Commonwealth: a new National Environmental Standard for offsets
A new national offset standard is being developed by the Australian Government. The current consultation period closes on 9 June.
The Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water is developing a National Environmental Standard for Environmental Offsets. This is one of a series of standards flowing from the EPBC Act reforms passed in late November 2025 and tracing back to the Samuel Review.
The headline change is that net gain becomes mandatory: all residual significant impacts on protected matters must be compensated to a measurable improvement against a baseline set at approval.
The draft Standard
The draft Standard is structured as an objective, three outcomes and eight principles.
The objective of the Offsets Standard is to ensure offsets (where permitted) adequately compensate for residual significant impacts to deliver a net gain and contribute to the protection and enhancement of protected matters.
Outcomes to be delivered are proposed to be:
a) Offsets are relevant and available to compensate for the impact to the protected matter and support recovery or conservation.
b) Offsets result in a measurable improvement [from the baseline at the point of approval for protected matters.
c) Offsets provide certainty that protected matters will be protected and enhanced.
The eight principles are:
Feasibility,
Security,
Direct and tangible benefit,
Net gain,
Additionality,
Like-for-like,
Relevant area, and
Offset commenced prior to impact.
Two options for meeting offset obligations
Proponents would meet their obligations through one of two pathways:
delivering offsets themselves (including advanced offsets and, in some cases, biodiversity certificates under the Nature Repair Market), or
paying a restoration contribution charge to an independent Restoration Contributions Holder who delivers pooled restoration on the Commonwealth’s behalf.
Long timelines and limits on what can be offset
Maintenance periods are long — a minimum of 25 years for temporary impacts and up to 100 years for permanent ones, or until the outcome is self-sustaining.
Importantly, no offset cannot make an unacceptable impact acceptable.
Consultation Timeline
The first round of public consultation on the draft Standard closed on 30 January 2026.
A revised exposure draft was released on 8 May 2026 for statutory consultation, and that window closes at 11:59pm AEST on 9 June 2026.
Feedback is made through the department’s consultation hub by survey or written submission.
