What it does
The Environmental Trust Act 1998 constitutes a single statutory body corporate known as the Environmental Trust (s 5(1)) and charges it with administering a dedicated Environmental Trust Fund (s 18). Its core operational purpose is to promote the eight objects listed in s 7, which range from supporting restoration and rehabilitation projects that prevent or reduce pollution, waste or environmental degradation (s 7(a)), through to promoting research (s 7(b)), environmental education (s 7(c)), acquisition of land for the national parks estate (s 7(d)), declaration of marine parks (s 7(e)), waste avoidance and resource recovery including enforcement programs (s 7(f)), funding of environmental community groups (s 7(g)) and purchase of water entitlements to increase environmental flows and restore major wetlands (s 7(h)).
The Trust exercises these objects principally by making grants under s 8(a), supervising their expenditure (s 8(b)), expending limited sums on urgent pollution clean-up or unlawful waste disposal where no other party accepts responsibility (s 16(1)), and undertaking other Minister-approved activities (s 8(d)). Grants are defined narrowly in s 3 so as to exclude clean-up expenditure under s 16, creating two distinct funding streams. The Act imposes a mandatory annual minimum expenditure floor: at least $1 million for community restoration projects, $0.5 million for research grants to community organisations/universities/research institutes, and $0.5 million for environmental education grants to community organisations (s 12).
Decision-making is structured. Each financial year the Trust must adopt a grants program that identifies funding priorities, available amounts per program area and caps on individual grants (s 13(2)). Every application must be referred to a Technical Review Committee that includes at least one community and one industry representative (s 9(2) and s 14(1)). The Committee assesses “practicability and overall worthiness” and reports back (s 14(2)). Grants may be made to any person, including individuals (s 15(1)), but are invariably subject to the condition that funds be expended within three years (s 15(2)), any regulatory conditions, and such further conditions as the Trust specifies by written notice (s 15(3)). The Trust may later vary non-regulatory conditions by further written notice (s 15(3A)) and, in special circumstances, waive provisions of s 15 provided the waiver is disclosed in the next annual reporting information prepared under the Government Sector Finance Act 2018 (s 15(5)).