Now lawEnvironment & Energy Introduced in the House of Representatives, 30 Oct 2025

Developers now pay a charge to repair damaged nature

This law is part of the 2025 rewrite of the national nature law. It makes four charges. The money goes into a fund that must be spent on repairing nature, so a harmed area ends up better off.

Official name: Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (Restoration Charge Imposition) Bill 2025

Who it affects

• Builders and miners with federal approval: If their approval says so, they can pay a charge to cover the harm their project leaves behind.
• Businesses building in a zone set by a regional plan: They will pay a charge when they sign up their project, unless the rules let them off.
• People who get a special let-off from the nature rules: They will pay a charge for it, unless the rules let them off, for example in a bushfire.
• Rare plants, animals and places: The money must be spent on repair work that leaves them better off.

Leftover harm from approved projects

The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 is Australia's main national law for protecting nature. In this article we call it the national nature law. Big projects that could harm protected plants, animals or places need a yes from the federal government.

When a project gets a yes, some harm is usually left over. That is true even after the company tries to avoid it. Under the old system, companies made up for this harm by protecting or improving other land. That land balanced out the land they damaged.

In 2020 Professor Graeme Samuel led a review of the law. He found Australia's natural world was getting worse. He found the law was out of date. In October 2025 the government brought in 7 bills to rewrite it.

The main bill sets a new test. Approved projects must make up for their leftover harm so nature ends up better off than before. It also lets companies pay the government to do that repair work for them.

This bill makes the charges. The Constitution is Australia's top law. It says a law that makes a tax must be kept apart from other laws. So the charges sit in their own Act.

The restoration contribution charge

This is the main charge. It applies when the government approves a project and the approval says the company must pay it. It covers approvals for single projects. It also covers whole types of projects approved through a bigger plan.

By paying, the company meets its duty to make up for the leftover harm. The government then takes on the job of fixing it, so nature ends up ahead.

Say a company gets a yes for a mine that will clear some rare woodland. In the past it would have had to find and protect other woodland itself. Now its approval could let it pay a charge. A government officer would then spend that money repairing woodland somewhere else.

The amount will be worked out by a method in detailed rules. The government writes those rules without a new vote. The charge must be more than zero.

The government wrote notes to explain the bill. They give an example of how the method could work. The charge could add up the cost of the repair work. It could add the cost of looking after the site for as long as the harm lasts. It could also add running costs, plus extra money in case the work fails.

Charge for planned zone building

The new laws let the Environment Minister make plans for whole regions. These plans mark out zones where some projects can go ahead more easily.

A person who wants to build one of these projects in a zone must sign it up. When they do, they must pay a charge. The money pays for repair work set out in the plan.

The rules can let some people off. The notes give one example. It is a person the plan already makes responsible for doing repair work themselves. The amount can be a flat fee or worked out by a method. It can be different for each plan.

Charges for special exemptions

The minister can let a project skip the normal approval rules if it matters to the whole country. Whoever gets that let-off must pay a charge.

There is also a charge for a second kind of let-off. Part 13 of the national nature law protects rare kinds of plants and animals, groups of plants and animals that live together, and other wildlife. A person who gets a let-off from those rules must pay this charge.

The rules can let some people off paying. The notes give the example of work needed in an emergency, such as a bushfire. Both charges can be a flat amount or worked out by a method. Both must be more than zero.

Money goes to repairing nature

All four charges are paid into a new fund. A senior public servant runs it.

That person must spend money on repair work that fairly matches each charge. The work must make up for the harm to protected nature, so nature ends up ahead.

Who it covers and reviews

The law applies to state and territory governments. But it does not tax state property. It does not apply to the federal government itself. It covers the islands Australia runs outside the states. It also covers people and companies overseas.

The minister must arrange outside reviews of how the charge rules are working. The first must start as soon as it can once the law has run for 24 months. Later reviews follow about every 5 years.

Each review report must be put on the department's website. The government's reply must go there too.

Start date

The bill was brought into the House of Representatives on 30 October 2025. That is the house of Parliament where the government sits. The House passed it on 6 November 2025. The Senate passed it on 27 November 2025.

The Governor-General signed it into law on 1 December 2025. The Governor-General is the King's representative in Australia. It became Act No. 67 of 2025.

The first two sections started the day after it became law. The parts that make the charges start on a date the government sets. If no date is set, they start 12 months after the law was signed.

The minister can also make different charges start on different days. For example, the charge for regional plans could wait until the rules for those plans start.

How they voted

Its journey through Parliament

Official sources

• Bill page on aph.gov.au
• Text of the bill
• Explanatory memorandum
• Bills Digest

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