Victorian Environmental Regulation – Friend or Foe?
The Victorian environmental regulatory landscape is a complex and evolving system. It is designed to protect the state’s unique and valuable natural environment while ensuring the health and well-being of its people. It encompasses a wide range of laws, policies, and institutions that aim to prevent and manage pollution, conserve biodiversity, and promote sustainable resource use.
Goals of the Regulatory Landscape
The overarching goals of Victoria’s environmental regulations include:
- Preventing harm: The General Environmental Duty (GED) under the Environment Protection Act 2017 places a responsibility on all Victorians to minimise environmental risks from their activities.
- Protecting environmental quality: Safeguarding air, water, and land from pollution and degradation.
- Conserving biodiversity: Protecting native flora and fauna, their habitats, and ecological processes.
- Promoting sustainable development: Integrating environmental considerations into economic and social development to ensure long-term sustainability.
- Addressing climate change: Reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to the impacts of climate change.
- Ensuring equitable access and use of natural resources: Managing public land and natural resources in a way that is fair and safe for all Victorians.
Key Challenges
Despite its goals, the Victorian environmental regulatory landscape faces several challenges:
- Complexity and fragmentation: numerous pieces of legislation, regulations, and responsible authorities lead to complexity and difficulties in coordination.
- Balancing economic development and environmental protection: Facilitating economic activity and ensuring robust environmental protection remains a continuous challenge.
- Emerging environmental issues: New and evolving threats such as climate change impacts, novel pollutants, and increasing waste generation requires ongoing adjustments to the regulatory framework.
- Enforcement and compliance: Ensuring effective enforcement of regulations and achieving high levels of compliance.
- Community expectations and engagement: Meeting increasing community expectations for environmental protection and ensuring meaningful engagement.
- Resource limitations: Adequate funding and resourcing for regulatory bodies to effectively monitor, assess, and enforce environmental regulations.
- Climate change adaptation: Unavoidable impacts of climate change on natural and human systems poses significant challenges for regulation.
Friend or Foe?
Whether the Victorian environmental regulatory landscape is a “friend” or “foe” depends on perspective:
- For the environment and community: It is intended to be a friend. It sets standards, imposes obligations, and provides avenues for accountability for environmentally harmful activities. The shift towards a preventative approach and the introduction of the GED aim to foster a greater sense of environmental responsibility across the state.
- For businesses and industries: It can sometimes be perceived as a foe if it imposes significant compliance costs, restricts certain activities, or requires substantial changes in operational practices. However, a well-designed regulatory landscape can also be a friend to responsible businesses by providing a level playing field, promoting innovation in cleaner technologies, and ensuring long-term sustainability of resources they depend on. Predictable and clear regulations can also reduce uncertainty and facilitate investment.
Ultimately, continuous improvement, stakeholder engagement, and adequate resourcing are essential to ensure the Victorian environmental regulatory landscape serves as a genuine friend to businesses, the environment and the wider community. Ensuring your business meets its environmental obligations is now even more critical to your success and long-term prosperity.
This article was written by Dr Jacquelle Gorski, Managing Director at SPM
SPM – Your trusted environmental consultants.
Sustainable Project Management Pty Ltd (SPM) is a leading consultancy specialising in environment and planning approvals. Their primary expertise lies in managing comprehensive environmental assessments to secure the necessary approvals for successful project delivery.
Focusing on infrastructure, industrial, and utility sectors, SPM collaborates seamlessly with both government and private clients. By guiding projects through the approval process, they ensure alignment with environmental regulations and most importantly business goals.
