This case was brought by the South East Forest Rescue (SEFR) against Forestry Corporation of New South Wales (FCNSW) on January 15, 2024. SEFR sought an order restraining FCNSW from conducting any forestry operation unless “broad area habitat searches” are conducted in a manner that includes particular searches for “nest, roost or den trees.” The conditions sought by the SEFR aimed to protect the endangered species of Petauroides volans (the Southern Greater Glider) and the vulnerable species of Petaurus australis (the Yellow-bellied Glider) and Petaurus norfolcensis (the Squirrel Glider). FCNSW argued that the SEFR does not have common law standing to bring civil enforcement proceedings, in seeking to enforce compliance with the requirements of an integrated forestry operation approval under Part 5B of the Forestry Act.

On February 7, 2024, Justice Pritchard of the New South Wales Land and Environment Court concluded that the SEFR did not have standing. The court explained that it was undisputed that the SEFR sought to enforce compliance with the requirements of the Coastal Integrated Forestry Operations Approval, which makes the case a civil enforcement proceeding. Based on precedents, the purpose of the Forestry Act, the context and language of §§ 69SB and 69ZA, and the principle of legality, the trial court held that a private person or entity can have standing at common law to bring proceedings to enforce compliance with an integrated forestry operations approval, notwithstanding the allegedly conflicting language of § 69ZA, if the person or entity has a "special interest" in the subject matter of the proceedings. Yet, the Court found no standing of the SEFR because: it sought relief in relation to operations outside its usual geographical area of concern; it was deemed to be formed for the basis of ending native logging, not the protection of gliders; the evidence was unclear as to the nature, activities, knowledge and experience of its members in their pursuit of SEFR’s objects; and its concern for gliders was deemed only to have been recently manifested.

On May 16, 2024, the Judges of Appeal from the New South Wales Court of Appeal—Justice Griffiths, joined by Justices Adamson and Basten—overturned the decision of Justice Pritchard. In interpreting the language of §§ 69SB and 69ZA of the Forestry Act and §§ 13.14 and 13.14A of the Biodiversity Conservation Act, the court found that the provisions do not preclude private persons or entities from bringing civil enforcement proceedings in relation to integrated forestry operations. The court explained that  a clearer language manifesting the legislature's intent is necessary to oust common law standing, which will abrogate or curtail fundamental rights. The court further found that a special interest to demonstrate common law standing in the absence of some private right or special damage is available in this case. Explaining that whether particular steps or activities are sufficient to demonstrate a special interest are fact and context specific, the court found the SEFR as having a special interest based on its long history of taking active steps and concrete action in relation to its beliefs and concerns, namely a deep concern regarding logging and its effects on the welfare of forest-dependent threatened species, including the Greater Glider.

On April 9, 2025, Justice Gageler, joined by justices Edelman, Steward, Jagot, and Beech-Jones, of the High Court of Australia, upheld the decision of the New South Wales Court of Appeals. The court held that persons or entities with a special interest can enforce duties and obligations imposed by an integrated forestry operations approval granted under Part 5B of the Forestry Act, notwithstanding the individual not being a government entity.

South East Forest Rescue Inc v Forestry Corp of New South Wales

<p>This entry was provided by the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law. Please see the terms of use for citation and licensing of third party data.</p>

South East Forest Rescue Inc v Forestry Corp of New South Wales - decision

Filed

Australia

New South Wales

The Climate Litigation Database

Find climate change litigation data and indicators for {text}.

{text} litigation

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law provides Climate Litigation Database, a comprehensive database of US and Global climate change caselaw

Quickly and easily search through the complete text of thousands of climate change law and policy documents from every country.

Search the Climate Litigation Database

An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

Risk is the potential for adverse consequences resulting from the dynamic interplay between (climate-related) hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of affected human or ecological systems.

Groups  of people who are adversely affected by climate change or the response to it

A set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

Justice is the ethical and political framework that addresses fairness, including issues of responsibility, rights, and structural inequity.

Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate change and its effects, in order to moderate harm, increase resilience or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate change and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate change and its effects.

The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives

Direct investments by the governments using public funds. This can be to support climate initiatives or integrate climate into other projects.

Financial support to help individuals manage the effects of unexpected events, securing their livelihoods and increasing the resilience of people and businesses to the changing climate. It’s especially vital in developing regions where everyday risks, climate-related weather extremes, or crop failures can push people into poverty. Without insurance, people may have to resort to selling assets or cutting consumption to cope with losses.

Zoning and spatial planning are both methods for guiding the distribution of people and activities in a space, and are regulatory restriction.

Either money or something of monetary value is transferred between two or more organisations, people or countries.

Actions or measures to adapt terrestrial systems to climate change.

Fossil gas, commonly known as natural gas, is a fossil fuel consisting chiefly of methane with smaller amounts of other hydrocarbons and trace gases, found in underground deposits.

People with different national or cultural traditions from the dominant population

Social and cultural groups that share collective ancestral ties to the lands and natural resources where they live, occupy or from which they have been displaced

Any compulsory, unrequited payment to the government levied on corporations or individuals. This can be for environmental reasons, such as introducing a Carbon tax to set a price that emitters must pay for the greenhouse gases they emit.

Activities of industries that extract natural resources, such as mining, oil, and gas, for commercial use.

Activities that involve planning, designing and building infrastructure, residential, and commercial structures.

Activities that relate to the production of goods and services from forests.

South East Forest Rescue Inc v Forestry Corp of New South Wales - decision

Policy instrument

Impacted group

Fossil fuel

Economic sector

Adaptation/resilience

Finance