CEDA series spotlights need for unified approvals to unlock Australia’s potential

From Adelaide to Canberra, CEDA’s South Australia Environmental Approvals and Nature Impact event called on alignment of state and federal approvals systems.

Australia | Friday, 12 September 2025

At the recent CEDA South Australia Environmental Approvals and Nature Impact event in Adelaide, Matthew Uidam, Managing Director – Earth & Environment, led a cross-sector conversation that cut to the heart of Australia’s infrastructure and environmental challenge: fragmented approvals are stalling progress.

With South Australia advancing the Biodiversity Bill 2025 and federal updates to the EPBC Act, the opportunity is clear—build a system that works across sectors, jurisdictions, and industries.

Across sectors, the message is clear: fragmented approvals are stalling progress. We need unified action to create a system that enables investment, protects our environment, and delivers certainty.

Matthew Uidam Managing Director, Earth & Environment

Matthew Uidam Managing Director, Earth & Environment

South Australia is showing what’s possible when reform is pragmatic and values-driven. The question now is how to scale aspects of this nationally to turn approvals from a bottleneck into a strategic enabler for Australia’s future.

Unlocking digital approvals to accelerate infrastructure delivery

The CEDA Environmental Approvals & Nature Impact series has spotlighted urgent need to modernise environmental approvals through digital transformation. As part of its reform agenda, the South Australian government is exploring how data, automation, and modelling can streamline planning processes and reduce bottlenecks.

WSP’s Damien Cutcliffe, Director of Digital Services, emphasises that digital tools are not just enablers, they’re essential to unlocking productivity and certainty.

“We’re seeing a shift toward embedding digital workflows at the front end of approvals. This means using geospatial data, scenario modelling, and automated compliance checks to reduce rework and accelerate timelines,” he says.

To further drive progress at a national level, there’s an emerging need to embed digital workflows early, integrate data to reduce duplication, detect risk and compliance gaps early, and build digital literacy across planning teams and regulatory authorities.

Digital transformation in approvals isn’t just about speed. It’s about smarter, more transparent decision-making that builds trust with industry, communities and regulators.

Damien Cutcliffe Director of Digital Services

Damien Cutcliffe Director of Digital Services

Strengthening mining approvals to support critical minerals growth

The mining sector’s role in enabling Australia’s green transition will be shaped by many factors, with the new biodiversity act expected to play a part in easing approvals. This challenge was central to the CEDA Environmental Approvals & Nature Impact South Australia event for 2025. With demand for critical minerals rising, the focus is shifting to how approvals can better support domestic processing and green metals production.

WSP’s Beatrice Magner, a Senior Project Manager in the Mining & Metals business, notes that while streamlining the approval process is welcome, it must be matched by providing clarity of expectations, collaboration with regulators and accelerated pathways to de-risk upstream mining projects.

“We need to ensure that mining approvals are aligned with downstream processing goals. That means faster, clearer pathways for projects that are focused on decarbonisation,” she says.

In addition to the overwhelming need to align state and federal processes across state and federal jurisdictions, WSP recommends clarifying biodiversity and land access guidance, strengthening First Nations engagement, and ensuring approvals timelines match downstream investment cycles.

Green metals are the backbone of decarbonisation. Unlocking their potential requires a clear, coordinated and investment-ready approvals process. A streamlined approvals process, coupled with early collaboration will give industry better certainty to deliver the projects that drive our low-carbon future.

Beatrice Magner Senior Project Manager

Beatrice Magner Senior Project Manager

Reforming energy approvals to supercharge the transition

South Australia is at a pivotal moment in reshaping its environmental approvals landscape. With the introduction of new fit-for-purpose legislation and efforts to integrate approvals pathways across all levels of government, the state is demonstrating how a pragmatic and values-based system can benefit developers, communities, and the environment alike.

WSP’s Bronte Nixon, Technical Executive for Environment, Planning and Approvals, emphasises that while progress is evident, challenges remain. “We’re in a period of flux. Reform is promising, but change can create uncertainty. We need clarity and consistency to give investors’ confidence,” Bronte says.

“If my career in the infrastructure and renewable energy environmental approvals industry has taught me anything, it’s that minimising risk wherever possible is critical to a smooth approvals pathway; and one of the best ways to minimise risk is through investment in early environmental assessments and technical studies.”

Approvals should be enablers, not barriers. We need to move from reactive compliance to proactive planning that is underpinned by the general principles of EIA.

Bronte Nixon Technical Executive for Environment, Planning and Approvals

Bronte Nixon Technical Executive for Environment, Planning and Approvals

This insight underscores the importance of front-loading environmental work to avoid costly delays later. “This is critical to avoiding delays when designs inevitably change,” she notes.

“Rather than viewing approvals as red tape, we need to see them as a tool for driving productivity and positive environmental outcomes,” Bronte adds. “The question now is how we make an integrated approvals vision a reality in a system still subject to multiple layers of duplication.”