general component of broad natural resource management—Victoria and South
Australia.
• The Australian Capital Territory did not have a specific soil conservation law, as
such, adopting the Soil Conservation Ordinance in 1960. Now, soil conservation
provisions are part of a comprehensive environmental legislative regime.
25
• The State of Tasmania has never had a specific form of soil conservation legal
instrument, and in this state soil conservation activities have been part of the state
agriculture department regime.
The current legislative system for soil conservation is such that each individual
jurisdiction has a number of primary environmental laws to establish the standards,
rules, policies, auditing and compliance responsibilities for natural resources management (i.e. sustainable land management, ecologically sustainable development,
integrated natural resource management, biodiversity management). In general,
there is one principal law that has a major coordination role and often sets the
rules and standards for environmental management.
26 Under these circumstances,
the “single issue” legislation for soil, water, forestry and vegetation, play a supplementary role to the responsibilities of the primary environmental laws, where they
set out basic natural resource management standards for these single resource areas
which are then implemented through the functions of the primary environmental law
mechanisms.
By the mid-2000s, the main influence on state soil conservation efforts derived
from the implementation of the national Natural Heritage Trust Program (NHT).
27
The NHT was one of the most comprehensive environmental resource management
25 Includes the Environment Protection Act 1997 and the Planning and Development Act 2007.
26 E.g. the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 at the Commonwealth
level; see Hannam and Boer (2004) for a detailed discussion on essential elements for soil
legislation.
27 The Natural Heritage Trust was set up by the Australian Government in 1997 to help restore and
conserve Australia’s environment and natural resources. Since then, considerable numbers of
community groups and organizations have received funding for environmental and natural resource
management projects. The Natural Heritage Trust ceased to operate on 30 June 2008. Its function
was included in the work of the ‘Caring for our Country’ funding program. Caring for our Country
was an initiative that offered multi-year funding to provide certainty for stakeholders. The
Australian Government announced that Caring for our Country would be combined with the
National Landcare Programme in 2013. The National Landcare Programme is continuing to deliver
upon initiatives that were in place before 1 July 2014. The delivery of the second phase of ‘Caring
for our Country’ (2013–2018) was through two specific streams, Sustainable Environment and
Sustainable Agriculture. The Sustainable Environment stream aimed to ensure Australia’s
national environmental assets are conserved, resilient and healthy. The Environment Protection
and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 focuses Australian Government interests on the protection
of matters of national environmental significance—nationally and internationally important flora,
fauna, ecological communities and heritage. Caring for our Country investment under the strategic
objectives was guided by these legislative responsibilities. The Sustainable Agriculture stream was
delivered in the context of other major government policies and initiatives including the National
Food Plan, the Intergovernmental Agreement on Biosecurity, the Carbon Farming Initiative,
drought policy reform and the National Volunteer Strategy.
Soil Legislation in Australia
187
Australia.
• The Australian Capital Territory did not have a specific soil conservation law, as
such, adopting the Soil Conservation Ordinance in 1960. Now, soil conservation
provisions are part of a comprehensive environmental legislative regime.
25
• The State of Tasmania has never had a specific form of soil conservation legal
instrument, and in this state soil conservation activities have been part of the state
agriculture department regime.
The current legislative system for soil conservation is such that each individual
jurisdiction has a number of primary environmental laws to establish the standards,
rules, policies, auditing and compliance responsibilities for natural resources management (i.e. sustainable land management, ecologically sustainable development,
integrated natural resource management, biodiversity management). In general,
there is one principal law that has a major coordination role and often sets the
rules and standards for environmental management.
26 Under these circumstances,
the “single issue” legislation for soil, water, forestry and vegetation, play a supplementary role to the responsibilities of the primary environmental laws, where they
set out basic natural resource management standards for these single resource areas
which are then implemented through the functions of the primary environmental law
mechanisms.
By the mid-2000s, the main influence on state soil conservation efforts derived
from the implementation of the national Natural Heritage Trust Program (NHT).
27
The NHT was one of the most comprehensive environmental resource management
25 Includes the Environment Protection Act 1997 and the Planning and Development Act 2007.
26 E.g. the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 at the Commonwealth
level; see Hannam and Boer (2004) for a detailed discussion on essential elements for soil
legislation.
27 The Natural Heritage Trust was set up by the Australian Government in 1997 to help restore and
conserve Australia’s environment and natural resources. Since then, considerable numbers of
community groups and organizations have received funding for environmental and natural resource
management projects. The Natural Heritage Trust ceased to operate on 30 June 2008. Its function
was included in the work of the ‘Caring for our Country’ funding program. Caring for our Country
was an initiative that offered multi-year funding to provide certainty for stakeholders. The
Australian Government announced that Caring for our Country would be combined with the
National Landcare Programme in 2013. The National Landcare Programme is continuing to deliver
upon initiatives that were in place before 1 July 2014. The delivery of the second phase of ‘Caring
for our Country’ (2013–2018) was through two specific streams, Sustainable Environment and
Sustainable Agriculture. The Sustainable Environment stream aimed to ensure Australia’s
national environmental assets are conserved, resilient and healthy. The Environment Protection
and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 focuses Australian Government interests on the protection
of matters of national environmental significance—nationally and internationally important flora,
fauna, ecological communities and heritage. Caring for our Country investment under the strategic
objectives was guided by these legislative responsibilities. The Sustainable Agriculture stream was
delivered in the context of other major government policies and initiatives including the National
Food Plan, the Intergovernmental Agreement on Biosecurity, the Carbon Farming Initiative,
drought policy reform and the National Volunteer Strategy.
Soil Legislation in Australia
187