23/06/2025
South Australia has passed its first-ever Biodiversity Act, marking a major milestone in protecting native plants, animals, and ecosystems - while also helping to address the impacts of climate change.
Key highlights:
✅ Stronger native vegetation laws
✅ Tougher penalties for harming wildlife and illegal clearance of native habitat
✅ New protections for critical habitats and threatened ecological communities
✅ A general duty for all South Australians to protect biodiversity
✅ A nationally consistent process to recognise and list threatened species
The Biodiversity Act consolidates biodiversity protections which were previously spread across several pieces of legislation, and was developed with input from scientists, economists, primary producers, miners and development planners.
