Bilateral agreements allow each state or territory to assess proposed actions (projects or developments) on behalf of the Australian Government.
They remove the need for a separate assessment, reducing duplication. The Commonwealth Environment minister uses a state or territory's environmental assessment report to inform the final decision about whether to approve an action.
Assessment bilateral agreements have existed with all states and territories since 2015.
Assessment agreement with South Australia
Under the assessment bilateral agreement, the Commonwealth minister can use the South Australia process to inform an assessment of the impacts of any eligible action.
We published a draft assessment bilateral agreement on 14 February 2014 for public comment by 17 March 2014.
Report on comments (PDF 190 KB)
Report on comments (DOCX 40 KB)
On 8 September 2014, the Commonwealth minister released a statement of reasons outlining the reasons for a bilateral agreement with South Australia.
Statement of reasons (PDF 11 MB)
Statement of reasons (DOCX 55 KB)
In September 2014, the South Australia and Australian governments signed the South Australia Assessment Bilateral Agreement.
South Australia Assessment Bilateral Agreement (PDF 2.6 MB)
South Australia Assessment Bilateral Agreement (DOCX 108 KB)
Agreement notice (PDF 15 KB)
Agreement notice (DOCX 21 KB)
Get in touch
If you have any questions about bilateral agreements with South Australia:
- Email: eadsaandntsection@dcceew.gov.au
- Phone: +61 1800 803 772 between 9 am and 5 pm Canberra time.