Is it time to embrace strategic assessments under the EPBC Act?
Australia’s environmental assessment and approval system is under increasing pressure as proponents navigate lengthy assessments, high upfront costs and significant uncertainty.
Within this system, strategic assessments were designed as an alternative pathway, allowing governments and proponents to assess the environmental impact of policies, plans and programs upfront, creating a framework for future approvals. However, in practice strategic assessments have been used sparingly over the last decade.
GHD's Mat Brook examines whether recent changes to the EPBC Act have made strategic assessments a more realistic option than they have been in the past.
Media contact
About GHD
GHD is a leading professional services company operating in the global markets of water, energy and resources, environment, property and buildings, and transportation. Committed to a vision to make water, energy, and communities sustainable for generations to come, GHD delivers advisory, digital, engineering, architecture, environmental and construction solutions to public and private sector clients. Established in 1928 and privately owned by its people, GHD’s network of 12,000+ professionals is connected across 165 offices located on five continents.