{"id":"BILL-r7397","name":"Environment Information Australia Bill 2025","slug":"environment-information-australia-bill-2025","collection":"bill","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":446027,"registerId":"commonwealth-BILL-r7397-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-05-05","status":"royal_assent","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[],"analysis":{"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":5,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This Act stays within the original, stated purpose of creating an independent national information function: it formally establishes the Head, mandates State of the Environment reporting, environmental economic accounts, and a mechanism to identify critical environmental datasets. Compared with earlier drafts referenced in the parliamentary materials, the Act removes references to the 'nature positive' monitoring framework but does not substantially expand the scope beyond establishing an independent information office, its reporting duties and information handling powers. The Act does, however, centralise significant decision‑making power about critical datasets (declarations of national environmental information assets, section 14) and leaves important operational detail to rules and inter‑agency arrangements, which will determine practical scope in implementation."},"complexity_factors":["Length: relatively short Act (51 substantive sections), focused on one institutional role","Defined terms with cross‑cutting effects: 'EIA information', 'entrusted person', 'protected information', 'departmental information', 'national environmental goals' (section 5 and related definitions)","Multiple cross‑references to external legislation and bodies: Regulatory Powers (enforcement), Public Service Act (engagement), NEPA Act (CEO/commencement), ABS (account assistance) — dependence on other Acts for operation (sections 2, 5, 13, 47)","Conditional commencement linked to National Environmental Protection Agency Act 2025 (section 2) — operational dependency","Detailed but conditional disclosure regime with many specific authorised uses and multiple exceptions (sections 20–36) creating layered conditional logic","Civil penalty provisions and enforcement through another Act (Regulatory Powers Act) — enforcement requires cross‑Act interpretation (sections 37–39, 47)","Rule‑making powers delegated to Minister (section 51) with specified constraints — leaves substantive detail to legislative instruments","Delegation model for the Head and staff assistance rules (sections 42–45) with expertise requirement when delegating to certain APS levels (section 45(2))"],"plain_english_summary":"**What this law does (mechanics)\n\n- Establishes a new statutory position — the Head of Environment Information Australia (the Head) — as a Senior Executive Service (SES) employee in the Department (see sections 9 and 41).\n- Gives the Head a defined set of functions: provide the Minister, the National Environmental Protection Agency CEO and the public with high‑quality environmental information; prepare and publish State of the Environment reports every two years; create and maintain environmental economic accounts and prepare annual statements of those accounts; and declare \"national environmental information assets\" (see section 10; sections 12–14).\n- Protects the Head's independence for particular tasks: the Head cannot be directed by the Secretary, Minister or anyone else when preparing State of the Environment reports and when establishing/maintaining environmental economic accounts (section 11).\n- Allows the Head to request information or documents from any person or body to perform the Head's functions (section 19).\n- Sets rules for how information generated or obtained under the Act (\"EIA information\") and related departmental information may be used and disclosed, including specific permitted disclosures (to Commonwealth entities, state bodies, law enforcement, to prevent serious risk to health or the environment, and for the Head's functions) and conditions for sharing protected information (sections 20–36).\n- Creates civil penalties (200 penalty units) for unauthorised use or disclosure of protected information by entrusted persons or certain officials, and for breaching conditions imposed when protected information is disclosed (sections 37–39). Enforcement is via the Regulatory Powers Act (section 47).\n- Provides for staff assistance (APS employees) and contractors, delegation arrangements, annual reporting by the Head, protections from civil liability for good faith acts, and mandatory periodic independent reviews of the Act every five years (sections 42–50, 50(1)).\n- The Head may declare certain data or systems held by Commonwealth, state/territory or other bodies as \"national environmental information assets\" and must keep a public register of such assets (section 14).\n- The Minister must table a response to each State of the Environment report in Parliament within six months that specifies environmental targets and timeframes; the Minister must also table any account statements the Head provides within 15 sitting days (sections 16–17).\n\n**Who this affects\n\n- The Commonwealth executive: the Head, Departmental staff who assist the Head, and the Minister (sections 9, 42, 16).\n- The National Environmental Protection Agency (CEO) as a recipient and user of EIA information (sections 10(b), 20).\n- Other Commonwealth entities, State and Territory government bodies, and persons or organisations that hold data or operate data systems that could be declared national environmental information assets (section 14).\n- Any person or body asked to supply information to the Head (section 19), including private companies, researchers and non‑government organisations.\n- Entrusted persons (departmental staff, contractors and the Head) who access EIA information and must follow the Act's disclosure rules and confidentiality safeguards (sections 5, 26–36, 37–39).\n\n**Why it matters (official purpose, then practical test)\n\nOfficial purpose claimed (from explanatory material and the Act):\n- To improve availability and accessibility of high‑quality national environmental information and data, and to improve accountability through regular, comprehensive and transparent reporting (section 3).\n\nPractical implications, trade‑offs and implementation mechanics\n\n- Who pays and who decides: The Commonwealth funds the Head and the supporting staff; the Head (not the Minister or Secretary) decides content and timing for mandated reports and accounts specified as independent functions (sections 11, 12, 13, 46). The Minister decides the Government's formal response and environmental targets after each State of the Environment report (section 16).\n- Data access and compliance costs: The Head can request information from any person or body (section 19). Entities holding important data that are declared national environmental information assets may face obligations to notify and maintain access (section 14 and the rules). This creates compliance and administrative costs for both public bodies and private data holders.\n- Confidentiality vs public access: The Act creates a pathway for publishing and sharing large amounts of environmental data but also establishes protected information categories and strict limits on publication and secondary uses (sections 5 (protected information definition), 25, 35, and civil penalties in sections 37–39). Businesses and other data holders retain legal protections for genuinely sensitive material, but there is a risk of uncertainty at the margins about what will be declared protected.\n- Incentives for data quality and reuse: By making data assets and accounts central to national reporting (sections 12–14) and by allowing disclosure to Commonwealth and state bodies for official functions (sections 20–21), the law creates incentives for better data management and reuse across governments. That depends on the Head's technical capacity and on inter‑jurisdictional agreements (section 21(b)).\n- Risk of concentrated control over critical data: The Head's power to declare national environmental information assets (section 14) centralises authority over which datasets are treated as critical to national decisions. The Act requires notice to holders and a public register, but the declaration mechanism concentrates decision power in the Head and may affect how third parties can change or restrict access to those assets (section 14(2)–(6)).\n- Bureaucratic and implementation risk: Many operational details (timing, content requirements beyond the high‑level statements, exemptions, and administrative processes) are left to \"rules\" (legislative instruments) made by the Minister (section 51). The scope and detail of those rules will materially affect how the Act works in practice. The Act also ties commencement to the National Environmental Protection Agency Act 2025, so the EIA function is operationally linked to the establishment of NEPA (commencement note and section 2).\n- Enforcement approach and burden: Civil penalties (200 penalty units) apply for unauthorised disclosures (sections 37–39) and are enforced under the Regulatory Powers Act with the Head as an authorised applicant (section 47). That creates a formal enforcement path but also imposes a compliance risk on departmental staff and contractors who become \"entrusted persons\" (section 5). The penalties are financial, not criminal.\n- Interaction with other laws and institutions: The Act cross‑references several other instruments and bodies (Regulatory Powers Act, Public Governance, Public Service Act, ABS) and places the Head within the Department rather than creating a separate statutory agency (sections 5, 41, 13(3)). The practical effect depends on cooperation with the ABS and other data custodians.\n\n**Concrete behavioural changes the law creates\n\n- The Head will publish comprehensive State of the Environment reports every two years and annual account statements, creating predictable public information flows (sections 12 and 13(4)–(6)).\n- Public and government decision‑makers will have a statutory source for high‑quality environmental data; the CEO of NEPA and other Commonwealth and state bodies can lawfully receive and use that data under the Act (sections 10(b), 20–21).\n- People who handle EIA or departmental information (including contractors) must obey the disclosure rules or face civil penalties; this changes how departmental staff and contractors handle sensitive environmental data (sections 26–36; sections 37–39).\n\n**Key statutory limits and safeguards\n\n- The Head is not subject to direction by the Minister or Secretary for specified core functions (section 11).\n- The rules (ministerial legislative instruments) cannot create offences or civil penalties, impose taxes, or amend the Act (section 51(2)).\n- Protected information may be disclosed to third parties for Head functions only if the Head is satisfied certain criteria are met and can impose conditions to mitigate harm (sections 25 and 35).\n- The Head must seek ABS assistance for the environmental economic accounts and follow the UN Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics (section 13(1)–(3)).\n\n**Immediate operational items to watch**\n\n- The content and scope of rules made under section 51 (they will set practical detail on registers, reporting content, and other procedural matters).\n- How \"national environmental information assets\" are declared and what obligations or access conditions are later specified in rules or agreements (section 14).\n- The process by which the Head exercises requests for information (section 19) and how these requests respect other legal obligations and commercial confidentiality.\n\n(Referenced sections: 9–19, 20–39, 41–47, 50–51.)"},"summary":{"status_summary":"The bill received royal assent on 1 December 2025 and is now Act number 63 of 2025.","complexity_score":3,"likely_questions":["What are the functions of the Head of Environment Information Australia?","When does the Act commence and what is the timeline for the first State of the Environment report?"],"complexity_factors":["Establishes a new statutory position within the department","Transfers responsibility for State of the Environment reports under the EPBC Act","Commencement is conditional on another Act in the reform package"],"plain_english_summary":"The Environment Information Australia Bill 2025 establishes the statutory position of Head of Environment Information Australia within the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. This Senior Executive Service role is created to provide access to, assess and report on environmental information and data. The bill sets out the specific functions that the Head must perform in relation to environmental reporting and data management.\n\nThe Head of Environment Information Australia has responsibility for preparing and publishing the State of the Environment report. The Head must also establish and maintain environmental economic accounts. In addition, the Head is required to declare national environmental information assets. These functions support improved understanding and management of Australia's environment through better information.\n\nThe bill amends the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. It transfers responsibility for the preparation of State of the Environment reports to the new Head. This change is made through amendments to Part 21 of that Act, which deals with reporting requirements.\n\nTransitional provisions in the bill outline the timing for initial outputs. The first State of the Environment report must be prepared and published no later than 15 December 2028. The first statement of national environmental economic accounts is also to be prepared. The national environmental goals for the first report are the publicly available environmental targets identified and notified by the Minister.\n\nThis bill is part of a package of seven bills that implement recommendations from the 2020 Independent Review of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. It commences at the same time as the National Environmental Protection Agency Act 2025 but only if that Act commences. The bill received royal assent on 1 December 2025 as Act number 63 of 2025. It will come into effect on 1 July 2026. From that point the Head will begin carrying out the functions related to environmental information and reporting."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/environment-information-australia-bill-2025","history":"/api/acts/environment-information-australia-bill-2025/history","analysis":"/api/acts/environment-information-australia-bill-2025/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/environment-information-australia-bill-2025/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/environment-information-australia-bill-2025/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/environment-information-australia-bill-2025/documents"}}