The Australian Government needs to Clean Up Their Duty of Care Act
Illustrated by Megan Adrain.
Australia is a big contributor to climate change with Australia being the highest emitter of CO2 per person in the world and if strong enough actions are not taken to address the climate crisis, there will be serious consequences such as an increase in natural disasters, species becoming extinct, a rise in global temperatures, and growth in illness rates.
Some of these things are already starting to take effect, which is why the Australian Government’s duty of care to reduce national emissions needs to be officially recognised in Australian law.
‘Duty of care’ is a legal term which describes the obligation of a person/party to avoid acts that will foreseeably lead to the harm of another person/party through infringement of their rights.
The Australian Government is responsible for representing the views of Australians and upholding their rights; therefore, the Government has a duty of care to prevent environmental issues from damaging current and future living standards.
The Australian Government has been working towards a more environmentally friendly nation through initiatives such as being a signatory to the Paris Agreement, the Climate Change Act 2022 (CCA), and at this year’s COP28 climate summit pledging to triple global renewable energy capacity along with 117 other countries.
The Paris Agreement aims to “strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change.”
Although this sounds impressive, it is only an agreement and does not have any legal force in Australia until the Government introduces domestic law addressing the issue.
Luckily for Australia, the Government did fulfil their responsibility and passed the CCA which aims to hold the Government accountable through actively reducing the country’s emissions.
The CCA is a step in the right direction but there is still more that can be done.
In the process of writing the CCA, the Climate Change Authority, an investigative committee, wrote a report with recommendations as to what should be included in the Act and the targets that need to be met.
Despite the report recommending a more ambitious reduction target, the Australian Government’s plan in the Act does not even meet the minimum recommendations.
The CCA does not only fail to meet the minimum recommendations, but it also primarily relies on the existing safeguard mechanism.
The safeguard mechanism uses taxes to prevent major industrial groups from increasing air pollution and is a preventative measure rather than a reduction of emissions.
While it is of priority that the Australian Government combats climate change, they also have a responsibility to ensure a dynamic economy in the process of transitioning to an environmentally friendly nation.
Achieving a ‘green economy’ requires the Government to have a new focus and outlook on financial systems, investment, and employment.
In 2021, Australian governments invested a total of $11.6 billion into the fossil fuel industry.
Instead of using all of this money to power the fossil fuel industry, some of the money could be redirected towards training workers in the mining industry in new climate-friendly jobs.
The Australian Government could also use the responsibility of combating the climate crisis as an opportunity to implement Indigenous Land Management (ILM) methods more broadly.
Through their knowledge of and connection to country, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people use land management activities that work with the environment.
Standard techniques of ILM include traditional burning, sowing, and storing plants, which in turn create sustainable systems.
A recent government-supported savanna burning project in the Daly River region helped to reduce the severity of late season fires and in turn, it reduced wildfires from 69% to 3%.
The Australian Government can fulfil their responsibility by working alongside Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to implement more ILM techniques, creating employment opportunities while decreasing harm to the environment.
As you can see, there is still more that can be done to properly address the climate crisis and there have been attempts to prevent the Australian Government from further contributing to climate change such as the Sharma v The Minister for the Environment case.
In 2020, Anjali Sharma and several other young people attempted to sue the Federal Minister for the Environment for not taking their duty of care to protect the environment seriously after approving the expansion of a mine.
The Federal Court of Australia concluded that “the Minister has a duty to take reasonable care to avoid causing personal injury to the children when deciding…to approve or not approve the Extension Project,” on the grounds that mining coal would contribute to climate change causing harm to young people.
However, on appeal and after the decision was reviewed by a higher-ranking court, the decision was overturned for various reasons including that human safety was implied.
An implied consideration regarding human safety is clearly not enough to ensure the Government recognises the impact of climate change.
Similar cases have been made in other countries, which have successfully impacted their government’s response to the climate crisis.
A Dutch environmental group, the Urgenda Foundation, sued the Dutch Government, resulting in requiring the Government to do more to prevent climate change, proving that change within the environmental legal sector is possible.
Following Anjali Sharma’s failed attempt to sue the Minister for the Environment, Anjali has partnered with Senator David Pocock to develop a bill which formally recognises the Government’s duty of care regarding the environment and climate change.
Anjali and Senator Pocock need support behind the bill, which is why they have started a petition, that anyone can sign to help formally recognise the Australian Government’s duty of care to protect the environment.
If you are passionate about creating a more environmentally conscious society and want to help ensure the Government is doing enough to address the climate crisis, you can sign the petition now using the link below.
Reference List
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