Environmental Legislation Victoria: What Businesses Need to Know in 2026

The Environment Protection Authority Victoria has made one thing clear in recent years: the era of light-touch environmental oversight is over. Since the commencement of the Environment Protection Act 2017, EPA Victoria has operated with significantly expanded enforcement powers, a broader mandate, and a willingness to use both. Businesses of all sizes — from major manufacturers to small construction contractors — are now operating under a fundamentally different compliance framework, one that places the responsibility to proactively identify and manage environmental risks squarely on the duty holder.

For Victorian businesses, understanding what the law requires is not just a compliance exercise. Non-compliance carries real financial consequences: fines of up to $1,814,400 per offence for companies, along with prohibition notices that can halt operations and prosecution in serious cases. In 2026, with EPA Victoria continuing to refine its enforcement approach, businesses that are not actively tracking their environmental obligations are running a risk they may not fully appreciate.

This guide explains the key legislation, what your obligations are, how EPA Victoria enforces the law, and how to build a compliance system that keeps your business on the right side of Victoria’s environmental framework.

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Overview of Environmental Legislation in Victoria

The primary piece of environmental legislation in Victoria is the Environment Protection Act 2017 (Vic), which commenced fully on 1 July 2021 after a transition period. It replaced the previous Environment Protection Act 1970 — a law that had governed Victorian environmental protection for over five decades — with a modern, proactive framework aligned with contemporary risk management principles.

The shift was significant. The old Act was largely reactive: it set standards, and the EPA took action when those standards were breached. The new Act is fundamentally different in philosophy. It does not just prohibit harmful conduct — it requires businesses to actively manage the risk of environmental harm before it occurs.

The centrepiece of the new framework is the General Environmental Duty (GED). Enshrined in section 25 of the Act, the GED requires any person conducting an activity that may give rise to risks of harm to human health or the environment from pollution or waste to take reasonably practicable steps to minimise those risks. This is a positive, ongoing obligation — not a reactive one.

Several other pieces of legislation interact with the Environment Protection Act 2017 to complete the Victorian environmental framework:

• The Environment Protection Regulations 2021, which provide detailed technical requirements supporting the Act, including thresholds, standards, and procedural rules across waste, noise, and industrial activities
• The Environment Reference Standard, which sets out the environmental quality benchmarks against which harm is assessed
• The Contaminated Land provisions under Part 4 of the Act, which establish obligations around managing land contamination and remediation
• The Dangerous Goods Act 1985 and associated regulations, which interact with environmental obligations in the storage and handling of hazardous materials

Together, these instruments create a comprehensive framework that Victorian businesses need to understand — not just in principle, but in terms of what they mean for day-to-day operations.

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Key Environmental Obligations for Victorian Businesses

The General Environmental Duty

The General Environmental Duty is the foundation of environmental compliance in Victoria. It applies to virtually every business in the state. If your business conducts any activity — manufacturing, construction, farming, retail, hospitality, or professional services — that could give rise to pollution or waste that harms human health or the environment, the GED applies to you.

The duty requires you to take reasonably practicable steps to minimise those risks. In practice, this means:

• Identifying the environmental risks associated with your activities
• Understanding how those risks could cause harm
• Implementing controls proportionate to the level of risk
• Reviewing and maintaining those controls on an ongoing basis

“Reasonably practicable” is assessed by reference to the likelihood and severity of the harm, the degree of control you have over the risk, the availability and suitability of ways to minimise the risk, and the cost of taking action relative to the risk involved. Businesses with higher-risk activities are expected to take more extensive steps.

Waste Management

Victoria’s waste management obligations under the Environment Protection Act 2017 and Regulations are detailed and prescriptive. Key requirements include:

• Correctly classifying waste before it is transported or disposed of — different categories of waste (general, prescribed industrial waste, hazardous waste) are subject to different handling and disposal rules
• Engaging only licensed waste transporters and disposal facilities — using an unlicensed contractor does not transfer your liability; you remain responsible for your waste’s ultimate destination
• Maintaining waste records to demonstrate that waste has been managed lawfully — EPA Victoria can and does audit these records
• Preventing waste from causing environmental harm during on-site storage, including preventing runoff, spillage, or contamination of soil and groundwater

Contaminated Land

Victoria has specific obligations around contaminated land under Part 4 of the Environment Protection Act 2017. If your business activities have caused or may have caused land contamination — for example, through chemical spills, fuel storage, or historical industrial activities — you may have obligations to investigate and remediate the contamination. Section 35 of the Act establishes a duty to notify EPA Victoria if you become aware that land is contaminated above specified thresholds.

Noise Emissions

Businesses must not emit unreasonable noise from non-residential premises, with specific regulations governing commercial, industrial, and trade noise. Prescribed noise levels for industrial and commercial premises are set out in the Environment Protection Regulations 2021. EPA Victoria can issue noise abatement notices, and failure to comply can result in significant penalties.

Air Emissions and Pollution to Water

Discharging pollutants to the air or to waterways without appropriate authorisation, or in a manner that causes harm, breaches the Act. Businesses that operate with scheduled premises licences (issued by EPA Victoria for certain high-risk activities) must comply with specific licence conditions covering emissions, monitoring, and reporting.

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Who Does Victoria’s Environmental Legislation Apply To?

The short answer is: almost every business operating in Victoria.

The General Environmental Duty applies to any person or organisation whose activities may create environmental risk. This is deliberately broad — it captures large manufacturers and small sole traders, construction companies and retail outlets, agricultural operations and professional service firms.

Size does not provide an exemption. Small businesses are not excluded from the GED. The concept of “reasonably practicable” does, however, mean that the steps expected of a small café are different from those expected of a chemical manufacturer. The risk profile and resources of the business are factored into what compliance looks like — but the obligation to comply exists regardless.

Certain sectors carry heightened obligations. Businesses in the following sectors are likely to have more complex compliance requirements and should pay particular attention to their environmental legislation obligations:

• Manufacturing and industrial operations — particularly those handling chemicals, solvents, heavy metals, or generating significant waste or emissions
• Construction and demolition — with obligations around dust, noise, waste, and contamination of soil and stormwater
• Agriculture and food production — including obligations around nutrient runoff, irrigation discharge, and pesticide management
• Transport and logistics — with exposure to fuel spillage, vehicle emissions, and waste management obligations
• Retail and hospitality — with obligations around waste management, packaging, and grease trap maintenance
• Property developers — particularly those working on sites with existing contamination history

Businesses that operate as scheduled premises under EPA Victoria’s licensing regime have additional obligations under their licence conditions, which sit on top of the General Environmental Duty and the broader legislative framework.

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EPA Victoria Enforcement: What to Expect

EPA Victoria takes a risk-based, escalating approach to compliance and enforcement. The starting point is education and support — EPA provides guidance, tools, and resources to help businesses understand their obligations. But where businesses fail to comply, EPA has a broad range of enforcement tools at its disposal and is not reluctant to use them.

Compliance notices (improvement notices) are issued when EPA identifies that a business is not complying with its obligations and requires specific remedial action within a defined timeframe. These are typically used for lower-level or first-time non-compliance.

Prohibition notices are more serious. They can halt or restrict specific activities or operations until compliance is achieved. For many businesses, a prohibition notice represents a significant operational disruption — and the reputational consequences can extend well beyond the notice period.

Clean-up notices can require a business to remediate contamination or clean up pollution it has caused, at the business’s own expense. Where a business fails to comply with a clean-up notice, EPA can arrange the work and recover the costs.

Infringement notices (on-the-spot fines) can be issued for specific offences, providing a faster enforcement mechanism for clear-cut contraventions.

Prosecution is reserved for the most serious cases — deliberate or reckless conduct, persistent non-compliance, or incidents that cause significant harm. Conviction can result in fines of up to $907,200 for individuals and $1,814,400 for companies per offence, as well as adverse publicity orders, court-ordered remediation, and, in extreme cases, imprisonment.

EPA Victoria has also been clear that businesses that are cooperative, transparent, and proactive in managing risks will be treated differently from those that are evasive or resistant. How you respond to an EPA inquiry or inspection can significantly influence the enforcement outcome.

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Environmental Compliance Register: What to Track

A compliance register is a structured record of all the environmental obligations that apply to your business, along with evidence that you are meeting them. For Victorian businesses operating under the Environment Protection Act 2017, a well-maintained compliance register is one of the most valuable tools you can have — both for internal management and for demonstrating compliance to EPA Victoria.

Your environmental compliance register for Victoria should capture:

Applicable legislation and obligations. List each relevant law, regulation, licence condition, or environmental duty that applies to your business. This includes the General Environmental Duty, any scheduled premises licence conditions, waste management obligations under the Regulations, and any specific obligations arising from past EPA notices or agreements.

Obligation details. For each obligation, record precisely what is required: what action must be taken, what standard must be met, and when compliance must be demonstrated.

Compliance status. Track whether each obligation is currently being met, partially met, or not yet met. This gives you a real-time view of your compliance position.

Evidence of compliance. Record what evidence you hold to demonstrate that an obligation is being met — inspection records, monitoring data, training certificates, waste manifests, maintenance logs. In the event of an EPA audit or investigation, your ability to produce evidence quickly matters.

Responsible owner. Assign a named individual to each obligation. Without clear ownership, compliance activities can fall through the cracks, especially in larger organisations.

Review dates. Obligations need to be reviewed regularly, and whenever your operations change. A new process, a new site, a new supplier, or a change in the law may affect your obligations.

Actions and remediation. Where a gap is identified, record the corrective action being taken, who is responsible, and the target completion date.

Tracking this in a spreadsheet is possible for simple operations, but it becomes difficult to manage and audit as the number of obligations grows. A dedicated compliance management system gives you greater confidence that nothing is being missed.

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How to Stay Compliant with Victorian Environmental Law

Compliance with Victorian environmental legislation is not a once-a-year activity — it is an ongoing operational discipline. These steps will help your business build a sustainable compliance approach.

Start with a compliance gap assessment. Map your activities against your obligations under the Environment Protection Act 2017 and the Regulations. Where are the gaps? What controls are missing? A structured baseline assessment gives you the foundation for everything that follows.

Implement the General Environmental Duty systematically. The GED is not prescriptive, which means you have flexibility in how you meet it — but that flexibility also requires you to make deliberate decisions. Document the environmental risks associated with your activities, the controls you have in place, and how you know those controls are working.

Obtain the right licences and permits. If your activities are classified as scheduled premises under the Environment Protection Regulations, ensure you hold the appropriate EPA Victoria licence and are complying with all licence conditions. Operating without required authorisations is a serious breach.

Train your people. Environmental compliance is not purely a management responsibility. The people on the ground — site workers, operations staff, logistics teams — need to understand what is expected of them and why. Regular, documented training is both a compliance measure and an important defence if something goes wrong.

Maintain detailed records. EPA Victoria expects businesses to be able to demonstrate their compliance with evidence. Waste manifests, inspection logs, incident reports, monitoring data, and training records should all be retained in an organised, accessible format.

Review obligations when your operations change. Any significant change to your operations — a new process, a new chemical, a new site, a change in waste volumes — should trigger a review of your environmental obligations. What was sufficient before may no longer be adequate.

Engage with EPA proactively. If you are uncertain about your obligations, or if an incident occurs, engaging with EPA Victoria proactively and transparently is almost always a better approach than hoping the issue goes unnoticed. EPA’s approach to enforcement reflects the attitude and conduct of the business involved.

Conduct regular internal audits. An annual internal audit of your environmental compliance position — measured against your register — helps catch gaps before they become problems. For larger or higher-risk operations, consider commissioning an independent environmental audit periodically.

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How Lahebo Helps Victorian Businesses Track Environmental Obligations

Keeping track of environmental compliance obligations in Victoria is complex. Obligations are spread across multiple pieces of legislation, change as your operations evolve, and require ongoing evidence to demonstrate compliance. Trying to manage this in spreadsheets or paper-based systems creates significant operational and compliance risk.

Lahebo is GRC software built for Australian businesses, and its compliance register module is purpose-designed for exactly this challenge. With Lahebo, Victorian businesses can:

• Build and maintain a centralised compliance register that captures all environmental obligations in one place — legislation, licence conditions, regulatory requirements, and internal policies
• Assign ownership and set review reminders so that every obligation has a named owner and is never left to go stale
• Track compliance status and evidence against each obligation, giving you a real-time view of your compliance position at any time
• Log incidents and corrective actions linked directly to the relevant obligation, creating an auditable trail of how issues were identified and resolved
• Generate compliance reports for leadership, boards, and EPA Victoria in minutes — not days

For Victorian businesses operating under the Environment Protection Act 2017, Lahebo turns a complex, high-stakes compliance landscape into something manageable and transparent.

Explore Lahebo’s compliance register or book a demo to see how it works for your business.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Manage Your Victorian Environmental Compliance with Confidence

Environmental compliance in Victoria is not getting simpler. EPA Victoria has the powers, the resources, and the intent to hold businesses accountable — and the obligations under the Environment Protection Act 2017 apply across the economy, not just to heavy industry.

Whether you are navigating the General Environmental Duty for the first time, managing a scheduled premises licence, or trying to bring order to a scattered collection of compliance records, Lahebo gives you the structure and visibility to stay on top of your obligations.

Explore Lahebo’s compliance register or book a demo to see how Australian businesses are using Lahebo to manage their environmental compliance obligations.