Bypassing the Local: A comparison of the administration of land clearance legislation in Australia

Abstract

To reduce the threat that broadscale land clearance poses to our environmental security,Australian States have progressively introduced regulations protecting native vegetation onprivate land. Most legislation is implemented and administered centrally, with Stategovernment departments and Ministers largely responsible for deciding permit applications,as well as the selection and deployment' of enforcement and detection strategies. The localgovernment tier has been utilised to varying degrees, and with varying effects. In SouthAustralia, local government forms part of the regulated community, submitting applicationsfor permission to clear alongside private landholders. In Victoria, local governments are theresponsible authorities and have suffered from a lack of resourcing and access to data.Presently in New South Wales, the administration of permits is undergoing a process ofdecentralisation, but not to local councils. Instead the State has been divided up into 22administrative regions to be governed by polymerous bodies of State government and interestgroup representatives. Local government is to receive limited committee representation butwill also have their applications decided by the committees. Acting locally has for many goodreasons become an ecologically sustainable development mantra, however a comparison ofthe effectiveness of regulation between the States makes a link between administrative leveland efficacy unclear.