A legislative pigsty? The new regime for assessing and managing biodiversity impacts associated with state significant development in New South Wales

The laws regulating biodiversity in New South Wales have recently been subject to extensive reforms resulting in the introduction of new legislation, including the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 (NSW) and associated subordinate legislation. It is apparent that the prevailing sentiment of relevant stakeholders towards the new laws is one of unhappiness, although the reasons for this vary widely between stakeholders. The purpose of this article is to critically review one particular aspect of the biodiversity law reforms: the new regime for assessing and managing biodiversity impacts associated with State significant development. It is ultimately argued that there is a real risk that the new regime will, in time, prove to be: (1) inefficient to apply and administer; (2) impractical for stakeholders to understand or work with; and (3) incapable of delivering on the objects of both biodiversity conservation and planning legislation.