Who we work with

We work across all levels of government and with other organisations to prevent the harmful effects of pollution and waste on human health and the environment.

On this page

While we're an independent regulator, we work closely with:

  • our partners across Australian, state and local governments
  • other regulators
  • law enforcement agencies
  • emergency services.

Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action

We work most closely with our portfolio partner, the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA).

We support DEECA in whole-of-government delivery of:

  • Victoria’s climate action, including:
    • reducing greenhouse gas emissions
    • adapting to the impacts of a changing climate
    • transitioning towards renewable energy
  • regulatory oversight of waste and resource recovery services to support the circular economy
  • sustainable and responsible development of Victoria's earth resources.

We also provide technical advice to DEECA to support its role as coordinator of environment effects statements.

Recycling Victoria

Recycling Victoria is a dedicated business unit within DEECA. We work with Recycling Victoria on issues related to waste and recycling regulation – for example, the Victorian Government's circular economy plan.

Agriculture Victoria

We work with Agriculture Victoria on issues relating to pollution and waste.

Under the State Emergency Management Plan, we're a support agency in a biosecurity emergency. We provide expert advice and regulatory approvals for the safe transport and disposal of affected livestock, as well as the management of other waste. Our employees are trained and vaccinated to support Agriculture Victoria’s response operations.

Emergency Management Victoria

Emergency Management Victoria (EMV) works with communities, government, agencies and business. Its role is to strengthen their capacity to withstand, plan for, respond to and recover from emergencies and incidents.

Our role in Victoria’s emergency management is as a technical support agency. We provide technical advice before, during and after emergencies. We do this through our scientific, engineering and regulatory expertise on the impact of pollution and waste on the environment and public health.

The Chief Environmental Scientist plays an important role during emergencies. This involves supporting the:

The Chief Environmental Scientist is also a trusted and authoritative public face for communicating complex pollution and waste advice.

We do not deal with disease outbreaks or the impact of diseases or illnesses on human health. Learn more about our role in public health.

Visit the EMV website to see our detailed role statement.

Environmental auditors

Part of our role as a regulator is to oversee the environmental audit system. This includes appointing environmental auditors.

We also:

  • maintain a register of EPA-appointed environmental auditors
  • publish preliminary risk screen assessments (PRSAs) and environmental audit reports on our public registers
  • provide guidance for environmental auditors.

Learn more about our role in the environmental audit system.

Local government

Local government has an important role in protecting the environment and human health. Councils have a direct role in managing their local environment. They conduct, permit and/or investigate activities that may have a risk of harm to human health or the environment from pollution or waste.

Through planning permits and land zoning, we work with councils to protect the community from:

  • contamination risk
  • other impacts, such as dust, noise and odour.

We also give councils advice on land use planning and development decisions.

Officers for the Protection of the Local Environment (OPLEs) are EPA authorised officers. They work closely with councils to respond to smaller-scale and lower-risk pollution and waste reports.

Under the Environment Protection Act 2017, local government has powers to regulate:

  • onsite wastewater management systems with a sewage flow of 5,000 litres or less on any day
  • noise from residential premises and residential construction or demolition sites
  • litter and other waste, including illegal dumping.

In certain situations, we can also delegate powers under the Act to council employees. For more information, refer to Administering your powers under the Environment Protection Act 2017 [DOCX 0.5MB].

We publish resources for council officers. This includes toolkits for regulating:

We signed a Memorandum of understanding [PDF 1.8MB] with the Municipal Association of Victoria on behalf of local government. This agreement outlines our approach to working with councils.

Planning authorities

The Department of Transport and Planning (DTP), together with key agencies, is responsible for Victoria’s transport and planning system.

Decisions about land use and development can have significant impacts on the environment and human health. We support the decision-making of planning and responsible authorities.

The objective of our support is to reduce and, where possible, avoid risks of harm to human health and the environment. Our focus is on preventing harm, rather than managing the impact after it’s happened.

Planning authorities include:

  • ministers
  • councils
  • any other authority made a planning authority under the Planning and Environment Act 1987.

Responsible authorities are usually local councils.

Planning and responsible authorities:

  • request our advice on proposed planning scheme amendments (strategic planning requests)
  • refer planning permit applications to us.

Learn more about:

Infrastructure projects

We work with:

We make sure they comply with the Environment Protection Act for infrastructure projects.

We also have a technical advisory role on large VIDA projects – for example, the North East Link Project, Melbourne Metro Rail Project and West Gate Tunnel Project.

Learn more about the projects we're involved in.

Construction industry

We provide guidance to the construction industry on their waste management practices. We focus on helping waste producers, waste transporters and waste receivers to understand their waste obligations and duties so they can do the right thing.

To guide and support industry, we work with:

Victorian Fisheries Authority

We work with the Victorian Fisheries Authority when responding to fish deaths.

To learn more about the roles and responsibilities of water management agencies and other government agencies, visit our Fish death events response guide.

Australian and state governments

We also work with our partners in the Australian and state governments.

Environment Ministers Meeting

We provide input into the Environment Ministers Meeting (EMM). The EMM is an intergovernmental forum to:

  • progress national environmental issues
  • discuss strategic issues and agree on cross-government actions to improve Australia’s environment.

Heads of EPA Australia and New Zealand

Heads of EPA Australia and New Zealand (HEPA) is an informal alliance made up of environmental regulation leaders from Australia and New Zealand. HEPA members work together to understand current and emerging environmental issues.

To learn more about HEPA, view the

HEPA Strategic Plan 2022–2025
PDF 467.95 KB
(opens in a new window)

EPA Victoria is the current HEPA Secretariat.

HEPA members

Updated

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