The environment protection reforms passed by Federal Parliament in December 2025 significantly alter the operation of the EPBC Act, continuous-use requirements, treatment of Matters of National Environmental Significance, and the parameters governing assessment and decision-making (i.e., establishment of National Environmental Standards (Standards), National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA), and other statutory test requirements and functions). The reforms will also shape the operation of bilateral agreements and accreditation arrangements (in due course) and use of environmental data and information.
The primary legislation has now passed, and the agriculture, forestry, and fisheries sector must now operate within the revised statutory framework enacted by Parliament. NFF recognises that many of the formal Commonwealth consultation processes have either concluded or are well advanced towards finalisation, and that legislation will not be revisited. The immediate task is therefore to ensure that the broader framework is designed and implemented in a manner that is sensible, efficient, fit-for-purpose, proportionate, and complementary to the realities of the farm sector.
NFF has provided detailed technical submissions on each major component of the Commonwealth’s National Environmental Law reform package including but not limited to the following:
- Primary legislation through successive Commonwealth Senate Inquiry processes, including the Nature Positive Bills Inquiry and the Environment Protection Reform Bill 2025 and Six Related Bills Inquiry;
- Tranche 2 subordinate legislation package;
- Proposed National Environmental Standards for;
- Matters of National Environmental Significance (MNES);
- Environmental Offsets;
- Data and Information; and
- Community Engagement.
- Other statutory Review processes including the Independent Review of Interactions Between the EPBC Act and the Agriculture Sector (Craik Review) and the Samuel Review.
These submissions are attached from Attachment 1 and should be read in conjunction with this document. This submission does not seek to rehash the above arguments but rather draw together NFF’s concerns as they relate to the Inquiry’s focus on regulatory burden, pre-approval compliance, duplication, economic impacts, implementation risk, intergovernmental arrangements, and the practical consequences for Queensland agriculture and the national farm sector.
NFF also highlights the analysis conducted by NFF Member AgForce Queensland Farmers Limited (AgForce) regarding the practical and economic impacts of the reforms on Queensland producers, most recently articulated in a EPBC Report. NFF’s submission should be read as complementary to that analysis.
The NFF’s full submission can be found here.