Odour is a mixture of gases in the air that we can smell. Odour can be pleasant or unpleasant. Offensive odour is air pollution. It can impact human health and the environment.
Offensive odour interferes with people's normal enjoyment or use of the environment. It can make people feel revolted, disgusted, upset or annoyed.
What's offensive to one person may not be offensive to someone else. The effects of odour also differ from person to person.
The more frequent, intense, long-lasting or offensive an odour gets, the more impact it has on the community.
The most offensive odours come from industrial activities at large facilities, such as:
- chemical plants
- composting
- landfills
- rendering plants and abattoirs
- sewerage and wastewater treatment.
Odours can also come from:
- agriculture
- animal farms and facilities
- bakeries
- breweries
- coffee roasters
- food processing plants
- manufacturing plants
- paper mills
- waste treatment.
Odour and the law
The general environmental duty applies to managing offensive odour. For example, everyone has a duty to prevent odour from impacting people's normal enjoyment of the environment. This includes backyard activities, such as barbecues or hanging out washing.
The Environment Reference Standard (ERS) sets objectives for the air environment. For odour, the objective is:
An air environment that is free from offensive odours from commercial, industrial, trade and domestic activities.
Businesses must control odour from their activities to:
- prevent harm
- comply with their legal duties
- meet community expectations.
Failure to control odour can result in
- clean-up costs
- lost work time
- legal fees
- fines and criminal charges.
In some cases, you need a permission to conduct a business or industry activity. Our permissions focus on activities that may have a significant impact on human health and the environment. They have conditions that must be followed. Many permissions include conditions to manage odours.
Some businesses must have a licence to operate. This includes landfills and composting facilities. Businesses may need an EPA development licence to build some new facilities – for example:
- saleyards
- piggeries
- feedlots.
We consider the ERS when we assess permissions applications.
Our role in odour
We have a key role in protecting the community from odour pollution. We rely on help from the community to detect odour pollution.
You can report odour from industrial sources to us.
Report odour from local sources, such as homes, shops, restaurants and small businesses, to your local council(opens in a new window). Your local council may have rules for the community and businesses about managing odour.
We respond to reports about odour from industrial sources. Our authorised officers verify odour reports. They apply odour surveillance techniques to investigate. We investigate the source and cause of the odour. We also determine the potential harm to human health.
We develop guidance to help businesses and industry understand how to monitor and manage odour and comply with the law.
We work with local councils and other government departments to consider where an odour assessment is required – for example:
- planning decisions
- investigations
- studies.
Impact of odour on your health
Odour pollution does not usually cause long-term health problems. It can sometimes cause headaches, nausea and vomiting.
If you are concerned about your health because of odour, find out who to contact.
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