Nature Conservation Act 1992
LegislationReferenced in 23 bills
Vegetation Management and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2018
This bill reinstates stronger vegetation clearing laws in Queensland, reversing changes made in 2013 that loosened protections. It ends broadscale clearing of remnant vegetation for agriculture, extends protections for regrowth vegetation to freehold and Indigenous land, protects waterways in all Great Barrier Reef catchments, and significantly increases penalties for illegal clearing.
Fisheries (Sustainable Fisheries Strategy) Amendment Bill 2018
This bill overhauls Queensland's fisheries laws to implement the Sustainable Fisheries Strategy 2017-2027. It introduces harvest strategies as the main tool for managing fish stocks, cracks down on the illegal sale of fish (black marketing) with new trafficking offences and stronger inspector powers, and formally recognises charter fishing and traditional fishing as distinct sectors.
Nature Conservation and Other Legislation (Indigenous Joint Management - Moreton Island) Amendment Bill 2020
This bill enables joint management of Moreton Island's national parks and conservation areas between the Queensland Government and the Quandamooka People, following the Federal Court's recognition of their native title in 2019. It transfers protected area land to the Quandamooka Yoolooburrabee Aboriginal Corporation as Aboriginal land while maintaining its conservation status through a jointly managed arrangement.
Environmental Protection (Great Barrier Reef Protection Measures) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2019
This bill strengthens Queensland's laws to protect the Great Barrier Reef from agricultural and industrial pollution, and updates how the state classifies threatened species. It expands regulation of farming practices across all Reef catchment areas to reduce nutrient and sediment run-off that harms coral and marine ecosystems.
Natural Resources and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2019
This bill makes a broad range of amendments across the Natural Resources, Mines and Energy portfolio. It caps mining exploration permits at 15 years, strengthens rural water compliance with higher penalties, simplifies Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander land processes, modernises water authority board governance to improve gender balance, and supports the establishment of CleanCo as a new clean energy electricity generator.
Biodiscovery and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2019
This bill protects First Nations traditional knowledge from being used without consent in biodiscovery — the scientific study of native plants, animals and organisms for commercial purposes like medicines or bioplastics. It requires researchers to negotiate benefit sharing with knowledge custodians and aligns Queensland law with the international Nagoya Protocol.
Nature Conservation and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2022
This bill extends beekeeping in specified Queensland national parks for 20 years until 31 December 2044, delivering a government election commitment. It also creates new offences for impersonating rangers, strengthens enforcement powers for park officers, updates governance arrangements for the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area, and consolidates administrative provisions from regulations into the Nature Conservation Act.
Natural Resources and Other Legislation (GDA2020) Amendment Bill 2019
This bill updates Queensland's spatial positioning standards to the new national Geocentric Datum of Australia 2020 (GDA2020) across 13 pieces of legislation. It also streamlines state land management, creates a faster pathway for Traditional Owners to receive freehold land under Indigenous Land Use Agreements, and extends the Cape York Peninsula region boundary to support Aboriginal land ownership near the Daintree National Park.
Agriculture and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2019
This bill makes wide-ranging amendments to laws governing agriculture, animal welfare, biosecurity, forestry, fisheries, racing, and other areas. Most notably, it significantly increases penalties for trespassing on agricultural land and strengthens biosecurity obligations, prompted by a wave of animal activist protests on farms. It also improves protections for animals in hot vehicles, expands farm debt mediation access, and clarifies the Racing Integrity Commission's powers.
Crocodile Control and Conservation Bill 2024
This bill was discharged and did not become law. It would have established a Queensland Crocodile Authority based in Cairns to take charge of all crocodile management across the state. The bill responded to rising crocodile numbers and increasing attacks in North Queensland by creating 'zero-tolerance zones' in populated waterways and expanding commercial opportunities including egg harvesting and Indigenous land management rights.
Crocodile Control, Conservation and Safety Bill 2024
This bill would have established a Queensland Crocodile Authority based in Cairns to take charge of all crocodile management across the state. It aimed to make North Queensland waterways safer by creating zero-tolerance zones where crocodiles would be killed or relocated within 48 hours, while also building a commercial crocodile industry and empowering Indigenous landholders to manage and profit from crocodiles on their land. This bill lapsed at the end of the 57th Parliament and did not become law.
Safer Waterways Bill 2018
This bill sought to create a Queensland Crocodile Authority based in Cairns to manage saltwater crocodile populations across the state. It responded to growing community concern about increasing crocodile numbers and attacks in North Queensland, with 25 recorded attacks between 1985 and 2015 (seven fatal) and three attacks in the year before the bill was introduced (two fatal). The bill's second reading failed and it did not become law.
Environmental Protection (Efficiency and Streamlining) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2025
This bill reforms Queensland's environmental regulation to reduce red tape and improve responsiveness. It introduces a new risk-based system for classifying and regulating environmentally relevant activities, streamlines environmental impact assessments, strengthens groundwater protections for bore owners, and creates a single permit for tourism operators working across multiple public land tenures.
Crocodile Control and Conservation Bill 2025
This bill sought to create the Queensland Crocodile Authority, a new Cairns-based body responsible for managing all aspects of crocodile control across the state. It aimed to protect North Queenslanders from crocodile attacks by removing crocodiles from populated waterways, while expanding the commercial crocodile industry and empowering Indigenous landholders to manage crocodiles on their land. The bill's second reading failed and it did not become law.
Land and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2022
This bill makes a broad range of administrative and streamlining amendments to Queensland's land, resources and environmental legislation. It modernises outdated processes, improves state land management, reforms stock route governance, and updates how vegetation management data is maintained.
Agriculture and Fisheries and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2023
This bill makes sweeping changes across Queensland's agriculture, fisheries and animal management laws. It bans dangerous dog breeds, introduces statewide dog control rules with tough penalties including imprisonment, sets up camera and observer monitoring on commercial fishing boats to protect the Great Barrier Reef, strengthens biosecurity emergency powers, and reforms several other agricultural and animal welfare laws.
Police Service Administration and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2021
This bill modernises the security arrangements for Queensland government buildings by repealing the State Buildings Protective Security Act 1983 and moving its provisions into existing police legislation. It creates a single category of 'protective services officer' with standardised security powers and also streamlines identity card requirements for police officers working under Parks and Wildlife legislation.
Nature Conservation (Special Wildlife Reserves) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2018
This bill creates a new type of protected area called a 'special wildlife reserve' for privately owned or managed land with outstanding conservation value. It gives private land the same level of legal protection as a national park, banning mining, forestry, and fossicking while keeping the land in private ownership. The bill also ensures conservation agreements survive changes in land tenure and extends environmental regulation to cover activities straddling state and Commonwealth waters in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.
Land and Other Legislation Amendment Bill (No. 2) 2023
This bill makes wide-ranging changes to how Queensland manages state land, names places, and enforces rates payments by resource companies. It streamlines land administration processes, modernises the place naming framework to enable faster removal of offensive names and smooth transitions to new names like K'gari, and requires petroleum, gas, and geothermal companies to pay local government rates as a condition of their resource authorities.
Tobacco and Other Smoking Products Amendment Bill 2023
This bill overhauls Queensland's smoking laws by requiring all businesses selling tobacco, vapes and other smoking products to hold a licence, expanding smoke-free public spaces, cracking down on illicit tobacco, and updating advertising rules for the digital age. It aims to continue driving down smoking rates while protecting Queenslanders — especially children — from the harms of smoking and second-hand smoke.
Nature Conservation and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2025
This bill confirms that Queensland government electronic systems can legally be used to automatically issue routine environmental and wildlife permits. It retrospectively validates permits that were automatically issued since 2017 and fixes an enforcement gap created by recent legislative changes to the Environmental Protection Act.
Environmental Protection and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2022
This bill modernises Queensland's environmental protection laws by amending the Environmental Protection Act 1994 and several related Acts. It streamlines regulatory processes for environmental authorities and impact assessments, strengthens compliance powers for environmental inspectors, creates temporary authority provisions for emergency situations, improves contaminated land management, and bans mining in the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area.
Planning (Social Impact and Community Benefit) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2025
This bill introduces a community benefit system requiring developers of prescribed projects (initially renewable energy developments) to assess social impacts and negotiate agreements with local governments before lodging planning applications. It also restructures the governance and delivery framework for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and makes administrative changes to Economic Development Queensland.