These reforms respond to long-standing delays that have held back actual and potential investment in major job-creating projects. Premier Roger Cook acknowledged in 2023 that the “system isn’t working”. In response, the WA Government moved fast, adopting key recommendations from the 2024 Vogel-McFerran Review (Vogel-McFerran Review) and legislating sweeping changes under the recently passed Environmental Protection Amendment Act 2024 (EP Amendment Act). These reforms promise reduced assessment timelines and more streamlined procedures, without compromising environmental protections or the independence of the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA).
Governments understand that accelerating major project development requires a multi-dimensional reform agenda - one that streamlines approvals, enhances access to new forms of capital, addresses supply chain and productivity constraints, and fosters strong, respectful partnerships with First Nations peoples.
This article unpacks the key aspects of WA’s approval reform agenda and what they mean for proponents, investors and communities engaged in renewable energy infrastructure, mining, downstream processing and carbon capture developments.
Positioning WA as a global renewable energy powerhouse
WA’s reforms support a broad ambition to become a “global renewable energy powerhouse”. Achieving this will secure both long-term energy security and establish the state as a relevant player in emerging decarbonised industries. However, these goals represent just one part of a broader range of factors driving change.
Australia must invest significantly in new clean energy generation and transmission infrastructure to meet its 2030 target of 82% renewable electricity generation.
Access to low-cost zero-carbon energy systems is also essential to the decarbonisation of WA industry and will be the decisive factor in determining whether Australia will make a meaningful contribution to global decarbonisation and mitigation of the worst impacts of human-induced climate change. Whilst being responsible for a major portion of Australia’s production, value, exports and investments in extractive commodities (such as iron ore and LNG), Pathways to industrial decarbonisation found that the Pilbara also has the highest abatement potential of the major Australian industrial regions. The major economies of the world will continue to look to Australia’s rich resources to meet their large appetites for iron ore, aluminium and critical minerals, but that demand will increasingly be focused on commodities and raw materials produced in a decarbonised or lower-carbon manner or form.
Slow and unpredictable approvals processes have raised sovereign risk concerns among major investors and industry groups.
The EPA approvals assessment processes
In 2023, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Western Australia (CCIWA) estimated that $318 billion of current and future investment and 106,000 jobs, were tied up in projects awaiting WA and/or Commonwealth environmental approvals.
At the 2024 Pilbara Summit, keynote speaker Dr Alan Finkel AC, Corporate Adviser on Low Emissions Technology & former Australian Chief Scientist and Special Adviser to the Australian Government, identified that the government barriers come from a regulatory system that is focused on protecting or facilitating, rather than protecting and facilitating.
These calls to action have been echoed by the Superpower Institute’s recent report The New Energy Trade - Harnessing Australian renewables for global development which states that Australia must streamline projects as green project investors report larger hurdles and slower processes in Australia than in competing countries.
At the state level, the Environmental Protection Act 1986 (WA) (EP Act) requires that project proposals which are considered likely to have a 'significant effect' on the environment must undergo an environmental impact assessment conducted by the EPA. The EPA then prepares a report to the Minister for Environment (the Minister) on the conditions on which a project may proceed making a recommendation as to (1) whether the proposal should be implemented; and (2) if so, on what conditions.
The EPA’s Environmental Impact Assessment (Part IV Divisions 1 and 2) Procedures Manual sets a 40-58 week minimum target timeframe for environmental assessments, however the CCIWA estimated that the average timeframe for major WA resources projects to receive environmental approvals (including Commonwealth approval) is closer to three to four years. This is in addition to the time required for other decision-making authorities (DMA) to issue their own approvals, which were prevented whilst the EPA’s environmental assessment and the Ministerial decision-making process is underway.
EP Act review and reform
The catalyst for many recent reforms was the Vogel-McFerran Review. The independent report produced by Dr Paul Vogel and David McFerran, made 39 recommendations for streamlining the approval process under the EP Act, aimed at improving the efficiency and quality of the EPA’s environmental assessment. Furthermore, the government provided $18 million of funding for external experts to help address the EPA’s assessment backlog and prioritise the allocation of additional resources for ‘critical approvals.’
The Vogel-McFerran Review highlighted a range of problems within the approvals systems and recommended a broad array of measures to address them. The review suggested that these initiatives should be carried out within departments and, where appropriate, underpinned by changes to legislation. The government committed to overhauling the state’s environmental approvals system in line with the review’s recommendations. The government’s Key Highlights report from April 2023 to November 2024 states that over 75% of the 39 recommendations from the Vogel-McFerran Review have been progressed or have been completed.
Key changes to the EP Amendment Act that have been implemented to deliver on the Vogel-McFerran recommendations include:
Parallel decision-making: Proponents can now progress other approvals while undergoing EPA assessment.
Statement of Expectation: The Minister for Environment is now required to issue a Statement of Expectation addressing the Minister’s objectives on matters related to the EPA’s functions. The first statement was issued in late 2024 and sets out the Government’s priorities in terms of economic development and diversification, the renewable energy transition and major public infrastructure projects and initiatives. It also outlines the Minister’s expectation that the EPA will implement necessary policies, processes and practices to align assessment priorities with key government policies to ensure efficiency and timeliness of environmental assessments, the reduction of unnecessary duplication and to support engagement with proponents.
EPA board reforms: The board was expanded and reshaped to be skills-based, with $5 million allocated to fund the changes.
The EPA is expected to shift to a highly engaged, accountable and service-oriented unit facilitating sustainable development. At the Association of Mining and Exploration Companies (AMEC) briefing in May 2025, WA EPA Deputy Chair Lee McIntosh emphasised that the EPA focus is for “a fundamental shift towards more risk based, outcome focused, client-orientated, streamlined and consistent approach, aligned with Government priorities, policies and legislation”.
While the reforms have signalled WA’s strong commitment to creating an efficient approvals system, they must still be supported in practice by an on-the-ground shift, clear project coordination, and sustained funding, for the bottlenecks to be permanently erased and significant positive change to be created.
Industrial area, land tenure and mining reforms
Environmental approvals reform is only part of the picture. Over the last few years, WA has moved to resolve other infrastructure, land tenure and approval barriers, however, further work is required
Strategic Industrial Areas (SIAs)
Development of the SIAs around WA (including in metropolitan Perth and key regional areas such as the Pilbara and the Mid-West) has been a key strategy of the government over a long period. SIAs are selected for their proximity to large resource projects and infrastructure such as rail and ports. As a follow-on to various allocations of land in recent years, financial incentives were introduced to attract “first movers” to SIAs through generous rent concessions for eligible major projects. Under this scheme, companies that enter into leases in SIAs and invest at least $1 billion in on-site capital expenditure can receive rebates on land option fees and waivers of lease rent for an initial period.
To unlock SIAs for strategic development, the government has also taken major steps towards facilitating the development of much needed critical enabling infrastructure and utility corridors pursuant to the Pilbara Energy Transition Plan (PETP). The PETP aims to accelerate decarbonisation in the Pilbara by facilitating common use-transmission infrastructure development. This focus is now on the proponents of the four corridors to deliver this through a collaboration between industry, government and First Nations peoples, and evolving the networks rules and access code governing the operation, administration and third-party access to the North-West Interconnected System.
Diversification leases
Many projects in regions such as the Pilbara, also propose development on vast tracts of Crown land that is the subject of a form of tenure (such as pastoral leases) that is not suitable for a renewable energy or industrial development in diversified and emerging new economies.
In August 2023, critical amendments to the Land Administration Act 1997 (WA) and Public Works Act 1902 (WA) took effect to modernise Crown land management. These changes, enacted via the Land and Public Works Legislation Amendment Act 2023 (WA), introduced a new form of non-exclusive tenure known as a diversification lease that may be used for multiple purposes and may co-exist with other rights (such as native title or mining rights).
Diversification leases support renewable energy, carbon farming, conservation purposes and Aboriginal economic development. Diversification leases will therefore also play a key role in carbon and biodiversity markets by enabling land-based carbon sequestration, biodiversity restoration, and innovative diversification lease partnerships that deliver social, economic, or environmental benefits in WA’s industrial regions. With the legislative framework now firmly in place, we are still awaiting the grant of the first diversification leases.
New trial to streamline approvals for eligible mining activities
The WA Department of Energy, Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety recently commenced a trial to assess a new authorisation process for low impact mining activities in WA’s mining sector.
The intention of the eligible mining activity (EMA) framework is to streamline the approval of eligible mining activities that pose a low risk to the environment and do not occur in a sensitive area.
This development is expected to provide significant benefits to the mining industry by reducing delays and enhancing certainty for project proponents. The trial reflects ongoing efforts to balance economic growth with responsible resource management.
From reform to global leadership
WA has commenced the reshaping of its regulatory and policy landscape for major projects – including targeted legislative amendments and policy shifts, measures to facilitate investment in key enabling infrastructure and collaboration between government, industry and First Nations peoples.
Future success will require proponents and government to leverage the reforms by embedding new processes and approaches to address the project development challenges associated with biodiversity and environment protection, access to land and cultural heritage.
Becoming a global renewable energy powerhouse demands more than an ambitious reform agenda. It requires best practice in project planning, feasibility and delivery – anchored in genuine, co-designed partnerships between First Nations people, governments and industry.
These changes are particularly significant for regions such as the Pilbara, where billion-dollar industries area already operating and investment is accelerating.
WA’s abundance of land and world-leading renewable resources, supply chains and established global trade ties offer a clear competitive advantage on the global stage. Government, industry and First Nations people must now work together to leverage the reform agenda to achieve a breakthrough in converting WA’s competitive advantage into a leadership position in global clean energy and decarbonised industries.