EPBC Act reform, stage one: Reframing Commonwealth assessment powers ahead of the second legislative package

As noted in our article from December 2025, the Environment Protection Reform Act 2025 (Cth) was passed in Federal Parliament on 28 November 2025 and received Royal Assent on 1 December 2025. The reforms to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth) (EPBC Act) are set to be implemented throughout 2026.

Full implementation of the reforms is not set to occur until 1 December 2026. However, select provisions have come into effect as of 20 February 2026, with the next tranch (including the commencement of the National Environment Protection Agency) commencing on 1 July 2026.

We set out here the reforms which came into effect on 20 February 2026.

What reforms are now in effect?

The Commonwealth Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water have summarised the focus of the Tranche 1 reforms as:

• clearer more flexible processes
• better information sharing
• more transparent expert advice for decision-makers.

The changes are very much characterised as a precursor to the major reforms to commence on 1 July 2026 and are largely administrative in nature.

Reconsideration process changes

• The EPBC Act states that the Minister must decide whether a project is a 'controlled action', which in turn creates different kinds of restrictions and conditions.
• The classification can be costly and has historically been difficult to manage. The Minister is permitted to 'reconsider' a controlled action classification where there arises substantial new information or a substantial change in circumstances.
• The reforms also introduce flexibility in part by allowing projects to continue conditionally where the Minister has decided to 'reconsider' whether the classification remains appropriate.

Clearer national interest exemption provisions

• Project approval may now be permitted by the Minister under a national interest exemption.
• The EPBC Act now provides that, subject to environmental assessment and ongoing compliance obligations, project approval is exempt from provisions of the EPBC Act such as Part 13 to allow better responses to emergency situations.
• Any exemption cannot be indefinite, and the Minister must publish reasons for the decision.
• A key outcome of these changes is that projects in response to emergency decisions or requirements will progress faster through what has previously been a lengthy approval process under the EPBC Act.

Voluntary surrender of approvals

• An approval holder for the taking of an action is now permitted to surrender an approval held under Part 9 of the EPBC Act in circumstances where project commencement is being reconsidered and/or whether the project requires changes that in turn require further approvals.
• While surrendering an approval can relieve burdensome compliance obligations, a surrender will only be granted in circumstances where, among other things, the Minister considers that the surrender will not create environmental risk.
• The change allows approval holders to review their existing approvals and make practical decisions as to whether an approval is still required and if not, allows those approval holders to reduce their compliance obligations under the EPBC Act and/or the relevant conditions of the approval.

Better strategic assessments

• The reforms also generally target approvals of classes of actions under Part 10 of the EPBC Act.
• The new assessment directives allow for changes to approvals and approved plans and variations of conditions of approval, where appropriate.
• The Minister is required to consider ecologically sustainable development principles, bioregional plans and expert scientific evidence (in respect of large coal or unconventional gas projects) when considering an approval under Part 10.
• These changes are focused on making the assessment process more adaptive to project requirements while also ensuring any proposed alterations to the scope remain compliant with the approval holders obligations in respect of the EPBC Act.

Streamlined information sharing

• The reforms also aim to achieve greater administrative efficiency through new information sharing structures.
• The EPBC Act now provides for mechanisms to disclose information to the National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA) and Environment Information Australia (EIA), as well as other Commonwealth entities and State and Territory bodies.
• The drive for greater sharing of information as a part of these reforms seeks to improve the quality and efficiency of decision-making, as well as ensuring consistency across multiple jurisdictions and agencies with different objectives and guidelines for the granting of approvals.

Consultation as part of decision-making

• The reforms expand the role of several committees in decision-making under the EPBC Act, such as the Indigenous Advisory Committee, the Independent Expert Scientific Committee on Unconventional Gas Development and Large Coal Mining Development, and the Threatened Species Scientific Committee.
• A key objective in the reform of the decision-making process is be the embedding of First Nations cultural knowledge within national standards and future governance.
• Similarly to the information sharing reforms discussed above, these changes aim to develop better outcomes in terms of quality and consistency, while also ensuring that all relevant interest holders under the EPBC Act objectives are part of the decision-making process.

Wildlife trade updates

• Finally, the reforms also introduce amendments to Part 13A of the EPBC Act targeted at promoting flexibility within the wildlife trade, with approvals now lasting for up to 5 years.
• The goal of these changes is to ensure the approval process is more transparent in terms of timing restrictions and making applications simpler and more accessible, in turn promoting greater access and economic benefit in the exportation of wildlife products.

What's next?

Major reforms are set to commence from 1 July 2026, with NEPA and the EIA set to introduce compliance and enforcement of the new legislation while providing greater and easier access to environmental data.