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

Government can now charge fees for nature project checks

This small law is one of 7 bills that rewrote Australia's national nature law in 2025. It lets the government set charges so businesses pay back the cost of checking their projects. The charges cannot be more than the real cost.

Official name: Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (General Charges Imposition) Bill 2025

Who it affects

• Businesses with projects or goods covered by the national nature law: They may have to pay charges to cover the cost of the government's checks, once the amounts are set.
• State and territory governments: They can be charged too. But their property cannot be taxed.
• The federal environment department: It can get back the cost of its checking work, but only up to what that work costs.
• Everyday people: Nothing changes for you straight away.

Department workload on project approvals

Australia's main national law for protecting nature is the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. Biodiversity means the variety of living things. Big projects that could harm protected plants, animals or places need approval under this law. The federal environment department does a lot of work checking these projects.

In October 2025 the government brought in a set of 7 bills to rewrite the nature law. They respond to a 2020 review of the law led by Professor Graeme Samuel. That review found Australia's natural world was getting worse. It found the law was out of date.

The main bill in the set is the Environment Protection Reform Bill 2025. It makes most of the big changes. Three small bills in the set let the government charge fees to cover the cost of running the law. This article is about one of them. Its full name is the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (General Charges Imposition) Bill 2025.

The government cannot charge some of these costs as a simple fee for a service. So it needs a law that treats them as a tax. The tax is used only to pay back costs.

Why three charging bills

Australia's Constitution is the top set of rules for how the country is run. It says a law that creates a tax can deal with only one kind of tax. Taxes on goods crossing the border need their own law. Taxes on goods made in Australia need their own law. All other taxes need a third law. So the government wrote three matching bills.

This bill covers any charge that fits neither of the first two kinds. Taxes on goods crossing the border are called customs duties. Taxes on goods made here are called excise. This is the catch-all law for every other kind of charge.

Each charge can only be valid under one of the three laws. The government's notes on the bills say this stops anyone paying twice for the same work.

What charges cover and cost

The bill lets the government set charges for things linked to running the nature law. The bill itself does not list any charges or amounts. They will be set later in detailed rules the government writes without a new vote. The Governor-General, who stands in for the King, signs those rules.

A charge can be a flat amount. It can also be a way of working it out, such as by size or by the hour. One task can have several charges. Or one charge can cover several tasks.

There is a limit. Before a charge is set, the Environment Minister must be sure of one thing. The charge must be meant to get back no more than the likely cost to the federal government. The charges are only to pay back what the work costs.

Say a company wants to build a new mine that needs federal nature approval. The department spends many hours checking it. The rules could set a charge, such as an hourly rate. That way the company pays back the cost.

The rules can also say some people or activities do not have to pay. The government says this lets it act in special cases. It also helps when it decides a group should be let off.

Who the law covers

The law covers state and territory governments, so they can be charged too. It does not cover the federal government itself.

It does not tax any property that belongs to a state. The Constitution does not let the federal government tax state property.

It covers Australia's island territories, such as the Cocos (Keeling) Islands. It also covers people and companies outside Australia. So charges can reach businesses overseas.

The power to actually collect the money sits in the main bill. So does the power to say who has to pay.

Start date

The bill went into the House of Representatives, Parliament's main house, on 30 October 2025, with the rest of the set. The House passed it 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. 66 of 2025, its official law number.

The first two sections started the next day. The parts that allow charges start on a date the government sets. If that has not happened within 12 months, they start then. No charge applies until the government's rules set one.

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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