Government Review into Forest Practices Act 1985 - Regulations

review details released - Saturday 8th August

We learnt on Saturday 8th August that it is a review of the Forest Practices Regulations, not a review of the Forest Practices Act or the wider operation or behaviour of the FPA, and unfortunately this does not address our very serious concerns about investigations carried out by the FPA.

The review portal itself states:

What we can’t consider
We cannot consider matters outside the scope of the Regulations as part of the remaking of the Regulations. However, the department may keep on file any broader issues raised by stakeholders to inform ongoing and future policies and initiatives relating to Tasmania's forest management framework.

This is quite a surprise because have repeatedly asked for the Terms of Reference and further information about the proposed review.

We have also discovered this review was already scheduled to occur because regulations are required to be reviewed periodically. In other words, this was not a new review established in response to the serious concerns FLAG and others have raised.

The proposed process involves approximately six months of consultation, followed by further work before the new Regulations are expected to take effect on 1 July 2028.

This is particularly concerning when major changes to the Commonwealth EPBC framework are expected to take effect from 1 July 2027. A regulatory review that will not be completed until a year later clearly cannot deal with the urgent issues farmers are facing now.

In our meeting with the Premier and Ministers on Friday 7th August Minister Ellis did express his desire that the EPBC requirements should be administered locally in Tasmania rather than from Canberra. We certainly do not disagree with that principle. However, we are very concerned that the Government are considering using the FPA as the “policeman” for the EPBC requirements in Tasmania. We made our concerns about this clear, given the evidence we have of poor investigative practices by the FPA.

The review information also made it clear that matters outside the Regulations would not be considered. This means many of FLAG’s major concerns about the Forest Practices Act, investigation and enforcement practices, the FPA Board, procedural fairness and the treatment of farmers fall outside its scope.