General environmental duty in Victoria and what EPA expects

General environmental duty in Victoria

The general environmental duty (GED) is in section 25 of Victoria's Environment Protection Act 2017, in force since 1 July 2021. Anyone whose activity may create risks of harm to human health or the environment from pollution or waste must minimise those risks so far as reasonably practicable (Act).

The duty is about managing risk, so harm does not have to occur (Act, EPA 1813). A body corporate that breaches it while conducting a business or undertaking faces up to 10,000 penalty units, about $2.09 million at the 2026-27 unit of $209.10 (Act, Victoria Government Gazette S 234).

What section 25 says

Section 25(1) of the Environment Protection Act 2017, version 023 reads: "A person who is engaging in an activity that may give rise to risks of harm to human health or the environment from pollution or waste must minimise those risks, so far as reasonably practicable."

"Harm" is wide. It means an adverse effect of any degree or duration, and it includes unreasonable interference with amenity. Pollution includes noise, odour, dust and heat (Act).

The duty applies to any person. EPA Victoria says "Everyone has a duty to reduce risk to human health and the environment from pollution and waste", and lists households as well as businesses (EPA GED page). The section 25 offence and civil penalty apply only to breaches in conducting a business or undertaking. That term includes non-profit and government activity. It does not cover a person doing something primarily domestic and not for profit, or someone acting only as an employee, officer or volunteer (Act).

What a business must do

Section 25(4) sets out when a person conducting a business or undertaking contravenes section 25(1). You contravene section 25(1) if you fail, in the course of that business or undertaking and so far as reasonably practicable, to:

• use and maintain plant, equipment, processes and systems in a way that minimises risks of harm from pollution and waste
• use and maintain systems to identify, assess and control those risks, and to check that the controls work
• keep adequate systems in place so that, if a risk eventuates, its harmful effects are minimised
• handle, store, use and transport all substances in a way that minimises those risks
• give information, instruction, supervision and training to anyone engaging in the activity, so they can comply with the duty

Section 25(5) applies to designers, manufacturers, installers and suppliers who do that work in a business or undertaking. They must minimise risks so far as reasonably practicable when the item is used for the purpose it was designed, made, installed or supplied for. They must also give information on its purpose, and on any conditions needed to use it in line with the duty (Act).

EPA's advice is a risk management approach: understand your risks, put controls in place, then review them (EPA GED page).

Reasonably practicable and the state of knowledge

Under section 6, "minimise" means eliminate the risk so far as reasonably practicable. If you can't eliminate it, reduce it so far as reasonably practicable. Deciding what is reasonably practicable turns on five factors: how likely the risk is, how bad the harm would be, what you know or ought reasonably to know about the harm and the ways to control it, whether those controls are available and suitable, and their cost (Act). Cost is one of the five factors, not the only one.

What you know, plus what you should reasonably know, is your "state of knowledge" (EPA reasonably practicable page). EPA describes it as the body of accepted knowledge about the harm and the controls for eliminating or reducing it (EPA 1741.1). Industry standards can form part of what you ought reasonably to know. Advice an EPA officer gives you is recorded and becomes part of that state of knowledge too (EPA 1813).

Penalties for breaching the GED

Breaching section 25(1) in the course of a business or undertaking is an indictable offence, and it may be heard summarily. It is also a civil penalty provision. EPA can seek a civil penalty order on top of, or instead of, a prosecution. The Court must not make that order after a conviction for the same, or substantially the same, conduct (Act).

Section 27 creates an aggravated breach. It applies where someone intentionally or recklessly contravenes the duty, the breach results or is likely to result in material harm, and they knew or reasonably should have known that.

The Victorian penalty unit is $209.10 from 1 July 2026 (Victoria Government Gazette S 234, DTF). The Act sets the maximum penalties below. Dollar figures are approximate.

A court can also order repayment of the monetary benefit, adverse publicity, restoration, a restorative project or an environmental audit (Act).

How EPA Victoria enforces it

EPA says it combines "encouragement and deterrence" with a risk-based approach (EPA). Its sanction policy runs from guidance and compliance advice, through notices, warnings, infringement notices and enforceable undertakings, up to civil proceedings and prosecution (EPA 1814).

The improvement notice under section 271 is EPA's "primary tool for compelling compliance with the duties", and harm does not have to have occurred. A prohibition notice stops an activity where the risk of harm is immediate. An environmental action notice can require clean-up. A site management order attaches to the land title and puts obligations on later owners and occupiers (EPA 1813). EPA says a notice will not require measures beyond what is reasonably practicable (EPA 1813).

When choosing a sanction for a GED breach, EPA looks at "how far the duty holder has departed from the requirement to take reasonably practicable measures". It also weighs duration, financial gain, compliance history, whether you notified EPA, and voluntary steps to limit the harm and stop a repeat. It can pursue company officers who failed to exercise due diligence, and it publishes sanction outcomes, including the offence and the offender (EPA 1814). The broader policy is Publication 1798.3, updated 2 June 2025 (EPA).

The GED sits beside other duties in the same Act. Section 31 requires you to respond to harm from a pollution incident and restore the area so far as reasonably practicable. Section 32 requires you to notify EPA of a notifiable incident as soon as practicable. Sections 39 and 40 cover managing and notifying contaminated land (Act). Sites with land or groundwater contamination and an active remediation notice appear on EPA's Priority Sites Register.

Environment Protection Regulations 2021

The Environment Protection Regulations 2021 commenced with the Act's new scheme on 1 July 2021 and are due to sunset on 25 May 2031. They include pollution incidents, contaminated land, waste, permissions, noise, air, water, audits, levies, infringement offences and fees. They also prescribe which activities need a development licence, operating licence, permit or registration. The current version is No. 011, in force since 20 October 2026 after S.R. No. 158/2026 (Regulations PDF).

The Environment Reference Standard is often confused with the Regulations. It is a reference for decision makers on air, sound, land and water, rather than a set of compliance limits (EPA ERS page).

General environmental duty in Queensland

Queensland's duty is section 319 of the Environmental Protection Act 1994. A person must not carry out an activity that causes, or is likely to cause, environmental harm unless they take all reasonably practicable measures to prevent or minimise it. The factors include the nature of the harm, the sensitivity of the receiving environment, the current state of technical knowledge, how likely the measures are to work, and the financial implications.

Since 18 June 2024, breaching it is an offence where the breach causes, or is likely to cause, serious or material environmental harm (amending Act No. 30 of 2024). The maximum is 4,500 penalty units or 2 years' imprisonment if wilful, otherwise 1,655 units. At Queensland's $172.70 unit from 1 July 2026, that is about $777,150 and $285,819 (SL 2026-0046).

Complying with the Queensland duty is a defence to a charge of unlawfully doing a relevant act, if the activity was lawful apart from that Act (Environmental Protection Act 1994, s 493A).

RegAffairs AI answers this question from the authorised Victorian Act, with the sources linked.