The Environment and Other Legislation Amendment (Low Emissions Future) Bill 2025 amends four Commonwealth Acts to bring "clean emissions energy technologies" — explicitly including civil nuclear energy and related technologies — within the Australian Renewable Energy Agency’s statutory language and advice functions. It also replaces the Clean Energy Finance Corporation’s prohibited‑technology test so that only carbon capture and storage is categorically excluded.
The bill repeals section 10 of the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Act 1998 and removes several provisions of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.
The package is a structural shift: it changes statutory mandates and finance constraints rather than creating new licensing or safety regimes. Practically, the amendments broaden the pool of technologies eligible for ARENA support and CEFC investment, while creating a set of implementation and regulatory questions about environmental approvals, radiation regulation, and how federal funding will interact with state planning and existing statutory frameworks.
At a Glance
What It Does
The bill inserts a statutory definition of "clean emissions energy technologies" that includes civil nuclear energy, amends ARENA’s objects and advisory functions to cover those technologies, substitutes the CEFC’s prohibited‑technology rule to prohibit only carbon capture and storage, and repeals targeted provisions in the ARPANS Act and the EPBC Act.
Who It Affects
Directly affected parties include ARENA and CEFC governance and program teams, project developers and investors in nuclear and enabling technologies, Commonwealth regulators responsible for radiation safety and environmental approvals, and state planning authorities that host major energy projects.
Why It Matters
By changing what technologies federal agencies can support and finance, the bill shifts funding pathways and removes statutory constraints that previously limited certain low‑emissions technologies. That alters commercial incentives and regulatory workloads without establishing new safety, licensing or approvals processes in this text.
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What This Bill Actually Does
The bill adds a new, statutory category called "clean emissions energy technologies" to the Australian Renewable Energy Agency Act 2011. That definition explicitly lists "civil nuclear energy and nuclear technologies" and also covers "technologies (including enabling technologies)" related to the clean‑emissions category.
The change is integrated into ARENA’s objects and into multiple provisions that describe ARENA’s remit, program scope and advisory functions, so ARENA’s statutory tasks will include advising on competitiveness, supply, skills and uptake for these newly covered technologies.
On finance, the bill replaces section 62 of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation Act 2012 with a tightly worded rule: an investment is a prohibited technology investment only if it is an investment in technology for carbon capture and storage (as defined in the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act 2007). The practical effect is that CEFC’s statutory bar on certain technologies is narrowed to CCS alone, allowing the Corporation to consider investments in other technologies not expressly prohibited by the substituted text, including those the bill defines as "clean emissions."The bill also repeals section 10 of the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Act 1998 and removes several specified sections and subsections of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (including sections 37J, 140A, 146M and certain paragraphs of section 305).
Those repeals delete named statutory provisions but do not, in this legislation, replace them with new licensing, environmental assessment or waste‑management frameworks. Because the bill changes statutory roles and finance rules without adding new regulatory processes, practical implementation will depend on how existing regulators and agencies interpret and operationalise their amended mandates.Taken together, the amendments reallocate statutory responsibility and expand the pool of technologies eligible for government support and commercially oriented public financing.
They do not create a parallel safety or approvals regime for nuclear projects, nor do they address detailed matters such as site licensing, waste management, or state‑level planning — matters stakeholders will need to resolve through existing regulatory instruments, further legislation, or intergovernmental arrangements.
The Five Things You Need to Know
The bill inserts a definition in the ARENA Act: "clean emissions energy technologies includes: (a) civil nuclear energy and nuclear technologies; and (b) technologies (including enabling technologies) that are related to clean emissions energy technologies.", Multiple ARENA Act provisions are amended so ARENA’s objects, functions and advisory duties explicitly cover "clean emissions energy technologies," including provision of advice about competitiveness, supply, skills and uptake.
The bill repeals section 10 of the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Act 1998 (item 1 in Schedule 1).
It substitutes section 62 of the CEFC Act so that the Corporation’s prohibited technology test reads: an investment is prohibited only if it is an investment in technology for carbon capture and storage (within the meaning of the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act 2007).
The legislation repeals several EPBC Act provisions by number (sections 37J, 140A, 146M and selected parts of section 305), removing those specific environmental‑law provisions rather than replacing them with new EPBC controls for the affected activities.
Section-by-Section Breakdown
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Repeal of ARPANS Act section 10
The bill repeals section 10 of the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Act 1998. The text does not substitute replacement language, so the statutory change must be read against the rest of the ARPANS Act and associated regulations. For regulators and lawyers this is consequential: a repeal can remove a definitional rule, a prohibition, or an operational power that previously informed licensing and oversight. Agencies will need to map which operational consequences follow from the removal and whether delegated or subordinate instruments require amendment.
Adds 'clean emissions energy technologies' (including civil nuclear) to ARENA’s remit
These items weave the new "clean emissions" language through ARENA’s core provisions: the objects (paragraphs 3(a) and 3(b)), the definition section, and ARENA’s functions and advisory clauses (notably paragraph 8(d) and related cross‑references). Practically, ARENA’s statutory tasks will now include advising the Minister on and supporting development, competitiveness, skills and uptake for civil nuclear and other enabling technologies. The amendments also add the phrase to a range of operational provisions that govern program eligibility and the agency’s scope of activity, expanding the kinds of projects ARENA may design, fund or evaluate under its existing statutory powers.
Substitution of CEFC Act s62 — limits prohibited technology to CCS
The substituted section 62 redefines "prohibited technology" so it covers only technology for carbon capture and storage (as defined in the NGER Act). That is a narrow, categorical prohibition and — by omission — removes previous statutory prohibitions on other technologies from the CEFC’s construction of its investment mandate. The immediate implication is that the CEFC can consider investments in technologies not expressly prohibited (including those classified by this bill as "clean emissions"). The CEFC’s investment guidelines and risk frameworks will need updating to reflect the new statutory baseline.
Repeals of specified EPBC Act provisions
The bill removes sections 37J, 140A and 146M of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 and deletes specified paragraph(s) and a subsection in section 305. Those provisions are excised without replacement language in this bill. The deleted provisions may have previously governed how particular actions or approvals were treated under national environmental law; their repeal could change how federal environmental assessment or referral requirements apply to affected projects, but the precise administrative outcome will depend on how the remaining EPBC framework and administrative practice absorb the change.
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Explore Energy in Codify Search →Who Benefits and Who Bears the Cost
Every bill creates winners and losers. Here's who stands to gain and who bears the cost.
Who Benefits
- Nuclear project developers and technology vendors — the statutory definition explicitly brings civil nuclear and related enabling technologies within ARENA’s remit and removes CEFC barriers, unlocking new potential sources of federal technical support and patient capital.
- ARENA and CEFC program teams and boards — both agencies gain clearer statutory authority to design programs, provide advice and consider financing for a broader set of low‑emissions technologies, expanding their operational footprints and policy influence.
- Private investors and institutional capital interested in large‑scale low‑emissions projects — the narrowing of CEFC’s prohibited list to carbon capture and storage increases the pool of technologies the Corporation can co‑finance, which may de‑risk early‑stage capital for projects now classed as "clean emissions."
- Supply‑chain firms and engineering contractors focused on nuclear and enabling technologies — expanded government backing and financing pathways can create demand for specialist domestic capability, skills development and industrial participation.
- The Minister and Commonwealth policy staff — the amended advisory clauses require ARENA to provide explicit advice on competitiveness, skills and uptake, giving the Commonwealth more formal policy inputs from the agency for national planning.
Who Bears the Cost
- Commonwealth regulators (including the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment and radiation regulators) — they must interpret deleted provisions, adapt administrative processes, update guidance materials, and potentially manage an increased workload from proposals using new funding pathways.
- State and territory planning and environmental authorities — as federal agencies expand support for technologies like nuclear, states will confront additional project applications, consents and community consultation demands without parallel federal licensing detail in this bill.
- Taxpayers and CEFC governance — broadening CEFC’s investible universe may increase exposure to long‑horizon capital risk and politically sensitive investments; contingent fiscal implications fall to the Commonwealth if projects require subsidies or public recapitalisation.
- Environmental and community groups — with statutory constraints relaxed and new support pathways available, groups may face faster commercial momentum for projects they oppose and may need to engage in more legal and policy advocacy.
- ARENA’s renewables program stakeholders — expanding ARENA’s remit could shift agency attention and resources, creating opportunity‑cost tensions for programs focused on wind, solar and storage.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
The bill forces a classic trade‑off: accelerate decarbonisation by widening federal funding and finance pathways for technologies such as civil nuclear, versus preserving a clear, robust regulatory and safety framework and limiting fiscal and reputational risk; the legislation expands support without settling how safety, environmental oversight and long‑term liabilities will be governed.
The bill is structural: it changes who can be supported and financed at the Commonwealth level but does not create the operational or safety architecture that major nuclear projects require. Repealing provisions in the ARPANS and EPBC Acts without detailed replacements leaves a gap between expanded financial support and the regulatory regime for licensing, site assessment, radioactive waste, and long‑term stewardship.
Agencies will need to interpret the amended statutes against existing regulations and common law, but that interpretive exercise can produce legal uncertainty and litigation risk.
The statutory definition of "clean emissions energy technologies" is wide, because it explicitly includes "enabling technologies," which are not defined further. That breadth is useful as a policy lever but raises practical questions: which projects count as enabling, how ARENA and CEFC will apply eligibility tests, and whether program rules will exclude particular subtypes.
The CEFC substitution also produces an asymmetry: carbon capture and storage remains a statutory no‑go while other technologies — some politically or technically controversial — become eligible for public finance. That policy choice may be intentional, but it creates internal policy tensions and predictable stakeholder conflict.
There are also intergovernmental and international dimensions left unresolved by the bill. Major energy projects intersect with state planning laws, bilateral funding arrangements, international nuclear safeguards and non‑proliferation obligations.
None of those are addressed here, so successful deployment will require coordination, new regulatory instruments or further legislation. Finally, the fiscal and fiduciary questions for CEFC and ARENA boards—how to weigh strategic industrial development against the Corporations’ risk‑adjusted return mandates—are real and will shape which projects move from policy to execution.
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