Our strategy

EPA’s strategy outlines how we’ll play our part in making sure Victoria continues to be a great place to live, work and visit.

Clean air and water are essential to the health and lifestyle of every Victorian and our environment. Our enjoyment of good quality of life is reliant on minimal disturbance from noise and odour.

A healthy and sustainable environment underpins Victoria’s economy. We’ll be responsive to the challenges presented by population growth, production expansion, new technologies, emerging chemicals and evolving threats such as climate change.

As a modern and agile regulator, EPA will work alongside community, business and government to protect health and the environment by preventing the harmful effects of pollution and waste. We make that promise to the people of Victoria.

Our vision

A healthy and liveable environment that supports a prosperous Victoria now and always.

Our purpose

We protect the environment and people by preventing and reducing harm from pollution and waste.

Our role

We are a world-class regulator of pollution and waste.

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Our environment, our health – building our future together

EPA’s organisational strategy – Our environment, Our health – is our plan for the future. It sets out five goals and how we’ll work with Victorians to achieve them.

Video transcript

Clean air, water and land are essential to the health and lifestyle of every Victorian and our environment.

Our enjoyment of good quality of life is also reliant on minimal disturbance from noise and odour.

At EPA Victoria we’re here to ensure our state continues to be one of the most liveable and prosperous places on earth.

Our job is to protect the environment and people by preventing and reducing harm from pollution and waste.

Yet the Victoria of today is far different to when EPA was established.

Population growth, changes to our economy, environment and technology have created new challenges.

Being a world-class regulator of pollution and waste means we must protect our environment before harm occurs, not just when it happens.

Victorians must also work together – after all, environment protection is everyone's responsibility.

Our vision is for a healthy environment that supports a liveable and prosperous Victoria, now and always.

But to achieve our vision we need a plan.

‘Our environment, Our health’ is EPA’s plan for the future.

It sets out five goals and how we’ll work with Victorians to achieve them:

Prevent harm.

Equip community and business.

Be an influential authority.

Respond to harm.

Organisational excellence.

But what does success look like?

We’ll know we’ve been successful:

When you understand and trust our advice and turn to us for information and support.

When you’re confident strong science is underpinning all our actions.

When you recognise we are proportionate in holding to account those who do the wrong thing.

And when you actively engage with us, sure in the knowledge we’ll guide and encourage best-practice environmental management.

To do our part in creating a healthy environment that supports a liveable and prosperous Victoria, now and always, we’ll deliver our five goals by living our three values – excellence, partnership and accountability.

And, more than ever, we will proactively prevent pollution and waste, to improve Victoria's environment, health and wellbeing.

That's our promise to you.

What we’ll achieve

Our strategy has five goals:

Goal 1: prevent harm

We prevent harm from pollution and waste by leveraging good environmental performance across community, business and government.

Goal 2: equip community and business

We support Victorians to understand the condition of their environment and we work to make sure shared responsibility is accepted and understood by communities and businesses.

Goal 3: be an influential authority

We’re a trusted source of advice on Victoria’s environment and influential in working with others to address complex problems resulting from pollution and waste.

Goal 4: respond to harm

We hold polluters to account and work with our partners to respond to pollution and emergency incidents and legacy contamination to minimise harm to Victoria’s environment and people.

Goal 5: organisational excellence

As an organisation, EPA commits to delivering on its goals by enabling a high-performance culture that values our people, and supports them with fit-for-purpose systems and expertise.

Download EPA’s organisational strategy (publication 1661).