Enforcement
The Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM) administers 60 legislative Acts to help protect Queensland’s environment and natural resources. The legislation includes the following Acts:
- Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act 2003
- Coastal Protection and Management Act 1995
- Environmental Protection Act 1994
- Forestry Act 1959
- Land Act 1994
- Land Protection (Pest and Stock Route Management) Act 2002
- Marine Parks Act 2004
- Nature Conservation Act 1992
- Queensland Heritage Act 1992
- Recreation Areas Management Act 2006
- Sustainable Planning Act 2009
- Torres Strait Islander Cultural Heritage Act 2003
- Vegetation Management Act 1999
- Water Act 2000
- Water Supply (Safety and Reliability) Act 2008.
The department’s approach to ensuring compliance with its legislation is to:
- educate individuals, industry and governments so that they understand their obligations
- encourage voluntary compliance with those obligations
- take consistent and proportionate responses to breaches of the legislation.
Breaches of legislation, and subsequent enforcement action, are dealt with on a case-by-case basis. The aim is to stop any potential harm to the environment or natural resources as soon as possible and to deter further non-compliance.
Decisions about appropriate enforcement action are determined by a set of guidelines.
Enforcement guidelines
View/download enforcement guidelines (PDF, 306K)*
The guidelines explain how the department determines the enforcement action it will take in any given situation. They provide guidance on what breaches of the legislation will result in prosecution or other enforcement action. The guidelines have been published to ensure that the department’s enforcement responses are:
- proportionate to the conduct
- consistent with past responses for similar conduct
- occur in a timely fashion.
Prosecution bulletins
To educate clients and the community about DERM’s enforcement actions, the department will publish prosecution bulletins to a new page that summarise the facts and outcomes of prosecutions finalised by the department.
To receive prosecution bulletins and other information on the department’s compliance program, email compliance.support@derm.qld.gov.au with ‘subscribe’ in the subject line.
Related information
- Compliance Strategy 2010-14 (PDF, 211K)*
- Penalty Infringement Notices for Littering Offences fact sheet (PDF, 202K)*
* Requires Adobe Reader
Last updated 5 November 2010