Ministers want bilateral deals in every jurisdiction
Australia’s environment ministers have agreed to deliver new or updated bilateral environmental assessment agreements for all jurisdictions by mid-2027.
The Commonwealth will also work with states and territories on new bilateral approval agreements and clarify interim arrangements while those deals are developed.
Cement Concrete & Aggregates Australia welcomed the timetable, but urged governments to use it to cut overlap between Commonwealth, state and territory approval systems.
Chief executive Michael Kilgariff argued for an “assess once, approve once” model that recognises equivalent state processes instead of forcing project proponents through parallel systems.
“Industry was promised a one-stop-shop when the new EPBC legislation was passed in November 2025,” Kilgariff said.
He said the priority now was to make sure the agreements deliver real streamlining in practice, not just a new layer of process.
Quarries face long planning timelines
CCAA wants bilateral arrangements to accept state environmental assessments, technical studies and consultation where they already meet Commonwealth requirements.
According to the industry body, that approach would avoid repeated ecological studies and let agencies coordinate information requests between jurisdictions.
CCAA also called for greater integration between state and Commonwealth offset arrangements, along with coordinated approval conditions, compliance settings and reporting requirements.
“Duplicated approval processes increase costs, extend project timeframes and create uncertainty without necessarily improving environmental outcomes,” Kilgariff said.
The group said that certainty matters for quarry projects because they are long-life developments with planning horizons of 30 to 50 years.
Those projects are also capital-intensive, which means delays in approvals can affect investment decisions over decades.
Meanwhile, CCAA also backed a new Circular Economy Roadmap agreed by environment ministers.
The roadmap supports national harmonisation, stronger markets for recycled materials and more consistent government procurement rules.
CCAA said the same push for consistency should apply to environmental approvals, offsets and conditions as governments work toward the mid-2027 deadline.
