Conservation agreements under the EPBC Act in Australia

A conservation agreement is an agreement between the Australian Government and another party. Its purpose is to protect and conserve Australian biodiversity. Find out what a conservation agreement covers, and view a list of current agreements.

What a conservation agreement covers

A conservation agreement is an agreement between the Commonwealth minister for the Environment (the minister) and another party to protect and conserve biodiversity in an area of land or sea. In this context, a 'party' may be:

  • a landowner
  • an organisation
  • a state, territory or local government.

These agreements are established under the Environment Protection Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act).

A conservation agreement may provide for:

  • activities that promote the protection and conservation of:
    • biodiversity
    • the world heritage values of declared World Heritage properties
    • the National Heritage values of National Heritage places
    • the Commonwealth Heritage values of Commonwealth Heritage places
    • the ecological character of a declared Ramsar wetland
    • the environment, in respect of the impact of a nuclear action
    • the environment in a Commonwealth marine area
    • the environment on Commonwealth land
  • financial, technical or other assistance from the Australian Government
  • monitoring compliance with the agreement.

A conservation agreement can also require the owner or manager of a place to:

  • carry out activities that promote the protection and conservation of biodiversity
  • refrain from, or control, activities that may adversely affect the species, ecological community or habitat covered by the agreement
  • permit access to the place by specified persons
  • contribute towards the costs incurred under the agreement
  • spend any money paid to them under the agreement in a specified manner
  • give back any money paid to them under the agreement if they contravene the agreement.

A conservation agreement may include a declaration that actions do not need approval under Part 9 of the EPBC Act.

A conservation agreement may deal with remediation or mitigation measures. This can occur if the minister considers that an action taken by a person contravened or may have contravened a provision of the EPBC Act.

Conservation agreements are legally binding on:

  • the Commonwealth
  • all other parties to the agreement
  • any parties that gain an interest in any part of the area after the agreement is entered into.

We publish a notice on this page any time the minister enters, varies or terminates a conservation agreement.

If you want to read more about these agreements, they are legislated under:

List of conservation agreements under the EPBC Act

The minister maintains an up-to-date list of conservation agreements that are in force.

* Parts of these conservation agreements have not been disclosed for commercial-in-confidence reasons, or because they contain culturally sensitive images.