States and territories are generally responsible for land use, water, pollution control and air quality. However, you may need environmental approval under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Act 1999 (EPBC Act). You'll need to submit a referral if your project could impact any matters protected under the EPBC Act. A referral is a written request for the Environment minister to decide whether the action you propose needs assessment and approval under the EPBC Act.
Step-by-step guide to the referral and assessment process
On behalf of the Environment minister, we administer environmental approvals under Parts 7 to 9 of the EPBC Act. This helps to protect threatened animals, plants and habitats, as well as Commonwealth areas and Heritage places.
Our step-by-step guide explains what happens before, during and after an environmental assessment.
Watch our videos for simplified overviews of:
Not all projects go through all these steps. For example, the minister might decide that your project isn't a controlled action. This means it won't need environmental approval to proceed as you've planned.
Shared assessments with states and territories
The Australian Government has assessment bilateral agreements with all states and territories. These allow states and territories to assess some projects under the EPBC Act. The Commonwealth Environment minister uses a state or territory's report to decide whether to approve an action. Learn more about state and territory assessments.
Strategic assessments
Strategic assessments are a collaboration between the Australian Government and an assessment partner. They allow for a big-picture approach to safeguarding protected matters from the impacts of development over a long time. Learn more about strategic assessments.
Environmental offsets
Projects referred to us for assessment usually include strategies to avoid significant impacts on protected animals, plants, habitats and places. If you can't avoid such environmental impacts, you may need to offset any residual (remaining) significant impact. We'll let you know what you need to do during our referral and assessment process. Learn more about environmental offsets.
Get in touch
Contact our Referrals Gateway team:
- Email: EPBC.Referrals@dcceew.gov.au
- Phone: 1800 423 135 between 9am and 5pm AEST/AEDT.