Environment law reform

Strong laws need strong enforcement

October 22, 2025

Imagine a schoolyard with no teacher on duty...

Jimmy’s sunburned because he forgot a hat, Emma’s getting bullied into handing over her lunch, and Scout’s about to jump off the top of the slippery dip. Chaos reigns.

That’s life without a watchdog – open-ended chaos, a free-for-all for bullies.

Right now, that’s how we’re treating our environment. There’s no dedicated, independent watchdog keeping tabs, no teacher on duty. And instead of lost sandwiches and sunburn, we’re seeing species disappear, forests logged, and pollution pile up.

We’re in an extinction and climate crisis – and our laws are failing to stop the destruction.

Below, we’ll deep dive into what an independent watchdog should look like in our environment laws.

The near-extinct Dingo is a sacred totem animal that deserves full legal protections - yet has less than feral deer in some places.

Australia’s environment laws: when no one’s enforcing the rules

Over the past few weeks, we’ve explored the major failings of our environment laws:

It’s clear – our environment laws are failing, leaving a vacuum of oversight.

Need a refresher on the conversation so far?

Here's the short version

Australia’s national environment laws are silent on climate change.
In 25 years, 750+ fossil fuel projects have been approved or allowed through without assessment.
Of the fossil fuel projects assessed, 99.9% were approved by federal environment ministers.
Australia is the only developed nation ranked as a global deforestation hotspot.
We’re also the world leader in mammal extinction.
Every year, deforestation kills 50–100 million animals in Australia.
Loopholes and blindspots in our laws allow logging and land clearing to go unassessed and unenforced, even when threatened species are at risk.

The way forward

The pathway out of this chaos must be guided by strong national environmental standards (more on that here) – and overseen by an independent watchdog, a teacher on duty: a national Environment Protection Australia.

There’s plenty of precedents that demonstrate the importance of an independent watchdog in other sectors – like ASIC, the Fair Work Commission and the Therapeutic Goods Administration.

But as it stands there is no national watchdog for the environment. Instead, the Environment Minister has wide discretion to approve projects – even those with serious environmental risks – and decisions can be inconsistent and hard to predict. The Federal Environment Department is responsible for compliance and enforcement, but action is slow or non-existent.

What makes a good EPA?

Australia needs a strong, independent watchdog for the environment. Environment Protection Australia (EPA) should be the one making environmental approval decisions – not politicians under pressure from political donations or vested interests.

The EPA should assess projects, enforce the law, and provide independent oversight – all backed by solid data from Environment Information Australia. And it must have the power and resources to do the job properly.

Here’s what that looks like in practice:

A fully independent, expert-led regulator (Environment Protection Australia) making the decisions – not politicians.

An EPA that’s independent, transparent, well-funded and accountable – with Ministerial intervention powers clearly limited.

Strong compliance and enforcement powers, so the law actually means something.

States and Territories only involved if their own laws meet the same national standards.

Access to high-quality environmental data from Environment Information Australia, to make evidence-based decisions.

THE MEANING OF INDEPENDENCE

Like everything else on the table in environment law reforms – the devil’s in the detail. The Labor Government has agreed in principle to create an EPA, but how effective it will be depends entirely on its powers and independence.

Back to our schoolyard – what if the teacher’s there, but the school principal intervenes and decides to turn a blind eye while the bullies steal Emma’s lunch, because their parents slipped some cash across the table at parent-teacher interviews?

That’s not independence. That’s not a watchdog – and it won’t keep anyone safe.

Without independence: