MRSDA Reform – Update on progress

Dr Elizabeth Gibson provides an update on the Mineral Resources Sustainable Development Act (1990) reform.

The MRSDA reform comes into effect on 1 July 2025. To date there has been little for CMPA to comment on in terms of new regulations, policy positions etc. after the MRSDA reform Bill was passed in Parliament without amendment on August 17, 2023. Resources Victoria (RV) now has the staffing resources on board. The CMPA is dedicated to working with RV to ensure that there are fair and just outcomes for the small to medium quarry and family run businesses.

Below is a selection of the concerns that CMPA has raised with
the Minister for Energy and Resources and RV.

Concern is held that:

Still keeping the contentious requirement for a planning permit from a LGA does not in any way remove the approvals process from this highly political and adversarial step.

Eventually due to the above dot point all quarry applications will require an Environment Effects Statement which is unattainable for small and medium quarry business owners who hold 93% of Work Authorities.

Whilst the strength of the proposal appears to be not having to apply for a work plan variation and all that entails; there would still be a requirement for a change to the existing planning permit or new planning permit from the relevant LGA.

Support is also given by the legal firm Minter Ellison (7 July 2023) https://www.lexology.com: “In our experience, while the statutory endorsement process was well-intentioned and in fact designed to streamline assessment and approval processes for exploration, mining and quarrying activity, its implementation has at times had quite the
opposite effect in practice, leading to a lengthy and somewhat circular process.”

Other Associations may be predicting that Earth Resources Regulation may no longer be required while the proposed reforms (no statutory endorsed work plan and applying firstly for a planning permit to Local Government Authorities) may not yield the desired outcomes of increased supply but could be “fixed” in a second tranche of MRSDA reform.

Duty to eliminate or minimise risk of harm

Concern is held that:

CMPA did not advocate for a general duty due to the length of time for their implementation and understanding by WorkSafe officers (~10 years) of
terms in the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004, for example, As Far As Reasonably Practicable leading to lengthy and convoluted interpretations https:// ww.worksafe.vic.gov.au/resources/how-worksafe
applies-law-relation-reasonably-practicable.

There will be increased costs with the proposal stating that there will be “greater transition costs”: the current work authority approval process is already high cost and mostly unattainable. The Duty model will exacerbate the demise of small to medium quarries and further reduce quarry applications throughout Victoria.

The prediction by Earth Resources Policy and Programs (ERPP) that the reform will “deliver greater ongoing efficiencies long term” is disputed. The last major reform, the introduction of the risk based work plan (December 2015), was also said to increase costs for a work plan application but would be subsequently reduced for a work plan variation which did not eventuate in practice: new work plan applications dramatically decreased and the cost of a variation to a work plan increased substantially.

Concern for the introduction for the duty model is also held by the legal firm Minter Ellison (7 July 2023) https://www.lexology.com: “However, in
our view the potential for regulatory overlap and dual regulation (for example with the General Environmental Duty) and other statutory duties in the Environment Protection Act 2017 (Vic), and the general duties in the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (Vic)) remains a key area of concern under the new framework.”

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