Independent Review of the Climate Change Act 2010

The Terms of Reference for the review of the Climate Change Act 2010 focused on examining:

• the effectiveness of the Act in achieving its objectives;
• whether it provided a strong foundation for both mitigation and adaptation action; and
• whether it was sufficiently robust to deal with changes over time.

Read the full Terms of Reference (PDF, 259.7 KB)

The Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Water appointed the Independent Review Committee to conduct the review in mid-2015. The members were:

• Martijn Wilder AM (Chair)
• Anna Skarbek
• Professor Rosemary Lyster

All three members are highly regarded and possess extensive legislative and climate change expertise. The Committee was supported by a small secretariat from DELWP. The views and recommendations in the final report of the Review are those of the Committee.

Martijn Wilder AM - Martijn is head of law firm Baker and McKenzie’s Global Environmental Markets practice and Chairman of its Law for Development Initiative. Martijn is a Director of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, Chair of the NSW Climate Change Council, Governing board member of the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership, a Director and Governor of WWF, a Director of the Climate Council, and a member of the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists. He is an Adjunct Professor of Law at the Australian National University.

Anna Skarbek - Anna is CEO of ClimateWorks Australia, leading the organisation's work in analysing emissions reduction opportunities and partnering with business and government on unblocking barriers to their implementation. Anna is also a Director of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, a trustee of the Sustainable Melbourne Fund, member of the South Australian Government’s Low Carbon Economy Expert Panel, and the Grattan Institute’s Energy Program Reference Panel.

Professor Rosemary Lyster - Rosemary is the Professor of Climate and Environmental Law at Sydney Law School, The University of Sydney. She is also the Director of the faculty’s Australian Centre for Climate and Environmental Law. In 2013, Rosemary was appointed a Herbert Smith Freehills Visiting Professor at Cambridge Law School and was a Visiting Scholar at Trinity College, Cambridge in 2009 and in 2014. Rosemary is internationally recognised for her research in the area of climate law spanning almost two decades.

During the Independent Review, a public submissions process was conducted from 6 July to 10 August 2015.

103 unique submissions were received from organisations and individuals. A further 1556 submissions were received from campaigns coordinated by two organisations. Submissions were considered by the Independent Review Committee as it developed its report to Government.

The Climate Change Act 2010 was passed by the Victorian Parliament in September 2010 and came into effect on 1 July 2011. The Act was reviewed in late 2011, triggered by the introduction of the Clean Energy Act 2011 by the Commonwealth Government.

The 2015 Independent Review was required under section 18 of the Act.