Consultation on the National Environmental Standards for Community Engagement and Data and Information
On the 09 June 2026, the Albanese Government opened consultation on two new National Environmental Standards: The Community Engagement Standard and the Data and Information Standard. This follows the completion of the consultation periods for the Matters of National Environmental Significance and Environmental Offsets standards. The draft and consultation of the standard for First Nations Engagement is yet to be released.
The Community Engagement Standard
Purpose
The Community Engagement Standard sets the legal requirements around engaging with the community when considering a project’s impacts on endangered species, habitats, heritage, and other matters protected under the national environment law. This standard aims to put people first by centralising the voice of local communities, who often hold a unique understanding of the natural environment and heritage in their region. It aims to encourage meaningful engagement and co-operation between government, the community, landholders and Indigenous persons, and to assist in the cooperative implementation of Australia’s international obligations.
Content
This standard is based around four principles with the following requirements around engagement:
- Engagement is carefully planned, considerate, clear and adaptable: The engagement must be adaptable and carefully planned regarding public awareness, and accessibility of relevant information.
- Engagement is transparent, accountable and responsive: The engagement must be transparent, accountable, and responsive. This is achieved through a two-way dialogue and reporting requirements for those undertaking the engagement.
- Engagement is ethical and protects privacy: The engagement must protect privacy and be ethical, including the requirement of informed consent.
- Engagement is accessible and supports inclusivity: The engagement must be accessible and support inclusivity, including for people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
The Data and Information Standard
Purpose
The Data and Information Standard establishes requirements for collecting, managing, using and supplying environmental data and information. This standard aims to ensure that decision makers have access to comprehensive and accurate information and provides more clarity on data and information requirements. It contains guidelines around the quality of evidence used in decision-making, transparency, and access to data to help understand long-term environmental trends and impacts.
Content
This standard is based around five principles. It sets the following requirements for data and information used the Act:
- Representative data and information: The data adequately and accurately reflects the relevant environmental protections and conditions in that it is sufficiently scientific and authoritative.
- Transparent data and information: The data is sufficient to enable an informed decision-making process.
- Comparable data and information: The data is internally consistent to enable ease of comparison between projects.
- Reusable data and information: The data is collected in a way that allows it to be easily reused.
- Ethical data and information: The data is managed and used responsibly to minimise harm and protect rights and privacy.
Consultation on the Draft
The Department of Climate Change, Energy and Water is seeking feedback on the exposure drafts of these standards through the survey provided on their website. Consultation closes on Tuesday 07 July.
The feedback survey and drafts of the standards can be found below:
Further Information
For more information, please contact Hawker Britton’s partner John Jarrett on [email protected] or on +61 434 384 745.
Additional Occasional Papers published by Hawker Britton are available here.