Commonwealth commits $11.31M via Australian Bushland Program to establish 16 new Indigenous Protected Areas, potentially adding 18.2M hectares to the National Reserve System

Overview

Sixteen new Indigenous Protected Areas (IPAs) are now in the establishment pipeline. On 29 October 2026, Minister for the Environment and Water Murray Watt and Minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy jointly announced an $11.31 million Commonwealth investment through the Australian Bushland Program to begin establishing IPAs across New South Wales, the Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia. Once formally dedicated, the 16 projects could add up to 18.207 million hectares to the National Reserve System (NRS).

The scale is substantial. At 18.2 million hectares, the combined area is roughly 2.4% of Australia’s land mass. IPAs already make up more than half of the NRS, and this round extends their role in meeting Australia’s domestic commitment to protect and conserve 30% of its land by 2030. That commitment aligns with Target 3 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, which calls for at least 30% of terrestrial, inland water, coastal and marine areas to be effectively conserved and managed by the end of the decade.

For environmental professionals and their clients, the key point is timing. The funding initiates establishment; it does not finalise boundaries. Developers, mining and renewable energy proponents, infrastructure agencies, councils and the lawyers advising them should expect the protected area context around some regional projects to change over the next few years. That has consequences for constraints mapping, Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) referrals, offset strategies and the way project teams engage with Traditional Owners and ranger groups.

Key details

The $11.31 million is allocated to start the process of establishing 16 IPAs, not to complete their dedication. IPAs are voluntary dedications made by Traditional Owners, established through consultation and managed by First Nations organisations and ranger groups. The figure of 18.207 million hectares is described as the potential addition to the NRS once dedication occurs, so it should be read as an upper limit. Final boundaries may differ from the areas currently under consideration as consultation progresses.

The new IPA projects cover habitat for three threatened species listed under the EPBC Act: the greater bilby (Macrotis lagotis), the princess parrot (Polytelis alexandrae) and the red goshawk (Erythrotriorchis radiatus). Each of these species is a matter of national environmental significance (MNES) under Part 3 of the EPBC Act. Any project with potential to significantly impact them already requires consideration for referral, regardless of whether an IPA is nearby.

The announcement prioritises conservation outcomes within Threatened Species Priority Places identified under the Commonwealth’s Threatened Species Action Plan. Two Priority Places named in the release are the South East Coastal Ranges and the Eastern Forests of Far North Queensland. The Priority Places framework directs Commonwealth investment towards landscapes where coordinated action is expected to deliver the greatest benefit for threatened species and ecological communities, so new protected areas in these locations reinforce existing policy focus rather than creating a new one.

The program also targets bioregions that are underrepresented in the current reserve system. The release specifically identifies the Sturt Plateau, Gulf Plains, and Gulf Fall and Uplands bioregions across northern Australia. The NRS is built on the principle of a comprehensive, adequate and representative reserve system, and filling gaps in poorly reserved bioregions is a stated objective. Projects in these bioregions are the most likely to see a material change in the surrounding protected area estate.

Australian context

An IPA does not create a new EPBC Act trigger. Most IPAs are not Commonwealth land and are not proclaimed Commonwealth reserves under Part 15 of the EPBC Act, which deals with protected areas, including Commonwealth reserves and conservation zones. Referral obligations under Part 3 continue to turn on MNES such as listed threatened species, listed threatened ecological communities, Ramsar wetlands and World Heritage properties. What changes is the ecological and land management context against which a referral is assessed, particularly when the Department considers habitat connectivity, cumulative impacts and the importance of habitat to the long-term survival of a listed species.

Spatial data is where most practitioners will first encounter these changes. The Collaborative Australian Protected Areas Database (CAPAD) and the Protected Matters Search Tool are the standard starting points for constraints reviews and preliminary EPBC assessments. Because the 16 projects are at the establishment stage, current datasets will not show final boundaries. A constraints report prepared today may describe a protected area setting that differs from the one a decision maker considers when the referral is lodged or the approval is reviewed. State datasets, such as protected area layers maintained by Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia, will also need to be checked, since dedication and recording processes do not always update at the same pace.

There is a site contamination angle for projects within or adjoining these areas. Under the National Environment Protection (Assessment of Site Contamination) Measure 1999, as amended in 2013 (NEPM 2013), the generic ecological investigation levels are not intended for areas of ecological significance, which require site-specific ecological risk assessment. For surface water and groundwater discharging to receiving environments of high conservation value, the Australian and New Zealand Guidelines for Fresh and Marine Water Quality (ANZG 2018) generally recommend applying the 99% species protection level rather than the default 95% level used for slightly to moderately disturbed systems. Consultants scoping investigations near proposed IPAs should confirm which protection level applies before setting assessment criteria.

References and related sources

• Primary source: minister.dcceew.gov.au
• youtube.com
• EPBC Act

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This is an iEnvi Machete news summary. Prepared by iEnvi to summarise the source article for contaminated land, groundwater, remediation, approvals and site risk professionals.

Published: 03 Nov 2026

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