Land clearing and the EPBC Act — what the 2026 reforms change

General information, not legal advice. Whether any of this applies to a particular paddock turns entirely on what is on the ground. Several provisions described here have not yet commenced. Get professional advice before a clearing program, not after.

The mistake that costs the most

Day-to-day clearing on freehold is regulated by the states — in NSW through the Local Land Services Act 2013 and the Land Management Code, in Queensland through the Vegetation Management Act 1999. That is the system most producers know, and it is the system most producers assume is the whole story.

It isn't. The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) operates in parallel, it is administered by the Commonwealth, and it contains no general exemption for farming. Clearing that is entirely allowable under your state code can still require federal referral and approval. Complying with one does not discharge the other, and "the state said I could" has never been a defence.

When the EPBC Act actually applies to clearing

It applies where an action is likely to have a significant impact on a matter of national environmental significance (MNES). The matters include world and national heritage places, declared Ramsar wetlands, listed threatened species and ecological communities, listed migratory species, and Commonwealth marine areas.

For grazing country in eastern Australia, the triggers that come up most often are listed ecological communities and listed species habitat. In the New England and the Northern Tablelands, for example, White Box–Yellow Box–Blakely's Red Gum Grassy Woodland is a listed critically endangered ecological community, and koala habitat is a live consideration across much of the eastern seaboard. Whether either is present on a given block is a question for the search tool and an ecologist, not for a guide.

Two things are worth understanding about the test. First, it is a significant impact test, not a "did you clear anything" test — scale, context and condition all matter. Second, the first assessment is yours. Nobody sends you a form. You decide whether to refer, and the consequence of deciding wrongly is what the August reforms sharpened.

• Protected Matters Search Tool — reports the protected matters likely to occur in an area you draw.
• Significant Impact Guidelines 1.1 — the criteria the Commonwealth uses to judge "significant".

What commenced on 24 August 2026

1. There is now a regulator with teeth

The National Environmental Protection Agency was established on 1 July 2026, and the provisions empowering its CEO commenced on 24 August. The NEPA CEO can now issue environment protection orders — stop-work orders — make rulings on the operation of environmental law provisions, require environmental and compliance audits, and establish and maintain an auditor register.

For a clearing program this is the practical change. Previously, enforcement was thin and departmental. A stop-work order arriving mid-program is a different kind of problem to a letter.

2. The penalties are commercial, not symbolic

Maximum civil penalties for certain contraventions are now up to 5,000 penalty units for an individual, or three times the benefit derived and detriment avoided. For a body corporate: up to 50,000 penalty units, or three times the benefit, or up to 10% of annual turnover.

A Commonwealth penalty unit rose from $330 to $364 on 1 July 2026, under the Crimes (Amount of a Penalty Unit) Instrument 2026, and the rate that applies is the one in force when the conduct occurred. Because these EPBC provisions commenced on 24 August, conduct under them is charged at the new rate. In money, that puts the unit maximums at roughly $1.82 million for an individual and $18.2 million for a body corporate — before you reach the turnover alternative. Most farm businesses are companies or trusts, which puts them in the second tier.

3. Old "not a controlled action" decisions expire

A decision that an action is not a controlled action now ceases to be in force five years after it was made, if the action has not substantially commenced by then. If it lapses, the action is taken never to have been referred to the Minister at all.

The Minister must give at least six months' written notice before a decision lapses, and an extension — up to another five years — can be requested at least 20 business days beforehand. If you are working through a clearing program in stages against a determination obtained some years ago, check the date on it.

4. "Unacceptable impacts" are now defined

Section 527F now prescribes specific unacceptable impacts for each protected matter — for example, an action that seriously impairs the ecological character of a declared Ramsar wetland. At present these definitions govern decisions to accredit state frameworks. When the next tranche commences they will also govern whether a controlled action can be approved at all, and what conditions can be attached. That moves certain impacts from "negotiable with conditions" to "no".

5. The Regional Forest Agreement exemption is sunsetting

The broad exemption from Part 3 for forestry operations conducted under Regional Forest Agreements is being phased out. New RFA forestry operations starting after the sunset day — 12 months beginning 1 July 2026 — must comply with the Part 3 environmental protection provisions, potentially including approval under Part 9. This matters if your private native forestry runs under an RFA; check which instrument yours actually sits under. NSW is separately running a Part 10 strategic assessment of forestry operations in its RFA regions.

6. Greenhouse gas information is defined, but not yet required

New section 84A defines what counts as greenhouse gas emissions information for an action — a reasonable estimate of scope 1 and scope 2 emissions, and the measures to manage them. The requirement for proponents to provide that information in referral and assessment has not commenced. It is, however, already a prerequisite for accrediting state frameworks.

The four new National Environmental Standards

Four standards were made days before the reforms commenced: Matters of National Environmental Significance, Environmental Offsets, Community Engagement, and Data and Information. Two of them change the economics of clearing.

The MNES Standard formalises the mitigation hierarchy

Actions must be designed against a four-step hierarchy — avoid, mitigate, repair, offset — in that order. Compensation for a residual significant impact is only available once the earlier steps have been reasonably exhausted. You cannot skip to "I'll offset it", and impacts must be supported by appropriate evidence rather than assertion.

The Offsets Standard moves the money forward

Eight principles now govern offsets: feasibility, security, tangibility, measurable improvement against a site baseline, additionality, like-for-like, a relevant area near the impact site, and — the one with the sharpest edge — the offset must be secured, registered and commenced before the residual significant impact occurs.

In plain terms: you cannot clear now and offset later. The offset is a cost and a delay at the front of the project, not a liability you settle afterwards. There is an alternative of paying a restoration contribution charge.

What might eventually get simpler

The reforms also let the Minister accredit a state management or authorisation framework, so that actions approved under it do not need separate approval under Part 9. If a state vegetation framework were accredited, clearing approved under the state code really would be the end of it — the single-touch outcome producers have wanted for twenty years.

The bar is high. The Minister must be satisfied the framework is consistent with the prescribed standards, that approvals under it will not have an unacceptable impact, that the net gain test is passed for residual significant impacts, and that greenhouse gas emissions are appropriately disclosed. Accreditation must be tabled in Parliament, and either House can pass a resolution opposing it within 15 sitting days. The Minister can suspend or revoke a declaration if the administering body does not give the framework proper effect.

So it cuts both ways. If a state framework is accredited, your paperwork gets simpler. The price of that accreditation is that the federal standards get written into the state code you are already working under.

What to actually do

1. Run the Protected Matters Search Tool over the area before you plan the job, not after you have booked the dozer.
2. If anything listed comes back, read Significant Impact Guidelines 1.1 and get an ecologist's view. The self-assessment is yours, and it is the part that attracts enforcement.
3. Find any old determination that an action was not a controlled action, and check how old it is. Five years, and it is gone.
4. If offsets are on the cards, budget for them to be secured and commenced before clearing. That is a cashflow change, not just paperwork.
5. Keep dated records of what was on the ground and when. Audits are now a live power, and contemporaneous records are the only thing that answers them.
6. Check your state obligations separately. Nothing above replaces them.

Where Tagline fits — and where it doesn't

Straight answer: Tagline is NLIS, eNVD and LPA compliance software. It is not an environmental compliance system, it does not assess whether you need a referral, and nothing in it substitutes for the search tool or professional advice.

The one honest overlap is records. If NEPA ever requires a compliance audit, what helps you is dated, contemporaneous evidence of how the place was managed — property and paddock mapping, chemical and treatment records, the biosecurity plan and when it was last reviewed. Tagline keeps those because LPA and NLIS need them anyway. That is a side benefit of good records, not a compliance claim.

Frequently asked questions

General information for Australian producers. Not legal, planning or agronomic advice. Environmental law is changing quickly and several provisions referenced here have not commenced — confirm the current position on the official pages below, and get professional advice before relying on any of it.

Sources

• EPBC Act overview — dcceew.gov.au
• Protected Matters Search Tool — dcceew.gov.au
• Significant Impact Guidelines 1.1 — dcceew.gov.au
• New National Environmental Standards and the August 2026 reforms — Corrs Chambers Westgarth
• NSW native vegetation — environment.nsw.gov.au
• NSW managing native vegetation (Local Land Services) — lls.nsw.gov.au
• Queensland vegetation management — qld.gov.au
• Current Commonwealth penalty unit value ($364 from 1 July 2026) — abs.gov.au