Portfolio Committee No.7 recognised these principles in their 2022 inquiry into the integrity of the BOS and recommended that scientifically sound principles be embedded in the BC Act (see recommendations 1 and 2 of the Committee’s report).7 Setting a clear and robust pathway for the transition to net positive outcomes The Bill introduces provision to the BC Act to transition the BOS to ‘net posit. [...] the timeframe within which the outcome must be delivered (after which it should be maintained) – we recommend the use of an ecologically meaningful timeframe, meaning that time delays do not add to the risks faced by the impacted entity, based on the ecological needs of the specific affected matter, including consideration of the immediacy of the threat of extinction; and d. [...] the type of the outcome to be achieved for affected entities – for example, we would recommend requiring an absolute increase in the viability of a species or ecological community, whereby viability means the ability of the species or community to survive and recover in the wild. [...] The payment to the BCF and transfer of an offset obligation to the BCT be stringently restricted to the delivery of offsets that deliver a like-for-like gain for the impacted protected matter. [...] We recommend that section 9.7 (amendments 60 and 61) of the Bill be strengthened to ensure that there is an explicit statutory requirement for the registers to include the data and information needed to enable robust and independent monitoring and evaluation of the scheme, and inform improvement of the scheme over time, including: a.
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- Australia
Table of Contents
- WENTWORTH GROUP SUBMISSION TO THE 1
- PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE NO. 7 - PLANNING AND ENVIRONMENT 1
- Biodiversity Conservation Amendment Biodiversity Offsets Scheme Bill 2024 1
- September 2024 1
- About the Wentworth Group 1
- 2004 1
- National Water Initiative 1
- Commonwealth Water Act 2007 1
- Catchment Management Authorities 1
- Carbon Farming Initiative Act 2011 1
- Accounting for Nature 1
- National Strategy for Environmental-Economic Accounting 1
- Blueprint to Repair Australias Landscapes 1
- Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 2
- Recommendation 1 2
- Recommendation 2 3
- Recommendation 5 3
- Recommendation 18 3
- Setting a clear and robust pathway for the transition to net positive outcomes 3
- We recommend that net positive outcomes be clearly defined in legislation to set the 3
- Ensuring that the specific entities impacted by development and clearing are those that actually benefit from biodiversity offsets 4
- We recommend enshrining the like-for-like requirement in legislation and applying it to all 4
- Rigorous application of the mitigation hierarchy to ensure that offsets are genuinely used as a last resort for unavoidable impacts 4
- We recommend strengthening section 6.3A in the Bill and all relevant associated 4
- Clearly and comprehensively identifying irreplaceable biodiversity values and setting thresholds to prevent the use of offsets for these values 5
- Environmental Planning Assessment Act 1979 5
- We recommend the comprehensive identification of irreplaceable biodiversity values 5
- We recommend that 6
- The payment to the BCF and transfer of an offset obligation to the BCT be 6
- The BCT be required to confirm the likely availability of like-for-like offsets before 6
- Additional provisions be added to the BC Act whereby if a like-for-like offset 6
- We recommend that section 9.7 amendments 60 and 61 of the Bill be strengthened to 7
