Public interest litigation and the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act

Abstract

Third party standing provisions in the EPBC Act are generous and permit a wide scope of review by environmental interest groups and individuals. A number of high profile proposals have been challanged in various ways providing the Federal Court with the opportunity to consider the application of the Act to referrals, assessment methods, preliminary works and bilateral assessment agreements. The decisions reviewed in this paper provide guidance for proponents in the formulation of referrals and progressing their referrals.