Following the passage of the Environment Protection Reform Bills on 28 November 2025, Australia’s national environmental legislation now includes a framework to allow the Minister to make, vary, revoke and apply Standards. Standards are being made as legislative instruments and will be enacted by the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Regulations and supported by guidance material.
The National Environmental Standard for Matters of National Environmental Significance (MNES Standard) is a draft regulatory instrument being developed by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act).
The Samuel Review found that the original EPBC Act lacked outcome-focused decision-making for protected matters and gave ministers too much discretion. It recommended developing an MNES Standard to give communities and businesses clear, consistent rules, consolidate all legislative requirements in one place, and set firm limits on ministerial decision-making.
The Clean Energy Council's submission to DCCEEW welcomes the intent of the draft MNES Standard, while calling for key amendments to make it more workable for clean energy projects including: applying objectives at the project level to distinguish from other drivers of environmental impacts, recognising broader social and economic benefits when assessing clean energy projects and adopting a "reasonably practicable" threshold for actions to align with similar regulations.
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