Under a new federal push, states and territories could approve large housing developments through a streamlined “one‑step process”.
Ahead of the Budget on May 12, the federal government has announced a $45 million plan over four years to fast-track environmental approvals across housing, energy and resource projects.
Under the plan, the government would progress bilateral agreements with states and territories to reduce duplication in the approvals process.
The $45 million plan aims to fast-track environmental approvals for housing, energy and resource projects. Picture: Getty
According to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, the move is designed to encourage states and territories to prioritise signing these agreements and take advantage of environmental reforms passed in late 2025.
“If a state government signs one of our new bilateral approval agreements, they will be empowered to conduct assessments and approvals on the Commonwealth’s behalf,” Mr Albanese said in a speech to the Chamber of Minerals and Energy of Western Australia.
“So instead of a two-stage, two-track process, with all the cost of delays and doubling up that occurs, this will be a one-step process, with one, clearer, faster, yes or no.”
Passed in November 2025, the Environmental Protection Reform Bill amended the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act, which governs how long large-scale projects that may affect matters of national environmental significance – including residential housing developments – take to secure federal approval.
According to Mr Albanese, 20 years ago the median approval time for a project under the EPBC Act was 48 weeks. When the latest reforms were introduced late last year, that timeline had blown out to 118 weeks.
The reforms laid out a range of measures to balance environmental protection with faster approvals for major projects. Key to these measures has been the introduction of bilateral agreements with states to remove duplication in assessments and approvals.
Other measures include a streamlined assessment pathway for projects with sufficient information upfront, and regional planning tools to set “go” and “no-go” zones to guide development.
Western Australia is the first state to sign a memorandum of understanding to begin formal negotiations for a bilateral agreement, ahead of negotiating a final bilateral approval agreement.
Minister for the environment and water Murray Watt said the government was strongly encouraging all states and territories to sign on, so proponents could benefit sooner from quicker and more efficient environmental approvals.
“We’re deeply committed to ensuring our national environmental laws are fit for purpose, and we expect state and territory governments to work with us to achieve this important outcome,” Mr Watt said.
All bilateral agreements will be overseen by a new dedicated National Environment Protection Agency, which is set to commence work from July 1, 2026.
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