Legislation and Policy Links

Photo: River Crossing on the way to Croydon - Cathy Ellis

Search for and download Queensland legislation at the Office of Parliamentary Counsel.

Look at guidelines developed to help administering authorities implement acts, regulations and environmental protection policies.

Find information on water quality and environmental values.

Learn about Queensland’s wild rivers.

If you want to purchase a hard copy version of legislation, go to Queensland Government Publications.

If you are interested in legislation and policies related to water quantity, the water management section of the department website has a wide range of information available on-line.

Some of the more relevant legislation may be found in the table below.

Current major tools, programs and initiatives addressing Queensland’s biodiversity
Existing tools and initiatives	Status and effect	Lead
Strategy for the conservation and management of Queensland’s wetlands.	This strategy sets out: the Queensland Government’s intent for conservation and management of wetlands, implementation methods, a definition of wetlands, a statement on the values and functions of wetlands, the Queensland Government’s objectives for wetlands, and initiatives to achieve these objectives. Notes to assist in interpreting sections of the strategy are presented as comments after each section. A glossary of major terms in presented at Appendix IV.	Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM)
Nature Conservation Act 1992	Species, area protection and management. Conservation plans — Koala Plan finalised.	DERM
Nature refuges	Off-reserve management agreements under National Capital Authority (NCA). Nature Assist provides funding mechanism. Partly funded by National Heritage Trust (NHT).	DERM
Protected area acquisitions	5 percent target nearing completion, including 80 percent regional ecosystem representation. Additional ‘buy back’ initiatives. Master plan for Queensland’s parks.	DERM
Trust for nature Trust for nature (DERM)	Acquisition, conservation agreement and on-selling role.	DERM
Integrated Planning Act 1997 and regional plan roll-out	Powers to address biodiversity in local and regional planning. SEQ statutory regional plan completed. FNQ to commence.	Department of Infrastructure and Planning (DIP)
Vegetation Management Act 1999 and 2004	Regulates vegetation clearing outside urban areas. Exemptions remain. Code review completed.	Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM)
Coastal Protection and Management Act 1999	Planning, development assessment and regulations for coastal areas.	DERM
State and Regional coastal plans	SPP level controls on management districts. Three completed, and four more due in 12 months.	DERM
State Rural Leasehold Land Strategy (SRLLS)	Incentives and regulations for leasehold land management. Land Act 1994 conditions leases.	DERM
Environment Protection Act 1994	Environmental Protection Policies, Environmentally Relevant Activities, Environment Management Strategies and codes of compliances. Concurrent powers for Environmental Relevant Activities, point source emission controls.	DERM
Reef Water Quality Protection Plan	Ongoing to 2013.	Australian Government
Biodiversity Planning Assessment/BAMM/AquaBAMM	Mapping and identification of Regional Ecosytems, habitat, and generates products for use in decision making. 60 percent of Queensland. Ongoing program to roll out Biodiverity Planning Assessments.	DERM
Wild Rivers Act 2005	Declares wild river areas. Prevents water retention structures on free flowing rivers.	DERM
Green Invest and Offsets policy	Green Invest is a ‘banking’ and brokerage scheme. Offsets counterbalance unavoidable losses.	DERM
Regional Natural Resource Management by the Natural Heritage Trust (NHT)	Funded programs for capacity building, community effort and coordination to achieve targets. Bilateral for 2008 under negotiation	DERM
Back on Track	An (emerging) framework to set conservation and management priorities for Queensland’s threatened species. Funded by NHT.	DERM
Blueprint for the Bush	Integrates a number of initiatives, including State Rural Leasehold Land Strategy , Pest Offensive, Environmental Partnerships Scheme.	Queensland Government
Water Act 2000	Sustainable management and allocation of water resources under consideration, e.g. environmental flows to High Conservation Value and flows to stressed rivers. The department has information brochures on many aspects of the Water Act.	DERM
National biodiversity programs.	Review of National Biodiversity Strategy, coordination of NRM programs, and climate change.	Australian Government
Proposal for a new National Biodiversity Initiative	The National Biodiversity Initiative aims to improve the condition of Australia’s nationally important terrestrial and marine biodiversity assets and prevent their further deterioration.	Australian Government