Part Two Review of the Act

Under the Climate Change (State Action) Act 2008 (the Act), the operation of the Act must be reviewed every four years, with the report on the first review tabled in Parliament by 31 December 2012. The inaugural review of the Act was undertaken in two parts during 2012.

The part one review focussed on the performance of the Tasmanian Climate Action Council (TCAC). Details about the Part 1 Review are available here.

In May 2012, consultant Sinclair Knight Merz Pty Ltd was engaged by the Tasmanian Climate Change Office (TCCO) to undertake the part two review of the Act. The part two review considered the operation of the remaining sections of the Act not relating to TCAC. The focus of the Part Two Review was on:

• how effective the Act is at supporting achievement of its primary objectives;
• the extent to which the Act complements the Australian Government's Clean Energy Future legislation;
• opportunities for better integration with other Tasmanian legislation; and
• suggested amendments to the Act, if they are deemed to be required.

The review included a four week period of public consultation on the objects and regulation-setting powers of the Act. An Issues Paper was released to assist stakeholders provide input to the review. Links to the Issues Paper and submissions received in response to this consultation document can be found below.

Sinclair Knight Merz Pty Ltd presented a report on its findings, titled Review Of The Climate Change (State Action) Act 2008 – Part Two (the Report) to the Minister for Climate Change on 19 October 2012 and it was tabled in Parliament on 13 November 2012. The Report provides five key recommendations which can be summarised as follows:

• Tasmania's 2050 target be retained
• Minor amendments are made to the Act to strengthen the objectives, clarify roles and responsibilities and include the 2050 emission reduction target baseline measurement
• No regulations need to be introduced at this time
• Consideration be given to setting interim policy targets to assist in understanding how Tasmania is tracking in terms of meeting the 2050 legislated target
• The State has a role in facilitation and monitoring and being ready to act if market failures are identified or changes occur at the national level.

The Tasmanian Government responded to the Report on 22 April 2013. Links to the Report and the Government’s response to it, can be found below.

Related documents

Scope of the Review of the Climate Change (State Action) Act 2008  (PDF, 203KB)

Part One Review – Performance of the Tasmanian Climate Action Council

Issues Paper – Part 2 Review  (PDF, 563KB)

Submissions Received In Response to Issues Paper

Final Report: Review of the Climate Change (State Action) Act 2008 – Part Two  (PDF, 1.1MB)

Tasmanian Government Response: Part 2 Review of the Climate Change Act  (PDF, 155KB)