The Environmental Defenders Office (Qld) Inc. (EDO Qld) was a non-profit, non-government

Community Legal Centre A community legal centre (CLC) is the Australian term for an independent not-for-profit organisation providing legal aid services, that is, provision of assistance to people who are unable to afford legal representation and access to the court ...

which was established in 1989. and is one of nine independent Environmental Defenders Offices located across Australia which collaborated in a loose network known as the EDOs of Australia. In 2019 EDO Qld merged with other EDOs around the country to form a new national organisation Environmental Defenders Office (EDO Ltd).

Background

The EDO's lawyers provide access to justice for the Queensland community by offering legal advice and education and engaging in policy and law reform. The work done by community legal centres specialising in public interest environmental law such as EDO Qld has been acknowledged. In a 2012 report into access to justice, the Commonwealth

Productivity Commission The Productivity Commission is the Australian Government's principal review and advisory body on microeconomic policy, regulation and a range of other social and environmental issues. The Productivity Commission was created as an independent ...

concluded that "there are strong grounds for the legal assistance sector to receive funding to undertake strategic advocacy, law reform and public interest litigation including in relation to environmental matters" given the important contribution the EDOs make to not only strengthening community rights but also the efficiency and effectiveness of Australia's environmental protection laws. This sentiment has been echoed members of the legal profession, including most notably the Honourable Judge Brian Preston, Chief Judge of the Planning and Environment Court of New South Wales, as well as Adrian Finanzio SC.

Priority areas

The 'priority areas' for the work of EDO Qld includes;

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

environmental planning Environmental planning is the process of facilitating decision making to carry out land development with the consideration given to the natural environment, social, political, economic and governance factors and provides a holistic framework to ac ...

and development,

biodiversity conservation Conservation biology is the study of the conservation of nature and of Earth's biodiversity with the aim of protecting species, their habitats, and ecosystems from excessive rates of extinction and the erosion of biotic interactions. It is an int ...

natural resource management Natural resource management (NRM) is the management of natural resources such as land, water, soil, plants and animals, with a particular focus on how management affects the quality of life for both present and future generations (stewardship). ...

(particularly

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic ...

and

coal seam gas Coalbed methane (CBM or coal-bed methane), coalbed gas, coal seam gas (CSG), or coal-mine methane (CMM) is a form of natural gas extracted from coal beds. In recent decades it has become an important source of energy in United States, Canada, Au ...

) and

environmental justice Environmental justice is a social movement to address the unfair exposure of poor and marginalized communities to harms from hazardous waste, resource extraction, and other land uses.Schlosberg, David. (2007) ''Defining Environmental Justice ...

Legal advice

The EDO helps people understand their legal rights and explains how to exercise them in relation to environmental issues that affect the broader community. They also ru
Court actions where there are serious questions of potential environmental harm

Key cases

While Queensland has no legal aid for public interest environmental law, EDO Qld, with the pro bono assistance of members of the Queensland bar and private donations, has managed a number of cases in Queensland. These include: * 'The Xstrata Climate Change Case': ''Queensland Conservation Council Inc v Xstrata Coal Queensland P/L'', ::

Queensland Conservation Council The Queensland Conservation Council (QCC) or Queensland Conservation is a non-governmental organisation that represents all the major conservation organisations of Queensland state in Australia. The organisation have been working to protect, cons ...

(QCC), the state's peak environmental body, represented by EDO Qld sought to have climate change impacts taken into account in the assessment of an application for a giant coal mine. In the initial hearing in Queensland's Land and Resources Tribunal the QCC's expert witnesses presented evidence that

greenhouse gas emissions Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities strengthen the greenhouse effect, contributing to climate change. Most is carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels: coal, oil, and natural gas. The largest emitters include coal in China and ...

cause

and resulting in great environmental harm, for example the

Great Barrier Reef The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over over an area of approximately . The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, ...

will suffer more frequent

bleaching Bleach is the generic name for any chemical product that is used industrially or domestically to remove color (whitening) from a fabric or fiber or to clean or to remove stains in a process called bleaching. It often refers specifically, to ...

events over the next few decades. At first instance, the Tribunal President, Mr. Koppenol rejected the QCC's submission that he have regard to

ecologically sustainable development Ecologically sustainable development is the environmental component of sustainable development. It can be achieved partially through the use of the precautionary principle; if there are threats of serious or irreversible environmental damage, lack ...

principles (ESD) to mitigate

environmental degradation Environmental degradation is the deterioration of the environment through depletion of resources such as quality of air, water and soil; the destruction of ecosystems; habitat destruction; the extinction of wildlife; and pollution. It is d ...

caused by

global warming In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in a broader sense also includes ...

as he was not convinced of the link between the emissions from the mine and harm caused by

. The QCC was awarded an appeal when the three judges of Queensland's Court of Appeal unanimously found that the QCC had been denied

natural justice In English law, natural justice is technical terminology for the rule against bias (''nemo iudex in causa sua'') and the right to a fair hearing ('' audi alteram partem''). While the term ''natural justice'' is often retained as a general co ...

. However, the very same day QCC won its appeal, the Queensland Government denied them the right to a retrial by announcing its intention to pass special legislation to validate the mining lease and environmental authority. Despite Parliament's protection of mining interests over the community’s legal right to uphold the principles of

, the case was successful in demonstrating the legal legitimacy of the issue and as the first step in an ongoing effort to compel governments to account for climate change impacts when they assess carbon-polluting development. A more detailed summary of the history of the case and its legal implications can be found at Environmental Law Australia. * 'The Nathan Dams Case': ''Queensland Conservation Council Inc v Minister for Environment and Heritage'', ::The EDO's successful running of the case ensured that Federal assessment of a proposed dam in Central Queensland would include consideration of the potential for pollution of the World Heritage area due to agriculture enabled by the dam development. By compelling the environment minister to consider these flow-on impacts, the case has considerably broadened the scope of federal environmental assessments. A more detailed summary of the history of the case and its legal implications can be found at Environmental Law Australia. * 'The Flying-Fox Case': ''Booth v Bosworth'',] ::The EDO Qld managed the case brought by conservationist Dr Carol Booth against a farmer using electric grids to kill the

spectacled flying fox The spectacled flying fox (''Pteropus conspicillatus''), also known as the spectacled fruit bat, is a megabat that lives in Australia's north-eastern regions of Queensland. It is also found in New Guinea and on the offshore islands including Wood ...

on one of Australia's largest lychee farms. This was the first case to be brought under the federal ''Environment Protection and Biological Conservation Act'' 1999 (Cth) (the EPBC Act). His honour Justice Branson granted an injunction restraining operation of the grid. The case demonstrated the power of third party standing under the EPBC Act and broadened the regulation of activities outside of World Heritage property if likely to have a 'significant impact' on world heritage values. The case also resulted in wide-ranging law reform and environmental protection including the Queensland government banning the use of lethal electric grids and the Federal government listed the spectacled flying-fox as vulnerable. A more detailed summary of the history of the case and its legal implications can be found at Environmental Law Australia.

Legal education

The EDO helps build the community's legal skills and knowledge, empowering them to facilitate public participation in environmental decision making. The organisation also runs workshops, and produce plain-English fact sheets, handbooks, and bulletins.

Law reform

Policy and law reform is an important part of the EDO's work.{{cite web, title=Law Reform News , url=https://www.edoqld.org.au/law_reform_news , website=Environmental Defender's Office, accessdate=25 February 2018 While the EDO does not campaign on particular environmental issues, the EDO frequently puts forward proposals suggesting ways that the law can be improved.

Footnotes

External links

Environmental Defenders Office (QLD) Inc.

EDOs of Australia
Environmental law in Australia Environment of Queensland