Conservation Council ACT Region
Offsets Policy Sept 2009
COUNCIL OFFSETS POLICY – as at 9 September 2009
At present the Conservation Council of the ACT Region has a number of reservations over the
introduction of an offsets policy or scheme in the ACT. It understands that practical experience
of similar schemes by Australian experts in the management of native vegetation has identified
many problem areas in design, implementation and enforcement. The Council strongly believes
that an offsets policy should NOT be used as an excuse for approving inappropriate
developments on naturally vegetated lands, or as a matter of course, and should only be
considered as a last resort.
Nevertheless, the Council welcomes further debate on this issue and offers the following policy
to advance such a debate. The Council wishes to remain engaged with the ongoing development
of improved management of biodiversity, landscape permeability, and ecological processes
within the ACT.
Potential Objectives for an ACT Offset Scheme
Reduce and prevent loss and fragmentation of native vegetation;
Conserve, maintain and improve native vegetation, including endangered ecological
communities and other areas of high conservation value, threatened species
habitat, and ecological processes;
Improve ecological connectivity in the landscape;
Improve land condition;
Enhance sequestration of bio-carbon;
Improve the streamlining and certainty of planning processes; and
Provide long-term security for the development of the ACT.
Decision-makers applying this offsets policy and associated mechanisms should be bound to
make decisions consistent with the above stated objectives.
Principles required to underpin an ACT Offsets Scheme
A clear and prescriptive statement of the principles underpinning the offsets mechanism should
be set out within appropriate legislation and include, in sequence:
1. An offset scheme should never be applied to lands with Significant Conservation Value
or Significant Conservation Potential: in such cases the lands should be added to the
protected areas system, or managed under conservation leases.
2. If the development is of Essential Community Importance, and only if there are no viable
alternative sites/routes, approval conditions must then minimise the loss.
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Conservation Council ACT Region
Offsets Policy Sept 2009
3. Only when any losses have been avoided or minimised under 1. and 2. above, should any
offset provisions come into consideration.
If off-setting is the required action it must encompass:
 Real gains, not promised gains;
 Measurable and verifiable losses and gains of native vegetation;
 A policy of preferring “like-for-like” vegetation offsets;
 Offsets must involve the protection of higher quality sites than those to be destroyed;
 Site evaluation should include an assessment of the site potential – through
measurable and verifiable losses and gains of native vegetation and fauna especially with regard to climate change mitigation and opportunities for ecological
restoration; and,
 Offsets should consider opportunities for landscape level protection including the
broader ecological considerations of habitat, fauna and ecological processes, rather
than being solely limited to botanical values.
Legislation for native vegetation conservation
In introducing any offsets scheme, the Government should consider promulgating new, separate
legislation specifically for the purpose of native vegetation conservation. It must interact, and be
consistent, with the Nature Conservation Act 1980 and the Planning and Development Act 2007,
and require assessment of native vegetation at the outset of the development planning process.
The legislation should include provision for voluntary conservation action and incentives to
engage in such action, including assistance for management of native vegetation.
The definition of native vegetation should be inclusive of understorey, dead trees, regrowth,
aquatic vegetation, flora, endangered ecological communities, fauna habitats and ecological
processes.
A clear and prescriptive statement of the principles underpinning the conservation mechanism
should be set out within the legislation and include:
 ‘No Net Loss’ and ‘Real Net Gain’;
 Landscape level protection, including the broader ecological considerations of habitat,
fauna and ecological processes, rather than being limited to botanical value;
 Consideration of quality and quantity of native vegetation; and,
 Decision-making based on ecological principles and scientific measures.
Decision-makers applying the native vegetation conservation mechanism should be bound to
apply the stated principles throughout the decision-making process.
Role for the Community
There should be a clear and well-publicised community role in monitoring compliance.
The community should be represented on the independent statutory body and have a role in
assessing priorities for off-setting measures and reporting achievements under the legislation.
A register of applications, approvals and agreements made as part of any offsetting provisions,
should be publicly available.
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Conservation Council ACT Region
Offsets Policy Sept 2009
Enforcement of legislation
There should be a structured sequence of enforcement action that includes civil and criminal
enforcement provisions should form part of the compliance regime.
Native vegetation legislation should provide for open standing in relation to enforcement of
alleged non-compliance.
Civil remedies should include provision for restoration orders or ‘make good’ provisions. Civil
enforcement provisions should provide for the onus to be on the landholder to show that the
action was lawful.
Administering an ACT Offsets Scheme
The administrative offset process should ensure:
 offsetting of clearing should be a last resort not an initial option;
 offsetting mechanisms must be secure legally;
 offset credits must be there “in the bank” before spending - promised offsets should not be
accepted;
 real gains not just gains on paper or promised gains should be accepted as offsets. A
“significant environmental benefit” must be demonstrably achieved;
 Offset decision-making must be based on ecological principles and scientific monitoring;
 Any native vegetation offset legislation should be integrated and consistent with the planning
scheme, and should employ the use of triggers for referral to native vegetation assessment at
the outset of the development application process; and
 The Offset policy should be administered by an independent statutory body (such as the
NRM Council or the Office of Sustainability and Environment) through a transparent
decision-making process based on a scientific assessment. This body should be charged with
monitoring, auditing and reporting on the operational effectiveness of the Offsets Scheme,
and have responsibilities for strategic planning for native vegetation conservation.
What the Conservation Council does not Currently Support
1. Financial offsets
The Conservation Council, at this time, does not support the concept of financial payments being
used in lieu of on-ground offsets. The Council believes such an approach may reduce approval
negotiation timeframes and/or opportunities for public input into the decision-making process,
and may be seen as an ‘easy option’. The Council is especially concerned that applicants may go
straight to such an ‘offsets fund’ before considering other options, and that it could become a
cost-shifting exercise resulting in reduced Government core funding of natural resource
management agencies.
However, the Council is prepared to further consider the concept of having a few carefully
defined projects ‘spade ready’; but only after a basic offset programme has been in operation for
some time, and its effectiveness in attaining conservation outcomes has been independently
assessed and publicly reported.
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Conservation Council ACT Region
Offsets Policy Sept 2009
2. Offsets outside the ACT
The Conservation Council does not currently support the delivery of offsets credits to lands in
New South Wales. In the meantime, the Council will assess the potential for such opportunities
in cases where:

the offset credit lands either directly abut protected areas or significant naturally
vegetated ands in the ACT where sympathetic co-management would deliver enhanced
conservation outcomes, or where

the offset credit lands would significantly improve connectivity on a regional scale with
naturally vegetated lands in the ACT.
3. Biobanking
The Council is aware of the operation of bio-banking in NSW, and does not believe that this
system, as currently implemented, delivers demonstrable conservation gains. Rather, it provides
an easy route for major developments to bypass the biodiversity assessment process and avoid
vegetation retention policies.
Definitions
“Significant Conservation Value” – lands which are substantially naturally vegetated,
demonstrate a high degree of original structure and floristic composition, retain a good level of
faunal assemblages and/or which, even if somewhat modified, contribute substantially to
ecosystem permeability through connectivity across the landscape.
“Significant Conservation Potential” – lands which, through their spatial position in the
landscape and irrespective of their current condition, offer a substantial opportunity for future
restoration and/or rehabilitation actions to either recover ecological communities or individual
species that are rare, threatened or endangered, or to maximise ecological connectivity across the
landscape.
“Essential Community Importance” – development activities providing for the wider
community ‘good’ (such as major public infrastructure), rather than for individual or commercial
gain.
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