of the Register, the Minister is required to list the industrial chemical, or use of the industrial chemical, in that schedule. Chemicals in higher schedules will usually require more active management of environmental risks, including in some cases the imposition of prohibitions or restrictions on the import, export, manufacture, or use of the chemical.
Scheduling decisions are not enforceable in and of themselves. Following the establishment of appropriate legislative frameworks, the Commonwealth, States and Territories will be responsible for the implementation and enforcement of the scheduling decisions, recorded in the Register, within their jurisdictions. This will drive national consistency in the management of industrial chemicals through a more streamlined, transparent, efficient, and predictable approach to environmental risk management, providing better protection for the environment.
Impact and effect
The Amending Instrument amends the Register to record new scheduling decisions that have been made for the following relevant industrial chemicals and chemical classes:
Schedule 2: Glycerides;
Schedule 3: 1,3-Propanediamine, N-[3-(C11-14-isoalkyloxy)propyl]derivs., C13-rich, acetates;
Schedule 3: Carbonodithioic acid, O-(2-methylbutyl) ester, sodium salt (1:1) and Carbonodithioic acid, O-(3-methylbutyl) ester, sodium salt (1:1);
Schedule 3: Ethoxylated alcohols (Group B);
Schedule 3: Medium and long chain alkyl sulfates;
Schedule 3: Fatty Acids;
Schedule 4: Ethoxylated alcohols (Group A);
Schedule 4: Parabens;
Schedule 4: Short chain alkyl- and aryl- phthalates;
Schedule 4: Limonene;
Schedule 4: Perfluorobutanoic acid (PFBA), perfluoropentanoic acid (PFPeA), perfluorohexanoic acid (PFHxA), their salts and any substance containing a perfluoropropyl, perfluorobutyl or perfluoropentyl moiety that can degrade to PFBA, PFPeA or PFHxA;
Schedule 5: Dibutylphthalate, di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate and diisooctylphthalate;
Schedule 5: Lead(2+) salts of long-chain carboxylic acids;
Schedule 5: Lead(2+) salts of medium-chain carboxylic acids;
Schedule 5: 6:2 Fluorotelomer sulfonamides;
Schedule 5: Perfluorobutanesulfonic acid (PFBS), its salts and any substance containing a perfluorobutanesulfonyl moiety that can degrade to PFBS;
Schedule 5: Perfluoroheptanoic acid (PFHpA), its salts and any substance containing a perfluorohexyl moiety that can degrade to PFHpA.
Schedule 5: Perfluoropentanesulfonic acid (PFPeS), its salts and any substance containing a perfluoropentanesulfonyl moiety that can degrade to PFPeS;
Schedule 5: Phenol, 4,4'-(1-methylethylidene)bis[2,6-dibromo- (TBBPA).
Schedule 7: Perfluoroheptanesulfonic acid (PFHpS), its salts and any substance containing a perfluoroheptanesulfonyl moiety that can degrade to PFHpS;
Schedule 7: Perfluorononanesulfonic acid (PFNS), perfluorodecanesulfonic acid (PFDS), their salts and any substance containing a perfluorononanesulfonyl or perfluorodecanesulfonyl moiety that can degrade to PFNS or PFDS;
The effect of these scheduling decisions is to list each of these chemicals in the relevant schedule and to impose appropriate risk management measures. For the two Schedule 7 chemicals this includes prohibitions and restrictions.
The chemicals and chemical classes have been added to the end of each Schedule instead of inserting them in alphabetical order as has been done in previous amendments to the Register. The date when the new entries come into effect is set out in Column 3.
The scheduling decision for some chemicals will be reviewed after July 2029 to include any new information relevant to the class of chemicals. This is noted in column 4 where relevant.
The Amending Instrument amends the Register to record a variation to an existing scheduling decision made for the following relevant industrial chemical:
Schedule 6: Phenol, 2-(2H-benzotriazol-2-yl)-4,6-bis(1,1-dimethylpropyl)- (UV-328);
The effect of the variation is to insert an additional use into the list of essential uses for the chemicals in the relevant paragraph.
The Amending Instrument also amends the Register to correct an administrative error associated with the scheduling decision made for the following industrial chemical:
Schedule 7: Hexabromocyclododecane, meaning 1,2,5,6,9,10‑hexabromocyclododecane and including its main diastereoisomers: alpha‑ hexabromocyclododecane; beta‑ hexabromocyclododecane; and gamma‑hexabromocyclododecane;
The effect of this change is to insert a risk management measure previously omitted into the relevant scheduling decision.
Consultation
The Register records scheduling decisions made under the Act that will not be enforceable in and of themselves. On this basis, no consultation on this specific instrument was conducted.
However, the scheduling decisions and the variation that are recorded in the Register have been subject to public consultation consistent with the requirements of section 17 of the Act. These consultations were open from 6 November to 8 December 2025 for ten of the relevant industrial chemicals and from 23 March to 24 April 2026 for twelve of the relevant industrial chemicals
All submissions received in accordance with the section 17 notice were taken into account under paragraph 15(1)(g) of the Act, and other information provided was taken into account under paragraph 16(1)(i) of the Act.
The two chemicals listed in Schedule 7 of the Register were referred to the Advisory Committee on the Environmental Management of Industrial Chemicals (the Advisory Committee). Advice provided by the Advisory Committee was taken into account under paragraph 15(1)(e) of the Act.
Section 21 of the Act provides for consultation with state and territory Environment Ministers. State and territory governments have been consulted throughout the development of these scheduling decisions.
Consultation on the adoption, implementation and enforcement of the scheduling decisions in the Register is ongoing with both industry and States and Territories.
Disallowance and sunsetting
The Register is exempt from disallowance and sunsetting requirements under the Legislation Act 2003 (Legislation Act). This is because the Register is made under an Act which facilitates the establishment and operation of an inter-governmental scheme involving the Commonwealth and the States and Territories and authorises the Register to be made for the purposes of that inter-governmental scheme.
Subsections 44(1) and 54(1) of the Legislation Act respectively provide that section 42 (concerning disallowance) and Part 4 of Chapter 3 (concerning sunsetting) of that Act do not apply in relation to a legislative instrument, or a provision of a legislative instrument, if the enabling legislation for the instrument facilitates the establishment or operation of an intergovernmental body or scheme involving the Commonwealth and one or more States, and authorises the instrument to be made by the body, or for the purposes of the body or scheme.
While this means the Register will be subject to reduced parliamentary scrutiny, this is appropriate as the Commonwealth Parliament should not be able to unilaterally disallow instruments that are part of a multilateral scheme; nor (for the same reasons) should such instruments be able to sunset.
Details and operation
Details of the Amending Instrument are set out in the Attachment.
The Amending Instrument commences on the day after it is registered on the Federal Register of Legislation.
Incorporation by Reference
The Globally Harmonised System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) is published by the United Nations and has been agreed at an international level. The GHS is the classification system used in the majority of risk assessments that have been carried out on industrial chemicals. A number of terms used in decisions incorporated into the Register take their meaning from hazard statements set out in the GHS
The GHS is incorporated by reference as it is in force from time to time.
Subsection 23(3) of the ICEMR Act provides for the incorporation of documents as in force from time to time.
The GHS is freely and readily available to persons interested or affected by this Instrument at: https://unece.org/about-ghs.
Other
The Amending Instrument is a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislation Act.
As the Amending Instrument is exempt from disallowance, in accordance with subsection 9(1) of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011, a Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights is not required.
ATTACHMENT
Details of the Industrial Chemicals Environmental Management (Register) Amendment (2026 Measures No.1) Instrument 2026
Section 1 – Name
1. Section 1 provides that the name of the instrument is the Industrial Chemicals Environmental Management (Register) Amendment (2026 Measures No.1) Instrument 2026 (the Amending Instrument).
Section 2 - Commencement
2. Section 2 provides that the Amending Instrument commences on the day after the instrument is registered on the Federal Register of Legislation.
3. The note below the table provides that the table relates only to the provisions of the Amending Instrument as originally made. It will not be amended to deal with any later amendments of the Amending Instrument. The purpose of this note is to clarify that the commencement of any subsequent amendments is not reflected in the table.
4. Subsection 2(2) clarifies that any information in column 3 of the table is not part of the Amending Instrument. Information may be inserted in this column, or edited in this column, in any published version of the Amending Instrument. For example, the date the Amending Instrument commenced will be inserted in this column once that has occurred.
Section 3 - Authority
5. Section 3 provides that the Amending Instrument is made under subsection 22(1) of the Industrial Chemicals Environmental Management (Register) Act 2021 (the Act).
6. Subsection 22(1) of the Act includes a note stating that the power to vary the instrument is in subsection 33(3) of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901.
Section 4 – Schedules
7. Section 4 sets out that each instrument that is specified in a Schedule to this instrument is amended or repealed as set out in the applicable items in the Schedule concerned, and any other item in a Schedule to this instrument has effect according to its terms.
8. The effect is that the amendments made by Schedule 1 to the Amending Instrument amend the Industrial Chemicals Environmental Management (Register) Instrument 2022 (the Register) as set out in Schedule 1.
Schedule 1 - Amendments
Items 1-3
9. Section 4 defines a number of key terms to be incorporated into the Register. These terms include GHS, harmful, harmful to aquatic life with long lasting effects and very toxic to aquatic life with acute effects.
10. The term GHS refers to the document titled Globally Harmonised System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals published by the United Nations. A number of terms used in decisions incorporated into the Register take their meaning from hazard statements set out in the GHS. For example, toxic to aquatic life and harmful to aquatic life are hazard statements associated with short-term (acute) aquatic hazard. Harmful to aquatic life with long lasting effects and very toxic to aquatic life with long lasting effects are hazard statements associated with long-term (chronic) aquatic hazard.
11. The GHS is a technical scientific document agreed at an international level and reflects the most up to date scientific knowledge in this field. It also reflects the classification system used in the majority of risk assessments that have been carried out on industrial chemicals in Australia. Adopting the GHS terminology in the risk characteristics set out in Part 2 of the Principles allows the Minister to use the information derived from risk assessments to appropriately categorise industrial chemicals according to their likely harm to the environment.
12. Adopting consistent terminology in the Register allows scheduling decisions to incorporate GHS terms to provide clarity in relation to the criteria that have been used to categorise chemicals into each schedule. This provides assurance that the process for making standards is objective and transparent.
13. As the GHS is regularly updated by the United Nations, it is appropriate that it be incorporated as existing from time to time (as permitted by subsection 23(3) of the ICEMR Act) as this will ensure that scheduling decisions are based on the most up to date scientific information. The GHS is freely and readily available to persons interested or affected by this Instrument at: https://unece.org/about-ghs.
Item 4
14. Item 4 of Schedule 1 to the Amending Instrument inserts new subsection 5(4) after subsection 5(3). Subsection 5(4) explains the arrangement of industrial chemicals in each Schedule. Paragraph 5(4)(a) provides that industrial chemicals added to the Register before 1 January 2026 were listed in the appropriate alphabetical position, determined on a letter-by-letter basis in the table.
15. Paragraph 5(4)(b) provides that for industrial chemicals added to the Register from 1 January 2026, the chemicals will be listed as a new item in the table of the respective Schedule and will be positioned after the last item of the table in that Schedule, unless otherwise specified. The result is that new chemicals will appear at the end of the schedule in a chronological order as each scheduling decision to list an industrial chemical is made. Existing industrial chemicals already listed will remain in their current positions within their respective Schedules.
16. This change of approach when listing industrial chemicals has been made noting increasing difficulty with being able to identify the appropriate alphabetical position of industrial chemical names, where industrial chemical names can exceed 150 characters and/or contain characters that are unable to be sorted alphabetically (e.g. characters from the Greek or Latin alphabet).
Item 5
17. Item 5 of Schedule 1 to the Amending Instrument amends existing Schedule 2 of the Register to record a scheduling decision for industrial chemicals coming under the chemical class name Glycerides by adding it to the end of the table.
18. Schedule 2 of the Register records scheduling decisions for relevant industrial chemicals that are unlikely to cause harm to the environment.
Item 6
19. Item 6 of Schedule 1 to the Amending Instrument amends existing Schedule 3 of the Register to record the scheduling decision for following chemical class names by adding them to the end of the table:
a. 1,3-Propanediamine, N-[3-(C11-14-isoalkyloxy)propyl]derivs., C13-rich, acetates
b. Carbonodithioic acid, O-(2-methylbutyl) ester, sodium salt (1:1) and Carbonodithioic acid, O-(3-methylbutyl) ester, sodium salt (1:1)
c. Ethoxylated alcohols (Group B)
d. Medium and long chain alkyl sulfates
e. Fatty Acids
20. Schedule 3 records scheduling decisions for relevant industrial chemicals that have the potential to cause harm to the environment.
Item 7
21. Item 7 of Schedule 1 to the Amending Instrument amends existing Schedule 4 of the Register to record the scheduling decision for following chemical class names by adding them to the end of the table:
a. Ethoxylated alcohols (Group A)
b. Parabens
c. Short chain alkyl- and aryl- phthalates
d. Limonene
e. Perfluorobutanoic acid (PFBA), perfluoropentanoic acid (PFPeA), perfluorohexanoic acid (PFHxA), their salts and any substance containing a perfluoropropyl, perfluorobutyl or perfluoropentyl moiety that can degrade to PFBA, PFPeA or PFHxA.
22. Schedule 4 records scheduling decisions for relevant industrial chemicals that may cause harm to the environment.
Item 8
23. Item 8 of Schedule 1 to the Amending Instrument amends existing Schedule 5 of the Register to record the scheduling decision for following chemical class names by adding them to the end of the table:
a. Dibutylphthalate, di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate and diisooctylphthalate
b. Lead(2+) salts of long-chain carboxylic acids
c. Lead(2+) salts of medium-chain carboxylic acids
d. 6:2 Fluorotelomer sulfonamides
e. Perfluorobutanesulfonic acid (PFBS), its salts and any substance containing a perfluorobutanesulfonyl moiety that can degrade to PFBS
f. Perfluoroheptanoic acid (PFHpA), its salts and any substance containing a perfluorohexyl moiety that can degrade to PFHpA
g. Perfluoropentanesulfonic acid (PFPeS), its salts and any substance containing a perfluoropentanesulfonyl moiety that can degrade to PFPeS
h. Phenol, 4,4'-(1-methylethylidene)bis[2,6-dibromo- (TBBPA)
24. Schedule 5 records scheduling decisions for relevant industrial chemicals that are likely to cause harm to the environment.
Item 9
25. Item 9 of Schedule 1 to the Amending Instrument amends existing Schedule 6 of the Register to record a variation to paragraph (b) of the scheduling decision for the following relevant industrial chemical with the chemical name:
a. Phenol, 2-(2H-benzotriazol-2-yl)-4,6-bis(1,1-dimethylpropyl)- (UV-328)
26. The variation repeals paragraph (b) and substitutes new paragraph (b) which sets out essential uses in Australia for the chemical, and ensures that all exemptions under the Stockholm Convention are nominated as essential end uses and aligns with Australia’s obligations under the Stockholm Convention.
Item 10
27. Item 10 of Schedule 1 to the Amending Instrument amends existing Schedule 7 of the Register to record the scheduling decision for the relevant industrial chemicals with the chemical names by adding them to the end of the table:
a. Perfluoroheptanesulfonic acid (PFHpS), its salts and any substance containing a perfluoroheptanesulfonyl moiety that can degrade to PFHpS
b. Perfluorononanesulfonic acid (PFNS), perfluorodecanesulfonic acid (PFDS), their salts and any substance containing a perfluorononanesulfonyl or perfluorodecanesulfonyl moiety that can degrade to PFNS or PFDS
28. Schedule 7 records scheduling decisions for relevant industrial chemicals that are likely to cause serious or irreversible harm to the environment with no essential uses.
Item 11
29. Item 11 of Schedule 1 to the Amending Instrument amends a risk management measure for the chemical Hexabromocyclododecane. It adds paragraph (h) to risk management measures listed under Column 3, which prescribes that in carrying out disposal, the chemical may be isolated from the waste, provided that the chemical is subsequently disposed of in accordance with paragraphs (e) and (f).
30. This insertion of paragraph (h) corrects an administrative error which lead to the omission of this risk management measure associated with the scheduling decision previously made on 18 December 2023.