We summarise the 10 (or so) key things you need to know about the reforms proposed in the Environmental Protection Amendment Bill 2020 (WA). ...

Following a review by the NSW Productivity commission, the NSW Government has announced major reforms to the Independent Planning Commission. However, some are left wondering whether the proposed changes address concerns regarding inefficiency and inconsistency in IPC decision-making. ...

New legislation will, if passed, introduce a suite of reforms aimed at mitigating the risks of Queensland resources projects not being rehabilitated, which also have major implications for the sales of such projects. The changes' wide-ranging impact includes tighter criteria for tenement applicants and transferees, and introducing an ability for tenement conditions to be adjusted following a change of control of tenement holders. In particular, potential tenement applicants and purchasers should consider initial due diligence on people and entities that may be considered their associates, so they are prepared to defend any decision in relation to potential disqualification. ...

The Draft South East Queensland Koala Conservation Strategy 2019-2024 has been released for public consultation. The Strategy is supported by new koala habitat mapping. The Strategy and mapping have serious implications for landowners in koala habitat areas within a Koala Priority Area, who will be prevented from clearing their land except in very limited circumstances. We discuss these implications below and suggest that, at a minimum, landowners should review the mapping to ascertain whether their land is within a Koala Priority Area. ...

New research from Allens and Urbis, the Build-to-Rent: Key to unlocking the future liveability of Australia's cities report, has found that Build-to-Rent ( BTR ) may be the quickest solution to ...

The Rix's Creek Continuation Project has been approved by the NSW Independent Planning Commission only weeks after the refusal of the Bylong Coal Project. In its approval of Rix's Creek, the Commission accepted that scope 3 emissions are the responsibility of the end customer for coal exports. This conclusion significantly departs from the position taken by the differently constituted Commission on Bylong. ...

Conditions of development consent regulating scope 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions outside Australia will be prohibited under proposed legislation introduced into the NSW Parliament. The draft legislation forms part of a package of measures announced by the Deputy Premier to provide certainty for mining investment, which includes continuing the previously announced review of the Independent Planning Commission (IPC). ...

Both the Sydney population and the population of Melbourne are expected to reach the size of New York City by 2050, raising questions about how our cities of the future will function. ...

New frameworks for infrastructure planning and charging environmental offsets and regulating activities in areas of regional interest have now commenced in Queensland Special Counsel Rosanne Meurling Senior Associate Michael Zissis and Associate Julieane Bull report on how the reforms may affect ...

Following on from our report in June 2013 reforms to the Victorian planning scheme provisions controlling clearance of native vegetation have now been implemented through Planning Scheme Amendment VC105 Special Counsel Meg Lee and Lawyer Katherine Kirby outline the new regime ...