A Legal Loophole Is Keeping Outdated Shark Culling Alive - And Now They Want To Expand
- Sarah Borell
- Jul 5
- 3 min read
While the Queensland Shark Control Program (QSCP) faces growing public scrutiny, its persistence hinges on a loophole in federal environmental law.
Under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act, Section 43(b) exempts certain pre-existing activities, like the QSCP, from needing federal environmental approval. However, this exemption only applies if the program remains unchanged. It cannot lawfully expand, enlarge, or intensify beyond its original scope since the Act came into effect in 2001.
Yet by any reasonable analysis, the QSCP has done exactly that.
Since 2001:
Some equipment has been removed in certain areas, but has been replaced with alternative gear several times over.
At least four beaches have been added to the QSCP coverage area.
There has been a marked increase in the number of marine animals caught and killed, including species protected under the EPBC Act.
Despite these changes, the federal government has continued to turn a blind eye to this clear breach of the very loophole the program relies upon. This means that, even as the QSCP impacts protected species such as humpback whales, loggerhead turtles, white sharks and grey nurse sharks, it operates without being subject to a modern environmental assessment.
To make matters worse, in May 2025 the Queensland Department of Primary Industries announced plans to expand the program to seven new beaches. This includes installing new nets and drumlines across the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, and Wide Bay. The department also proposed moving from servicing drumlines every second day to daily rebaiting, a change that effectively doubles the program’s lethal footprint.
Envoy Foundation recently wrote to Murray Watt, urging the federal Minister for Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, to:
Launch a formal call-in and review of the QSCP under the EPBC Act,
Recognise that the program has already exceeded the scope allowed under Section 43(b), and
Block the proposed expansion until a full, transparent environmental impact assessment is conducted.
Since 2001, the QSCP has caught at least 21,000 marine animals, including many that are protected under federal law. These nets and drumlines aren’t selective; they trap and kill whatever happens to swim into them. And decades of scientific evidence confirm: these measures do not make beaches safer.
Section 43(b) was never intended to give indefinite protection to outdated wildlife-killing programs. It was meant to reduce red tape for truly unchanged activities. But the QSCP has changed significantly and repeatedly.
This issue goes beyond shark conservation. It strikes at the heart of whether our environmental laws are fit for purpose in a rapidly changing world, or whether legacy programs can continue to expand without oversight simply because they were grandfathered in decades ago. Outside this niche issue about the wrongful exploitation of s43B by the QSCP is a broader issue at play. The current EPBC Act, as noted in an independent review almost five years ago, is no longer fit for purpose. It needs urgent reform, which the Albanese Labor government failed to undertake in its first term. With Murray Watt now in charge of the environment portfolio, there are hopes of long overdue environmental law reform.
If it happens, it is extremely clear that the s43B continuation of use exemption should not be present in any new or amended legislation. A full 25 years after the introduction of the EPBC Act, everyone should have had enough time to bring their actions up to modern standards. A quarter of a century is long enough for a program to get up to speed with environmental laws, and as such, any "continuation of use” exemption has served its purpose and is now redundant.
The Minister now faces a choice: allow the program to continue growing unchecked, or finally subject it to the scrutiny it has long deserved. Let’s hope it’s the latter, before the loophole costs thousands more marine lives.
