Koala Habitat Protection SEPP

The State Environmental Planning Policy (Koala Habitat Protection) 2021 was made and commenced on 17 March 2021. This SEPP is now contained in Chapter 4 of the State Environmental Planning Policy (Biodiversity and Conservation) 2021.

The Koala SEPP 2021 reinstates the policy framework of SEPP Koala Habitat Protection 2019 to 83 Local Government Areas (LGA) in NSW. At this stage:

• In nine of these LGAs – Metropolitan Sydney (Blue Mountains, Campbelltown, Hawkesbury, Ku-Ring-Gai, Liverpool, Northern Beaches, Hornsby, Wollondilly) and the Central Coast LGA – Koala SEPP 2021 applies to all zones.
• In all other identified LGAs, Koala SEPP 2021 does not apply to land zoned RU1 Primary Production, RU2 Rural Landscape or RU3 Forestry.

For all RU1, RU2 and RU3 zoned land outside of the Sydney Metropolitan Area and the Central Coast, Koala SEPP 2020 continues to apply. This is an interim measure while new land management and private native forestry codes are developed in line with the NSW Government’s announcement on 8 March 2021.

The principles of the Koala SEPP 2021 are to:

• Help reverse the decline of koala populations by ensuring koala habitat is properly considered during the development assessment process.
• Provide a process for councils to strategically manage koala habitat through the development of koala plans of management.

To see where Koala SEPP 2020 and Koala SEPP 2021 apply, visit Koala SEPP LGA list.

View the list

Timeline

• 1995: State Environmental Planning Policy 44 – Koala Habitat Protection introduced.
• 2019: State Environmental Planning Policy (Koala Habitat Protection) 2019 replaced SEPP 44.
• November 2020: State Environmental Planning Policy (Koala Habitat Protection) 2020 replaced and repealed the 2019 Koala SEPP. The 2020 SEPP largely reinstated SEPP 44.
• March 2021: State Environmental Planning Policy (Koala Habitat Protection) 2021 commenced. It applies across all zones in the 8 Sydney Metropolitan Councils and Central Coast and to zones other than RU1, RU2 and RU3 for the remaining 74 councils. SEPP 2020 applies to the RU1, RU2 and RU3 zones in the 74 LGAs.
• March 2022: Koala Habitat Protection SEPPs consolidated in the State Environmental Planning Policy (Biodiversity and Conservation) 2021.

More information

• Frequently asked questions – State Environmental Planning Policy (Koala Habitat Protection) 2021 (PDF, 156 KB).
• Fact sheet – Development applications: State Environmental Planning Policy (Koala Habitat Protection) 2021 (PDF, 96 KB).
• Circular No. B35 – State Environmental Planning Policy No. 44 (Koala Habitat Protection) (PDF, 714 KB).
• Questions from the Koala SEPP webinar, April 2021 (PDF, 252 KB).
• State Environmental Planning Policy (Koala Habitat Protection) 2020.

For additional information you can contact us via our online form.