Experts call for continued commitment to high-integrity biodiversity offsets as environmental reforms welcomed
November 27, 2025
Media Centre
A leading advocate for nature restoration has welcomed Australia’s strengthened environmental protection laws, but warned that the meaningful environmental outcomes delivered through biodiversity offsetting are still at risk due to the introduction of a ‘pay and go’ offset fund and fragmented standards across the country.
“It’s great to see these updates to the aged and outdated EPBC Act and there are some big wins for nature protection and restoration in there,” said Ian Rollins, Managing Director of Niche, Australia’s largest privately-owned biodiversity and heritage consultancy.
“While we are pleased to see the commitment to ‘net gain’ offsets which will help drive much-needed nature improvement s, we are concerned that the potential benefits at scale that could be achieved are still going to be hampered by the Government’s new ‘pay and go’ offset fund and the state-by-state inconsistencies that remain unresolved.”
Mr Rollins outlined key issues with the proposed Restoration Contribution Fund which undermines the science and long-term accountability of a genuine offsetting process:
“If a proponent can pay into a fund and hand over all liability for their offsets to Government with no further responsibility for successful delivery of the offset, there is no accountability for their environmental impact.”
“Also we should be working harder towards like-for-like offsets not backing away from it. We should not allow for subjective decisions about replacing one species or habitat with another — you can’t offset a koala with a dolphin. And it raises the question, if a like-for-like offset can’t be achieved – should the destruction of that ecosystem be permitted at all?”
Mr Rollins also said offsetting rules need to be consistent across the country:
“Every day we see the confusion and complexity of different offsetting rules and standards across every state and territory, lowering the bar for nature and also hindering productivity for developers — which is a missed opportunity in the EPBC reform.”
“The Government needs to progress quickly with bilateral agreements with states and territories for offsets to create a nationally consistent framework and embed high standards such as net gain , like-for-like offsets and a consistent robust methodology.”
“Biodiversity offsets can effectively channel private funding into landscape-scale nature restoration if high standards, scientific rigour, national consistency and long-term accountability are baked in.”
Niche works with project proponents across the east coast of Australia to assess environmental impacts, develop biodiversity strategies, establish biodiversity offset projects and manage long-term implementation of offset sites.
To date, Niche has helped protect over 18,000 hectares of land and improve over 14,000 hectares through offsetting activities.
Contact
Carly Youd
Head of Brand, Marketing and Communications
Niche Environment and Heritage
Phone: 0409 675 019
Email: cyoud@niche-eh.com
