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Department of Climate Change, Energy, Enviroment and Water

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  1. Home
  2. Environment
  3. Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act)
  4. Advice for applicants and approval holders
  5. Self-assessment before making a referral under the EPBC Act

Sidebar first - EN - EPBC

  • Advice for applicants and approval holders
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Self-assessment before making a referral under the EPBC Act

The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) protects nationally significant animals, plants, habitats and places in Australian territories. If you want to take any action on an area the Act covers, you may need approval. A self-assessment helps you understand your duties under the Act.

 

Watch the video to learn about self-assessment

(BACKGROUND MUSIC)

DESCRIPTION:

Three different developers split the screen equally.  On the left is a housing estate developer wearing a yellow safety helmet and boots with a house and trees behind them.  In the middle is a wind farm developer in casual clothes and glasses. On the right is person who is developing a new highway in a red plaid shirt looking at their phone while scratching their head quizzically. A bandicoot appears with the housing estate builder, a swift parrot appears with the wind farmer, and a turtle appears with the highway developer. The swift parrot flies from the left to the right.

NARRATOR:

When developing land or property, it’s important to do your part to help protect Australia’s animals, heritage, and environment.

DESCRIPTION:

The parrot carries on flying into a tree with a hole in the trunk.  Inside that hole are its mate and baby. They snuggle as the outline of potential buildings grow behind their tree.

NARRATOR:

Many developments can be subject to commonwealth, state, territory, or local government laws.

DESCRIPTION:

The housing builder appears standing on a piece of green land with shrubs, piles of dirt and puddles of water.  Behind them are trees, a house, and a red truck with a sign leaning against it that says, “Development Coming Soon”. They look at their phone and then at the bandicoots that appear out of the shrubs.

NARRATOR:

Understanding your responsibilities enables you to plan early and check what approvals you need.

DESCRIPTION:

The housing builder uses a hammer to secure the “Development Coming Soon” sign into the ground.

NARRATOR:

It can also help avoid unnecessary costs and save time on future applications.

DESCRIPTION:

Three graphics appear under the words “EPBC Act”. On the left are the scales of justice, in the middle are a stack of papers that say, “Australian Government”, and on the right is a book titled “Law” with an official looking document and a pen.

NARRATOR:

Australia’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, or the EPBC Act, is the legal instrument…

DESCRIPTION:

A road barrier with a digging construction sign appears. Leaning against it is a shovel. Sitting to the right is a construction cone. To the left are a pair of work boots.  Standing in front of the work boots is a bandicoot.  In the background are a house and trees. The bandicoot nudges the boots while its baby crawls out of the left boot and a swift parrot flies on screen, landing on the road barrier.

NARRATOR:

…designed to support sustainable development and protect our nationally significant animals, plants, habitats, and heritage places.

DESCRIPTION:

A map of Australia in solid orange appears. Inside the map, circular icons of different Australian wildlife appear, alongside square icons of different potential impacts; a highway development, a wind farm and a group of newly built houses.

NARRATOR:

You might need approval from the Australian government if your project potentially impacts protected matters.

DESCRIPTION:

The housing developer is back on the piece of land from the beginning of the video.  The words “Self-Assessment” appear overhead. The look down at a clipboard while yellow shield icons appear over the trees, a heritage cottage, and ground.

NARRATOR:

Self-Assessment is the first stage of the EPBC Act process and…

DESCRIPTION:

Outlines of three potential buildings appear on the land.  Above them, the words “Go ahead?” and “Needs approval” appear in boxes while a yellow shield appears above a tree on the right-hand side of the screen.

NARRATOR:

…will help you understand if you need to refer your project to the Australian government.

DESCRIPTION:

The highway developer kneels next to a body of water with a clipboard in their hand. Behind them are four buildings, trees, and green land.

NARRATOR:

It’s important to start your Self-Assessment as soon as possible.

DESCRIPTION:

A thought bubble that says, “Dredge and fill wetland?” pops up next to them while the outline of a pipe pouring liquid into the body of water appears.

NARRATOR:

Begin by checking for protected matters…

DESCRIPTION:

The camera pans down into the body of water.  Two fish look toward the surface and one pulls out a stop sign. Three more baby fish are swimming through and pause to look upward as well.

NARRATOR:

…in and around your project area.

DESCRIPTION:

A computer screen appears with the words “Free tools for Self-Assessment”.  A mouse cursor clicks on those words and dotted lines connect icons that say “PMST”, “SPRAT” and “Significant Impact Guidelines". The mouse clicks on “PMST”.

NARRATOR:

There are many resources available to assist you like the Protected Matters Search Tool.

DESCRIPTION:

Lush green land appears.  A koala eating a sprig of gum leaves sits on the branch of a gum tree front and center.  Behind it are bodies of water, green grass, mountains, and blue sky. The screen splits in two.  On the right is the highway developer at a desk on a computer.  On the desk are a cup of writing utensils and a notebook.

NARRATOR:

If protected matters are found, you can plan to avoid or reduce potential impacts to them.

DESCRIPTION:

An ariel view of birds flying over wetlands.  There are several red question marks over pieces of the land. The outline of a potential road moves from the middle of the pond to avoid the pond. Yellow shields replace the question marks.

NARRATOR:

This may also prevent the need to refer or redesign.

DESCRIPTION:

The computer screen reappears.  On the screen is the “Australian Government: Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water” page. A mouse clicks a bubble of a multiple choice question and then moves to the search icon.

NARRATOR:

The Species Profile and Threats, or SPRAT, database…

DESCRIPTION:

The computer screen changes to the search results of “ESPC Act Listing Status: Listed as Vulnerable” with a picture of a frog and an outline of their environment.

NARRATOR:

…is a tool that can be used to find information about protected species and communities…

DESCRIPTION:

Curlew sandpipers fly over a lake and green land. In the background are hills with windmills. Orange search boxes and lines of white search results appear over the rocks, water, and windmills.

NARRATOR:

…and where they are located.
 
DESCRIPTION:

Two wind farm developers appear on the hills surrounded by windmills. They each look at clipboards.  The camera zooms in on one clipboard that says, “Self-Assessment”. A blue sticky note appears that says, “Significant impacts?”.

NARRATOR:

The Significant Impact Guidelines can help you understand what significant impacts are.

DESCRIPTION:

A birds eye view of land shows trees, greenery, houses, and a river running through the middle. Potential erosion water flow runs from different corners of the view and flow down into the river.  Trees disappear where the potential impact appears.

NARRATOR:

Impacts from your project can be wide reaching.

DESCRIPTION:

A map of Australia appears split into the states and territories. Arrows move down major waterways from inside the country out to the ocean on all sides. Icons of different things that may impact the environment appear such as farming equipment and pesticides.

NARRATOR:

For example, clearing vegetation from your site could cause soil erosion…

DESCRIPTION:

A close up of a watery environment shows underwater vegetation, coral reefs, a shark, clown fish and a sea turtle.  Grey water pollution takes over the clean water. All of the wildlife swims away.

NARRATOR:

…and runoff that pollutes waterways and has wide reaching, indirect effects.

DESCRIPTION:

The wind farm developer and a government worker sit at a round table with notebooks and pens.  Behind them are a large plant in a planter, a window and a clock showing 3:25. They converse pleasantly.

NARRATOR:

This is why you need to plan early and use all the tools available to you.

DESCRIPTION:

They shake hands as icons appear around them.  The icon on the left shows one of the people talking and is labeled “In Person”.  In the middle are two phones labeled “By Phone”. On the far right is a laptop labeled “Online”.

NARRATOR:

If you have questions about the Self-Assessment process, or need to book a free pre-referral meeting, contact us.

DESCRIPTION:

The housing developer reappears on the piece of land they are assessing.  Outlines of the three buildings they want to construct are in the background.  They are on the phone with speech bubbles that say, “Clarify relevant information” and “Find issues early on”.

NARRATOR:

The pre-referral meeting can clarify what information is required.

DESCRIPTION:

The housing developer looks down at their iPad with a smile. Zooming in on the iPad, we see the “EPBC Act Business Portal” webpage showing the developer submitting an online referral.

NARRATOR:

If your Self-Assessment indicates a significant impact on protected matters, or you are unsure, you should refer your project to us.

DESCRIPTION:

A filing cabinet with a calendar sitting on top appears.  It opens and a “Self-Assessment Documentation” file is placed inside.

NARRATOR:

If you decide not to refer, you must keep a copy of your Self-Assessment documentation to provide to us if requested.

DESCRIPTION:

A map of Australia in orange is split equally in three.  On the left is the housing developer, in the middle is the wind farmer, and on the right is the highway developer.  Icons of Australian wildlife and environmental impacts such as windmills appear all around.

NARRATOR:

By working together, we can continue to protect our unique wildlife, environment, and heritage, now and for the future.

DESCRIPTION:

The Australian Government logo and website appear.

NARRATOR:

For more information about the EPBC Act and Self-Assessments, visit the website.

Knowing what we protect and regulate

If you want to take any action or complete a project in an area the EPBC Act covers, you must think about its impact on nationally significant (protected) animals, plants, habitats or places. We call these things 'protected matters'.

The Act protects 9 of these matters:

  • world heritage areas
  • national heritage places
  • wetlands of international importance (listed under the Ramsar Convention)
  • listed threatened species and ecological communities
  • listed migratory species (protected under international agreements)
  • Commonwealth marine areas
  • Great Barrier Reef Marine Park
  • nuclear actions (including uranium mines)
  • water resources (in relation to coal seam gas development and large coal mining development).

The Act also protects the environment when actions are taken:

  • on Commonwealth land or impact upon Commonwealth land
  • by an Australian Government agency anywhere in the world
  • that impact Commonwealth heritage places overseas.

You may need approval from the Australian Government, as well as any state, territory or local government approvals for any project that might affect these areas.

Strategic Assessments

Strategic Assessments take a big-picture approach to managing and protecting matters of national environmental significance.

The Australian Government is currently undertaking several strategic assessments under section 146 of the EPBC Act.

Check if the site of your proposed action is covered by a Strategic Assessment.

Doing a self-assessment

You can use our tools to check whether your action needs to be referred for an assessment under the EPBC Act.

We call this a 'self-assessment', and it's a vital step in the assessment process. We recommend starting it as early as possible to understand what you might need to do next.

It is important to be as objective as possible. Collect enough information to make an informed judgment.

The process will take some time. How much time depends on where and what your project is, but we advise not rushing the self-assessment.

Our tools won't give you a definite answer, but you'll end up with a better idea of likely impacts.

Once you're done, keep a copy of your self-assessment. It's your record to show why you thought you did, or didn't, need to refer.

Identifying protected matters

Begin your self-assessment by checking which plants, animals, habitats or places your project might affect. If any of these plants, animals, habitats or places are protected, we call them 'protected matters'.

You can use our Protected Matters Search Tool (PMST) to check this information and generate a report.

The tool is free to use, and the report can be quite detailed. This means you'll need to set aside time to consider all possible impacts, whether:

  • direct
  • indirect
  • facilitated.

You can also check the:

  • Australian Heritage Database
  • Australian Wetlands Database.

Assessing likely impacts

If you see that your project might impact one or more protected matters in your PMST report, your next step is to look at the Significant Impact Guidelines 1.1.

If you think your project might impact Commonwealth land, check Significant Impact Guidelines 1.2.

Significant Impact Guidelines 1.3 give advice about Coal seam gas and large coal mining developments— impacts on water resources.

All of these include references to other specific guidance you may need.

These resources will help you check the significance of your impacts. They will also help you understand how to avoid or reduce the significance of these impacts. For example, you might choose a different site or building design.

Again, this step can take time, so avoid rushing it. You need to look at all parts of your proposed action. For example, if it is going to be staged over a number of years, and there will be related activities and actions when the project is complete.

If you think you'll need to refer your project to us for a ministerial decision, talk to us about booking a free pre-referral meeting. Definitely request a meeting if you have read the guidelines and still aren't sure whether or not you need to refer your project.

Booking a pre-referral meeting

While a pre-referral meeting is optional, we'd really like to meet before you submit a referral application.

This gives you the chance to chat with us about the assessment and approval processes.

You'll also learn more about:

  • the potential impacts of your proposal
  • your obligations under the Act
  • any possible costs for the referral.

The meeting is free, and you can choose to meet:

  • in person at one of our offices
  • via videoconference
  • over the phone.

To book a pre-referral meeting:

  • Email: epbc.referrals@dcceew.gov.au
  • Phone: 1800 423 135
  • Post a letter to:

Referrals Gateway and Business Systems
Governance and Reform Branch
Environment Approvals Division
Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water
GPO Box 3090
CANBERRA ACT 2601

Find out what’s protected under the EPBC Act

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Last updated: 20 April 2023

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