Session Description
Landscape scale approaches to environmental assessment featured strongly in the Australian Government’s 2020 review of the national environmental law. Regulatory changes are in progress, & the government has funded pilots of bioregional plans in areas facing pressure from urban development, transition to renewable energy generation or mining for critical minerals. However, where is the actual effective impact assessment in these reforms?
New Zealand is introducing legislation to replace its historic Resources Management Act, dividing approvals into distinct planning & natural resource assessment functions. How are governments embedding strategic impact assessment into these emergent systems?
During these times of regulatory change, governments & practitioners are grappling with balancing competing priorities. As assessment systems become more streamlined & adaptive, how do we ensure they still identify cumulative impacts & avoid a "death by a thousand cuts" How should impact assessment navigate tensions between speed & thoroughness, certainty & flexibility, & strategic outcomes & local decision-making?
This session will bring together a panel of experienced impact assessment practitioners from Australia & New Zealand to explore what is currently working, what gaps remain, & where there are opportunities to rethink, test & trial alternative approaches. The panel will discuss how we might embrace new directions, ensuring they realise their promises & potential to improve the efficiency & effectiveness of impact assessment, building on what we have learnt looking back over many years of impact assessment regulation & practice.
Session Summary
As environmental laws in Australia & New Zealand undergo massive reform—from bioregional plans to replacing the RMA—practitioners face core tensions: speed vs. thoroughness, certainty vs. flexibility, & cumulative impacts vs. streamlined approvals. Join our expert panel to explore what works, critical gaps, & new pathways.
Session Chair
Carolyn Cameron
EIANZ
Australia