We are excited to share a major milestone in nature conservation—South Australia’s new Biodiversity Act has just passed the Legislative Council. This achievement reflects years of persistent advocacy by the Conservation Council of SA and our allies in the conservation movement. 

Our Advocacy Officer, Julia Peacock, played a pivotal role in scrutinising the draft legislation. Through collaborative effort with our members, the South Australian Nature Alliance, and the broader environmental sector, we successfully lobbied for stronger protections for nature. 

We engaged extensively with the Department, and advocated directly to the Government, the Coalition, and the Greens, identifying and pushing for key improvements to the bill. We’re proud to report that many of our proposed reforms were incorporated into the final legislation. 

Major Wins Secured Through Our Advocacy 

• Independent Scientific Decision-Making: Threatened species and ecological community listings will now be made by a Scientific Committee—not the Minister—aligning with the Common Assessment Method. 

• Third-Party Standing: A new general duty to avoid harming biodiversity is accompanied by provisions for third-party standing, empowering the community to uphold this duty. 

• New Objectives in the Act: 

• • To halt and reverse biodiversity loss. 

• • To ensure biodiversity management considers its role in addressing climate change (credit to Rob Simms for championing this). 

• • Critical Habitat Protections: A formal process for declaring critical habitat has been included, making it significantly harder to approve clearing in these areas. 

• • Stronger Public Transparency: Any proposed changes to the Regulated Clearance Area (areas where native vegetation can be cleared) will now require public consultation. 

Key Reversals and Fixes Secured 

• Independent Nomination of Peak Bodies: The nomination process for peak environmental bodies—such as our seat on the Biodiversity Council—was reinstated, ensuring independence from the Minister. 

• Policy Development Restored to the Council: The power to develop policies on significant environmental benefits (including offsets and credits) has been restored to the Biodiversity Council. 

• Loophole Closed: A clause that would have allowed the Government to unilaterally override the Act has been removed. 

• Pastoral Land Exemption Removed: The exemption allowing grazing on pastoral land without consent to clear native vegetation has been eliminated. 

• Social Infrastructure Exemption Corrected: Thanks to support from the Environmental Defenders Office (EDO), a drafting error that would have exempted certain developments from vegetation protections has been fixed. 

• Retention of Native Vegetation Act Maps: The Act will now inherit existing maps from the Native Vegetation Act to define where clearance controls apply. Upcoming changes to these maps will be subject to consultation with us. 

These wins—big and small—represent a tremendous step forward for biodiversity protection in South Australia. We’re incredibly grateful to our members, partners, and allies who contributed to this effort. 

Together, we’ve helped shape a stronger, more accountable legislative framework to protect the unique ecosystems of our state. 

You can see the SA Govt media release here: Landmark Biodiversity Act will help to better protect SA’s unique native flora and fauna | Premier of South Australia 

We'd like to acknowledge the work of:

Michael Cornish, Conservation SA - Board Member

Julia Peacock, ConservationSA - Nature Campaigner

Cerin Loane, Environmental Defenders Office - Special Counsel Policy and Law Reform.