NSW and the Australian Government work together to ensure federal and state laws do not duplicate planning processes.

To support this, the Australian Government allows NSW to assess the potential environmental impacts of proposed actions under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.

This streamlines development assessment across both state and national environmental laws, while maintaining strong environmental protection standards.

The Australian Government still makes the final decision on whether a project is approved under the Act, based on the assessment report prepared by NSW.

The bilateral agreement has enabled more streamlined assessment and substantially reduced costs of duplication for both government and proponents. Since 2015, 77 state significant development proposals have been assessed under bilateral or accredited assessments within the NSW assessment system, with a further 87 proposals currently under assessment (as at November 2025). Between 2020 and 2025, NSW and the Australian Government avoided duplicated work on 50 determined bilateral projects, representing $39.5 billion in proposed investment in NSW. This included 11 projects declared Critical State Significant Infrastructure, as they were considered essential for NSW.

5 Year Review

The bilateral agreement requires an operational review every 5 years in line with section 65 of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conversation Act. The Department and the Australian Government Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment, and Water use the 5 year review to evaluate the effectiveness of the operation of the agreement. 

The 2015–2020 5 Year Review completed in 2021 was the first in Australia, and both governments have since worked to strengthen the agreement by implementing the 4 priority areas identified.

Both governments have now finalised the second 5 Year Review covering the period between February 2020 and February 2025. The review found that the agreement is operating effectively, with its implementation over the past 5 years reducing duplication and costs for both proponents and governments. It also identified further opportunities to enhance the effectiveness of the agreement’s implementation.

For questions on the bilateral agreement and its implementation, email [email protected]

Frequently asked questions

When did the bilateral agreement begin?

The agreement started on 26 February 2015. In March 2020, small amendments took effect.

What changes were made and why?

Legislative changes in NSW triggered the changes. These included the start of the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 and the Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment Act 2017.

The amended agreement keeps the intent of the 2015 one with as few changes as possible.

As well as amendments to incorporate legislative changes, the amended bilateral agreement includes small changes to improve and simplify its operation. We describe the key differences below.

Projects under Part 5 of the EP&A Act are no longer included

Activities carried out under Part 5 of the EP&A Act will no longer be included in Schedule 1 of the amending agreement. These Part 5 activities are mostly done by or on behalf of public authorities. They require environmental assessment but do not require development consent from the department. For this reason, the bilateral agreement does not reduce assessment processes for this type of development.

This does not affect state significant infrastructure, which will continue to be assessed under the amended bilateral agreement.

Actions in Commonwealth areas or by Commonwealth agencies may be eligible

The amended bilateral agreement includes assessment of actions on Commonwealth lands or those that Australian Government agencies are doing. This will only apply to actions where both NSW and Australian governments agree that the project is suitable for assessment under the bilateral agreement.

This amendment aims to address issues where major development happens across differing land tenures or where an Australian Government action requires NSW assessment.

What projects are covered by the bilateral agreement?

The bilateral agreement applies to certain major projects under the NSW Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (EP&A Act). This includes state significant infrastructure (SSI) and state significant development (SSD) projects and modifications that require assessment and approval under the EPBC Act.

The amended bilateral agreement does not include applications made under Part 5 of the EP&A Act when an environmental impact statement is not needed or applications where local government is the consent authority.

Projects that happen on Commonwealth land (for example, a major road or rail project that crosses a segment of Commonwealth land) or that Australian Government agencies are doing may be eligible to be assessed under the amended bilateral agreement. This will only apply to actions where both NSW and Australian governments agree that the project is suitable for assessment under the bilateral agreement.

Can I use the NSW Biodiversity Offsets Scheme to meet offset requirements?

The Australian Government endorses the NSW Biodiversity Offsets Scheme  as a state policy for setting EPBC Act conditions.

The scheme includes the: 

  • Biodiversity Assessment Method
  • biodiversity credit system and the offset rules set out in the Biodiversity Conservation Regulation 2017.

The scheme has specific settings to ensure offsetting is in line with Australian Government requirements and that projects achieve like-for-like offsets for Australian Government-listed threatened species and communities.

Projects that have been approved under the EPBC Act after 24 March 2020 may be able to meet their offset obligations in keeping with the NSW offset rules.

Discuss specific queries about transitional arrangements for biodiversity offsets with the NSW Department of Planning and Environment’s Biodiversity Offsets Scheme Help Desk and support team and the Australian Government’s Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.

What are the benefits for proponents?

The bilateral agreement allows the NSW Government to conduct environmental assessments on behalf of the Australian Government, removing duplication.

The key benefits for proponents result in:

  • cost savings – there are potentially significant cost savings for projects assessed under a bilateral agreement. A single assessment reduces the costs of preparing 2 separate environmental impact statements. Proponents may be exempt from the fees associated with stage 2 and stage 3 of the Australian Government assessment and approval process
  • less complexity and reduced time frames – the bilateral agreement ensures a project is assessed against a single set of requirements
  • single biodiversity offset method – the bilateral agreement allows proponents to determine offset requirements against both NSW and Australian Government law through a single biodiversity offset method.

More information

To view the bilateral agreement documents, visit the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.

Visit the NSW Legislation to view the Biodiversity Conservation (Savings and Transitional) Regulation 2017.