Updated Draft National Environmental Standards for Matters of National Environmental Significance
Submission Date: 28 May 2026
The Law Council of Australia provided a submission to the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water on the updated Exposure Draft National Environmental Standard for Matters of National Environmental Significance (MNES) (updated ED MNES Standard) and accompanying updated draft Policy Position Paper. This submission is informed by input from the Australian Environment Planning Law Group of the Law Council’s Legal Practice Section, the Law Institute of Victoria, the Victorian Bar and the Queensland Law Society.
The Law Council is pleased that some of our feedback on the earlier draft instrument1 has been reflected in the updated ED MNES Standard for the present consultation, including:
- the wording of “appropriate, suitable and best available” data and information in Principle 4 (subsection 11(a)) regarding evidence gathering, and a clearer definition of what had previously been defined as ‘other interested parties’ in the earlier draft Principle 4 (section 11);2 and
- the inclusion of the terms “restore” or “restoration” through the draft legislative instrument over the term “recovery”.
In this submission, the Law Council makes further recommendations to refine the updated ED MNES Standard for consistency with the Samuel Review’s recommendations,3 particularly with respect to the specificity and certainty required to drive stronger environmental protection and restoration, and to support applicants and decision-makers alike.
1 Law Council of Australia, Submission to the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, National Environmental Standard for Matters of National Environmental Significance and Environmental Offsets (30 January 2026) 3; 5.
2 Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, Australian Government, Draft National Environmental Standard for Matters of National Environmental Significance legislative instrument, (November 2025) s 11.
3 Professor Graeme Samuel AC, Independent Review of the EPBC Act (Samuel Review) (Final Report, October 2020) 2.
Last Updated on 02/06/2026
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