Environmental Defenders Office Qld (EDO Qld) is an independent community legal centre, empowering the community to use the law to protect the environment. We are your lawyers for the environment, driven by a commitment to justice and a passion for nature. Our goals are to protect clean air, soil and water for safe and healthy communities; to restore and reserve nature, the Great Barrier Reef and wildlife; and to advance clean energy and keep our climate safe. EDO Qld respects the democratic right of all citizens to run for elected office in their own time. EDO Qld does not support, promote or oppose any particular political party or candidate. EDO Qld promotes changes to law and policy which protect the environment and advance sustainable development.
Standing up in court for the environment
EDO Qld’s legal success stories
Community litigation can be a powerful way to protect the environment – by enforcing laws and motivating governments to improve their enforcement, by testing laws and extending their reach, and by focusing attention on environmental threats and demonstrating where reform is needed.Such litigation flourishes in New South Wales, where, unlike Queensland the community enjoys the benefits of legal aid for public interest environmental law. Yet EDO Qld, with pro bono assistance of members of the Queensland bar and private donations, has managed a number of cases that have achieved powerful outcomes. Not all were court wins, but sometimes the legal process itself delivers reform.
– Show Cases
– Strengthening environmental laws
– EDO Qld’s law reform successes
– Protection of Queensland’s precious places and wondrous wildlife has been achieved by community groups campaigning for stronger laws and policies.
EDO Qld is proud to have been part of important environmental victories in Queensland’s recent history, either by acting as legal advisers for environmental campaigns or by our own advocacy. Much more reform is needed, including to prevent and respond to looming climate change.For nearly 20 years, EDO Qld has stood up on behalf of affected communities in the legislative reform process and consistently advocated for meaningful community consultation, fair and transparent decision making, timely public access to key documentation and meaningful timeframes for submissions and appeals and third party enforcement rights. This ongoing advocacy is a major contribution to social justice and to a fairer understanding by decision makers of the costs and benefits of development and resource extraction upon affected communities as well as private development interests.EDO Qld has advocated for improvements to environmental laws since its first publication Environmental Law Reform in Queensland by Maria Comino was published in 1991. EDO Qld has a Law Reform Charter, setting out the principles to guide our advocacy.
EDO Qld’s educational successes
By educating Queenslanders about their legal rights under environmental laws, EDO Qld is increasing the capacity of citizens and community groups to use the law to achieve environmental and therefore social justice. With Queensland inundated by new development projects, including many mining and coal seam gas proposals, EDO Qld cannot provide legal representation in every deserving case. But we provide free legal advice, assist groups and individuals to run their own legal cases, provide a comprehensive guide for litigants, and run workshops to explain how to use planning and environmental laws. These activities are a vital part of achieving social justice by redressing the great disparities in resources and influence between developers and the impacted community.