Recent developments in PFAS regulation around Australia

What you need to know

• PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) contamination in soil, surface water and groundwater has become an increasingly important issue to manage for sites and operations around Australia, given tightening regulatory controls and increasing liability exposures.
• 2025 was a significant year for the regulation of PFAS in Australia.
• The release of the National Environmental Management Plan 3.0, a ban on key PFAS chemicals under the Industrial Chemicals Environmental Management Standard, updated drinking water guidelines, and the final report of the Senate Select Committee on PFAS have collectively reshaped the national regulatory landscape.
• At the State and Territory level, implementation of these national frameworks is happening at different rates and in different ways, resulting in differing compliance obligations depending on where an entity operates.

What you need to do

• Develop your understanding of your PFAS contamination risk exposure, whether that contamination is in soil, surface water or groundwater.
• Be aware of the regulatory position in the States and Territories in which you operate. This is because, although significant developments have occurred at a Commonwealth level which aim to create a nationally coordinated approach to managing PFAS, implementation at a State level remains varied.
• For entities whose operations may be affected by PFAS, identify, assess, and manage PFAS-related risks across your operations and supply chains now, rather than waiting for further legislative change.
• Monitor for further updates, including further State action to implement national standards.

Introduction

We reported on the growing concerns about per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), or, as they are often called, "forever chemicals", and the influence this was having on global regulatory and litigation developments in our 19 July 2023 article, "The end of forever chemicals".

Since then, the body of scientific knowledge about the likely negative effects of PFAS on the environment and on human health has grown. Within Australia, this has resulted in a fast-evolving regulatory landscape, with increasing expectations on public and private entities as to how they manage PFAS risks within their operations.

Release of the PFAS NEMP 3.0

The Commonwealth Government released the PFAS National Environment Management Plan (NEMP) 3.0 on 4 March 2025. This is the latest version of Australia's national guide for the investigation, assessment and management of PFAS.

NEMP 3.0 contains a number of significant changes compared to NEMP 2.0, including:

• an expanded interpretation of environmental values that must be considered where those values may be impacted by PFAS contamination;
• clarifications to guidance for ambient and site-specific PFAS monitoring programs, including to address current knowledge gaps about how PFAS behaves in the environment;
• updated PFAS environmental guideline values (including amended values for human health investigation levels for soil, ecological soil guideline values, and biota guideline values);
• new and updated guidance on the occurrence of PFAS in organic wastes (including biosolids), characterisation for biosolids and soils, organic waste reuse, and management of potential risks of these PFAS-impacted materials; and
• updates and clarification to guidance for PFAS monitoring programs (including requirements for PFAS monitoring at landfills), remediation and management of PFAS-impacted areas, and guidance on sampling for PFAS.

These amendments are particularly significant given that the PFAS NEMP reflects the current "state of knowledge" on the management of PFAS in Australia and informs how risks from PFAS are managed under State environment protection legislation and other legislation directed to the protection of human health. See below regarding the adoption of the PFAS NEMP at a State level.

Revised drinking water guidelines

In June 2025, following a comprehensive review of scientific evidence in relation to PFAS, the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) updated the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines. The Guidelines set standards to address the health and aesthetic quality of drinking water. Key changes include the following guideline values for PFAS, which the NHMRC has indicated are intended to reflect a "conservative approach":

• lower health-based guideline values for PFAS (PFOA and PFOS);
• a separate health-based guideline value for PFHxS; and
• a new health-based guideline value for PFBS.

These guidelines are particularly relevant for water authorities supplying drinking water to customers. They will also flow through to a general focus on reducing PFAS contamination at the source (including tightening trade waste discharge limits and stormwater run-off/discharge controls for projects).

Although the standards set by the Guidelines are not, of themselves, legally binding, they may form part of State regulatory frameworks through State legislation or memoranda of understanding with utilities. Refer below for adoption at a State level.

Ban on the import, export, use and manufacture of PFAS

On 1 July 2025, three types of PFAS (PFOS, PFOA, and PFHxS) were listed in Schedule 7 to the Industrial Chemicals Environmental Management Standard (IChEMS), which sets nationally consistent standards for industrial chemicals based on their level of risk to the environment.

The inclusion of PFOS, PFOA and PFHxS in Schedule 7:

• indicates they are chemicals of the highest risk, being those likely to cause serious or irreversible harm to the environment and which have no essential uses; and
• applies prohibitions to their manufacture, import, export, and use across all industries, subject to limited exemptions.

This listing reflects the growing importance of source control, which is critical to effective PFAS risk management, given it is generally lower cost, less energy-intensive and more effective than remediation or treatment to remove PFAS once already in the environment.

State adoption of IChEMS

It is up to each jurisdiction to adopt the IChEMS into its own legislation. The status of adoption at a State level is varied, as set out in the table below.

Consultation on standards for other types of PFAS

Consultation by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) on proposed standards for other types of PFAS recently closed on 24 April 2026, with DCCEEW expected to make any additions to the IChEMS register by the end of June 2026.

Outcomes of the Senate inquiry into PFAS

In August 2024, the Australian Senate established the Select Committee on PFAS (the Committee), with broad terms of reference to inquire into the extent, regulation and management of PFAS in Australia. The Committee's task was to consider, amongst other things, the effectiveness of existing regulatory frameworks to manage risks from PFAS, and areas for potential reform.

The Committee published its final report Inquiry into the extent, regulation and management of PFAS - Parliament of Australia in November 2025, following a number of public hearings and site visits. In its report, the Committee made 47 recommendations directed at establishing a nationally consistent approach to PFAS management and remediation. The report notes that Australian regulators have been generally slow to respond to the dangers of PFAS, despite having credible advice about the health risks.

The Committee's recommendations

The Committee's recommendations are broad and cover a range of policy areas, including food and drinking water safety, occupational health and safety, use of PFAS in supply chains, monitoring, management and remediation of PFAS, and working with affected First Nations communities.

Notably, the report made a number of recommendations which are intended to strengthen and further develop the existing regulatory framework, including recommendations to resource development of legislation and regulations to give effect to the ban on PFAS and support the adoption of the IChEMS into State and Territory chemical regulation.

Response to the Committee's report

If adopted, the Committee's recommendations would represent a significant shift in Australia's approach to PFAS regulation. However, at the date of this publication, the Commonwealth Government has not yet formally responded and has therefore not yet committed to adopting any of the Committee's recommendations.

Conclusion

Although significant developments have occurred at a Commonwealth level which aim to create a nationally coordinated approach to managing PFAS, implementation at a State level remains varied. As the table shows, the result is a complex legal and technical landscape, which imposes a potentially significant regulatory burden on entities whose operations span multiple Australian jurisdictions.

Other authors: James Zhou, Lawyer and Rosalie Ritter-Jones, Lawyer.

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