The Government secured support from across the NSW Parliament to implement the ban, making New South Wales the first state in Australia to prohibit seabed petroleum and mineral exploration and mining.

The Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment (Seabed Mining and Exploration) Bill 2024 amends the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 to prohibit:

Seabed petroleum and mineral exploration and recovery in NSW coastal waters

Other development within the state for the purposes of seabed petroleum and mineral exploration and recovery anywhere.

The Bill reaffirms the NSW Government’s commitment to protecting NSW coastal waters from offshore mining activities.

These activities can have a devastating effect on our marine wildlife by releasing toxic materials, destroying habitat and creating harmful sediment levels. We must prevent this happening.

The bill is designed to stop severe environmental damage that can result from offshore exploration and drilling including oil spills and greenhouse gas emissions.

The ban exempts coastal protection works including beach nourishment and beach scraping, which involves removing a layer of sand from the foreshore and transferring it to a different location on that same beach. This strengthens beaches, dunes and cliff systems from erosion.

Certain dredging activities, not involving mineral exploration or recovery, which are required as routine practice with environmental and economic benefits will also continue. This includes laying pipelines or submarine cables.

No other state or territory has acted so comprehensively to prevent the severe environmental impacts that can result from offshore exploration.