New South Wales – Water – New water management amendment bill introduced

The NSW Government has introduced the Water Legislation Amendment Bill 2026 into Parliament. The Bill would amend the Water Management Act 2000 and make changes to requirements for management plans, bore drillers and irrigation corporations, among other things.

View the Water Legislation Amendment Bill here

Queensland – Planning – Draft State Planning Policy and supporting documents released

The Department of State Development, Infrastructure and Planning is seeking feedback on the Draft State Planning Policy, as well as proposed changes to the Minister’s Guidelines and Rules, assessment benchmarks, and natural hazards planning policy discussion paper. Changes proposed to the 2017 State Planning Policy include a new Environment, Heritage and Efficient Growth state interest to support coordinated growth while protecting the environment, heritage and natural and rural landscapes, as well as the relocation of assessment benchmarks from the State Planning Policy to the Planning Regulation 2017, among other things.

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Comments close 26 October 2026

New South Wales – Waste – New Regulations for solar panel recycling proposed

The NSW Government has released the Draft Product Lifecycle Responsibility Amendment (Photovoltaic Panels) Regulation 2026 and a Regulatory Impact Statement to introduce a proposed mandatory product stewardship scheme that would require solar panel brand owners to take responsibility for the end-of-life management of products, and is currently seeking feedback. The scheme aims to ensure that valuable solar panel materials are recovered, reused and recycled rather than sent to landfill.

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Comments close 16 November 2026