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

Independent watchdog now enforces nine nature laws

This law creates the National Environmental Protection Agency. Its head cannot be told what to decide on single cases. From 1 July 2026 it hands out permits, runs checks and makes people follow nine national environment laws.

Official name: National Environmental Protection Agency Bill 2025

Who it affects

• Businesses that need national environment approvals or permits: They now deal with the new agency. It can check if they keep to the terms of their approval and act if they do not.
• The public: You can look up the agency's decisions on public lists online.
• The Environment Minister: The Minister still sets policy and writes rules. The Minister can say what they expect but cannot order the agency's decisions.
• First Nations people and scientists: They may be asked to join an advice group. The head must think about what the group says.

Review found nature in decline

Australia's main national environment law is the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. Biodiversity means the variety of living things. The law decides which big projects need national approval, like mines or housing estates. A project needs approval if it could harm rare animals and plants or special places.

The law must be checked every 10 years. The second check was led by Professor Graeme Samuel. It reported in 2020. It found Australia's environment was getting worse overall. It said the law was out of date and needed big changes.

One idea was a strong watchdog that stands on its own. A watchdog checks that people follow the rules and acts when they do not. The government promised one as part of its Nature Positive Plan, its plan to protect nature.

This bill was one of 7 bills. Together they make the last stage of those changes. A separate bill rewrote much of the main environment law. This one creates the agency.

What the watchdog does

NEPA is short for the National Environmental Protection Agency. Part 1 of the law sets its goal. The agency exists to help make environment decisions that are open, fair, quick and focused on results. People must be able to see who decided what and why.

Part 2 creates the agency as a national body. It is led by a chief executive, or CEO, who is the head. The agency's staff help the head do the job.

The head gets powers under nine laws. One is the main environment law. Others cover dumping waste at sea and moving dangerous waste in and out of Australia. Others cover gases that damage the ozone layer, which shields the Earth from the sun. More cover fumes from products like outdoor engines, recycling and waste, and shipwrecks and other old things under the sea.

Under these laws the head can hand out permits and licences. The head can teach people about the rules. The head can check that people follow them and act against those who do not.

The head also checks how deals with the states are working. These deals let states make some national environment decisions. The same goes for local environment plans. The Minister can also hand the head the power to judge and approve building projects.

The head can give the Minister advice. The head can suggest ways to make the rules better. The Samuel check also called for bigger fines and new powers, like orders to protect the environment. Those come through the partner bill that changed the main environment law.

A CEO free from orders

The head decides how to use their powers. No one can order them what to do, not even the Minister. The head must still do what the environment laws say.

The Minister still controls government policy. The Minister still makes the detailed rules under the environment laws.

Say a company wants a permit to send dangerous waste overseas. The head decides under the dangerous waste law. The Minister cannot step in and order a yes or a no.

Expectations and public registers

Part 3 lets the Minister send the head a letter called a statement of expectations. It tells the agency about government policy. It must not order the head to do anything. The Minister must put it on the department's website.

The head must reply with a statement of intent. It says how the agency will act. The head must put it on the agency's website.

The head must keep public lists of decisions online. The Minister's rules say which decisions go on them. They also say what details are shown.

The head can pause a list to fix mistakes or stop misuse or crime. They must post a notice saying so. The head can also leave things off a list in some cases. This is when sharing them could harm public safety or a protected animal or place. It is also when it could harm national security, defence or ties with other countries. One example is the exact spot where a rare animal lives.

Information and secrecy

Part 4 lets the head ask anyone for information, advice or papers. This is only a request. There is no fine for saying no.

The agency can share information with other national, state and territory agencies and with police. It can share it to cut a serious risk to people's health or to the environment. It can share it to meet promises Australia has made to other countries. It can also share it if the person says yes.

Some information is protected. One example is material that could put someone's safety at risk or harm a police case. Staff who misuse or leak it can be fined by a court. The fine is up to 200 penalty units, a set measure used for fines. They would not get a criminal record. Staff in other agencies who get protected information face the same fine if they misuse it.

Who runs and advises it

Part 5 says the Governor-General picks the head. The Governor-General is the King's representative in Australia. The head works full-time for up to 5 years. They can be picked once more, so no more than 10 years in all.

The head must know about running government bodies and making people follow rules. They also need to know about at least one other field. These include caring for nature, heritage, Indigenous affairs, law, policing or looking after land and water. They must have no clash between their own interests and the job.

The head can only be sacked for set reasons. These include bad behaviour, illness that stops them working, going broke or long absence with no reason.

Staff are public servants, which means government workers. The head can set up an advice group. Its members need the right skills, know-how or Indigenous cultural knowledge. The head must think about their advice on a decision but does not have to follow it. The head can choose to make the advice public.

Handing on powers and reviews

Part 6 lets the head hand powers to senior staff. For the Great Barrier Reef, national parks and marine parks, the head can hand powers to the bodies that run those places.

The agency's yearly report goes to Parliament and onto its website. An outside review must be done within 5 years of the agency starting. Then it must happen every 5 years. Each review checks if the agency is open and works well. It checks if people can see who decided what. It also checks if the agency has met the Minister's expectations.

Start date

The whole law started on 1 July 2026.

The bill went to the House of Representatives on 30 October 2025. It passed there on 6 November 2025. The Senate, Parliament's second house, passed it on 27 November 2025. The Governor-General signed it into law on 1 December 2025. It became Act No. 69 of 2025.

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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