ACT updates environmental offsets policy after years of failures
The ACT Government is rewriting its environmental offsets system, which has never worked properly.
When developers damage habitat in ACT projects, they can offset the harm by protecting land elsewhere. The offset system has failed badly.
Offsets are often poorly managed and rarely enforced. Some protected areas have gotten worse.
They are no longer seen as important. The Territory put an Environmental Offsets Policy in place in 2015.
But it never formally used it. It relied instead on national rules that experts say no longer work.
A 2023 consultant review recommended improvements. Action has stalled since then.
The ACT Conservation Council warns offsets let developers justify damage rather than protect nature. The territory is running out of land for new offsets.
The new policy should be ready by mid-2027.
- 2015
- Policy established
- 2023
- Review delivered
- mid-2027
- New policy due
Why it mattersWithout clear offsets rules, developers can destroy habitat with little payment. Nature reserves get worse from lack of money and management.
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