Handbook

Natural resources law (NRL) is an elective subject for law that is offered at the Post Graduate level but which is also available as part of the JD. It will normally be taken after completion of a course on environmental law. It fits within the Environmental Law stream of the LLM.

NRL is concerned with the government’s authority to make decisions relating to the planning and management of the use of natural resources. The legal system should support effective natural resources management; however, this raises distinct policy problems and requires a diverse range of implementation approaches. The policy issues cross boundaries both horizontally (between government departments) and vertically (between levels of government), posing significant challenges for a federal system.

The course will explore a number of cross-cutting themes such as ecologically sustainable development and integrated planning and management that influence current debate in relation to NRL and will cover the following topics:

 Main Topics

• Introduction to issues and concepts in natural resources law
• Natural resources law at the national level
• State land use planning law and intersections with natural resources law
• Environmental impact assessment
• Water law
• Managing soils and land use conflict
• Native vegetation law and forestry management