The future won't wait.
Neither will we.

The climate crisis is an existential threat to everything we love. Extinction rates are soaring. And injustice? It’s only getting worse.

Business as usual isn’t just failing – it’s making things worse.

Rearranging the deck chairs won’t cut it.

This decisive decade demands action – bold, strategic and enforceable.

At Environmental Justice Australia, we know the power of the law. Used well, it's a circuit breaker to cut through political gridlock, corporate spin and empty promises.

The law is a powerful
circuit breaker.

“The stakes couldn’t be higher. That’s why we represent frontline communities challenging destruction. Defending our climate. And driving environmental justice.”

– Nicola Rivers and Elizabeth McKinnon, EJA Co-CEOs.

At Environmental Justice Australia, we’re using the law to take on some of the biggest environmental threats in this country – and holding governments and corporations to account like never before.

We focus on the most pressing environmental justice issues of our time.

We use the law to help frontline communities tackle climate change, protect nature, and create a thriving future.

Tinkering at the edges won't cut it. So...

We run landmark court cases

We take on landmark legal battles to set game-changing precedents and stop environmental destruction at its source.

We make strategic legal interventions

We hold governments and corporations to account, ensuring they treat people and planet with respect.

We advocate for better laws

We fix flaws in our legal system, push for better policies and improve the way laws are made and enforced.

We back in First Nations leadership

We provide vital legal support and legal education so frontline communities can access information, challenge harm and drive solutions that work.

We work on the most pressing environmental justice challenges of our time – supporting communities to hold governments and corporations to account like never before.

Here's how we're taking destruction and injustice head on

What drives us? A radically better world.

Why radically better? Because the stakes couldn’t be higher and just rearranging deckchairs won't get us there.

Our goal is a radically better world – a safe and healthy planet with thriving communities, supported by a legal system with justice at its heart.

But the challenges are vast. The time to act is now.

The climate crisis is a threat to everything we love.

While the world scrambles for solutions, Australia keeps digging, selling and burning fossil fuels.

We're still one of the worst fossil fuel exporters on the planet.

... it's time to tackle the destruction and injustice head on.

For a safe climate and equitable future, we help frontline communities to use multiple legal avenues for:

INTEGRITY in fossil fuel decision-making so climate harms cannot be ignored.

ACCOUNTABILITY for fossil fuel emissions – making sure all emissions are actually counted (with no false accounting or dodgy tricks)

RESPONSIBILITY – ensuring those fuelling climate damage and driving injustice are held to account.

For example?

We've represented volunteer groups all the way to the High Court to protect our Living Wonders from climate harm.

And we're supporting young people to use international law to defend their human rights.

For a future to look forward to.

Nature’s in trouble.

We’re hurtling towards mass extinction, on track to wipe out 70% of all species on Earth.

Yet across Australia, bushland, forests and wetlands are bulldozed, drained and destroyed. Weak laws, loopholes and political inaction are fuelling the destruction, pushing our life support systems to the brink.

... but the law is a powerful circuit breaker.

For people and nature to thrive, we partner with communities caring for Country and safeguarding vital ecosystems – from Top End savannas to the Murray Darling Basin to forests in Lutruwita / Tasmania.

Together, we use the law to:

STOP THE DAMAGE AT ITS SOURCE – holding accountable the industries driving the most damage, like logging and big agriculture.

MAKE GOVERNMENTS DO THEIR JOBS – compelling decision-makers to enforce protections and stop greenlighting destruction

STRENGTHEN PROTECTIONS FOR THE LONG HAUL – securing better laws and ensuring existing protections are not ignored.

For example?

We're taking the government to court for a national environment group – over their failure to make Recovery Plans for threatened species

And we support citizen scientists to use the law to take on the most destructive industries like logging and big cotton.

For nature and people to thrive.

The third crisis of our time? Injustice.

Far too many people are bearing the brunt of environmental harm yet are shut out of decision-making. Their lands are exploited, their rights ignored – and it’s only getting worse.

... the law can silence and dispossess. But it can also grant rights and deliver justice.

For justice and self-determination, we work alongside First Nations people and frontline communities.

Together we use multiple legal avenues to:

SUPPORT SELF-DETERMINED ACTION – backing First Nations people caring for Country in line with community priorities.

BREAK LEGAL BARRIERS – developing new legal pathways to strengthen Aboriginal agency and environmental governance.

SECURE JUSTICE – ensuring communities experiencing environmental harm and discrimination can access remedy.

STRENGTHEN RIGHTS & PROTECTIONS – driving legal and policy reforms to remove systemic barriers and enforce protections.

For example?

We support Traditional Owners to use the law to defend cultural heritage and sacred Larrakia land.

We fight for better consultation rights over destructive projects. And we partner with social housing communities to litigate and advocate for climate justice.

For a world that works for all of us, not just some of us.