We presented at the Law Society’s Word Environment Day CPD Seminar: Are WA’s Law in Good Shape?’ on the legal framework of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in Western Australia. Here is a summary of the assessment.

At a time when the State is centralising and, in some respects, relaxing planning laws, a recent Supreme Court decision is an important reminder that the courts will place limits on the power of decision making bodies.

The Amendment Act provides a range of changes to the Land Administration Act 1997 that are aimed at modernising and streamlining land tenure arrangements on Crown land. A key change from the Amendment Act is the introduction of a “diversification lease.”

A recent decision from the United Kingdom Supreme Court has brought nuisance as a cause of action for environmental damage into the spotlight. In Jalla v Shell International Trading and Shipping Company, ongoing environmental damage from an oil spill off the coast of Nigeria was not held to be an “ongoing nuisance”.