management) and in general, there is one principal law that has a major coordination
role and often sets the rules and standards that a number of the single pieces of
legislation are obliged to follow.
51 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.
There is good evidence that soil conservation law was used to control soil erosion to
support the objectives for sustained agricultural production, as against being used for
more complex objectives of land degradation control in a holistic environmental
management context. There was also a long-term tradition that soil conservation law
came under the administration of agriculture or primary industry government agencies rather than broader-based conservation organisations.
52
By 2018, five of the eight Australian states still had an operational soil conservation law—Category 1 laws, but these laws, other than the Victoria Catchment and
Land Protection Act 1994, are very much overshadowed by the supporting environmental laws for natural resources management as depicted in Category 2. Four of
these five laws are special “soil conservation” laws and are structured along the lines
of the original soil conservation laws introduced, i.e.
• Queensland Soil Conservation Act 1986.
• New South Wales Soil Conservation Act 1938.
• Western Australian Soil and Land Conservation Act 1945.
• Northern Territory Soil Conservation and Land Utilisation Act 1980.
The Victorian Catchment and Land Protection Act 1994 is an exception, in that it
includes a formal procedure for managing catchments. The main purpose of this law
is managing land and water resources and preventing land degradation.
53 In this
chapter, a principal soil conservation law is defined as a law implemented to control
soil erosion, and in some cases, land degradation processes (e.g. salinity, nutrient
decline). While no new specific soil conservation law has been enacted in Australia
since 1986 (the Queensland law was the most recent), a number of jurisdictions have
introduced, in conjunction with an existing soil conservation law, a natural resources
law that provides for the responsibilities of the original individual soil conservation
law, including
51 E.g. at the Commonwealth level it is the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation
Act 1999.
52 One exception was the implementation of forestry, soil conservation and water conservation in
New South Wales under the Conservation Authority Act 1949, where the Conservation Authority of
New South Wales had powers, authorities, duties and functions to coordinate the activities of the
three agencies.
Hannam (2000, 2003).
53 Under Section 3 of the Victorian Catchment and Land Protection Act 1994 the meaning of “land”
includes soil, water, vegetation and fauna on land.
Soil Legislation in Australia
195
role and often sets the rules and standards that a number of the single pieces of
legislation are obliged to follow.
51 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.
There is good evidence that soil conservation law was used to control soil erosion to
support the objectives for sustained agricultural production, as against being used for
more complex objectives of land degradation control in a holistic environmental
management context. There was also a long-term tradition that soil conservation law
came under the administration of agriculture or primary industry government agencies rather than broader-based conservation organisations.
52
By 2018, five of the eight Australian states still had an operational soil conservation law—Category 1 laws, but these laws, other than the Victoria Catchment and
Land Protection Act 1994, are very much overshadowed by the supporting environmental laws for natural resources management as depicted in Category 2. Four of
these five laws are special “soil conservation” laws and are structured along the lines
of the original soil conservation laws introduced, i.e.
• Queensland Soil Conservation Act 1986.
• New South Wales Soil Conservation Act 1938.
• Western Australian Soil and Land Conservation Act 1945.
• Northern Territory Soil Conservation and Land Utilisation Act 1980.
The Victorian Catchment and Land Protection Act 1994 is an exception, in that it
includes a formal procedure for managing catchments. The main purpose of this law
is managing land and water resources and preventing land degradation.
53 In this
chapter, a principal soil conservation law is defined as a law implemented to control
soil erosion, and in some cases, land degradation processes (e.g. salinity, nutrient
decline). While no new specific soil conservation law has been enacted in Australia
since 1986 (the Queensland law was the most recent), a number of jurisdictions have
introduced, in conjunction with an existing soil conservation law, a natural resources
law that provides for the responsibilities of the original individual soil conservation
law, including
51 E.g. at the Commonwealth level it is the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation
Act 1999.
52 One exception was the implementation of forestry, soil conservation and water conservation in
New South Wales under the Conservation Authority Act 1949, where the Conservation Authority of
New South Wales had powers, authorities, duties and functions to coordinate the activities of the
three agencies.
Hannam (2000, 2003).
53 Under Section 3 of the Victorian Catchment and Land Protection Act 1994 the meaning of “land”
includes soil, water, vegetation and fauna on land.
Soil Legislation in Australia
195