- Plastic packaging is killing our marine life – turtles, penguins, seabirds, corals
- Households already pay more to buy fruit and vegetables NOT wrapped in plastic – packaging laws would have put responsibility back on businesses
- Federal government committed to national packaging reform in 2022
The Australian Government has quietly shelved its promise to make companies responsible for their packaging use – walking away from laws that businesses, recyclers, scientists, environmental organisations and the public all supported.
The Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS) has condemned the Albanese Government’s decision to abandon mandatory national packaging laws for this term of government, saying it means our ocean, coastlines and wildlife will continue to pay the price for inaction.
In an email to stakeholders, the government confirmed it will not introduce a national packaging scheme this term, blaming cost-of-living pressures. The laws would have set enforceable national rules for the first time – making the companies that produce and sell packaging responsible for reducing it, redesigning it and cleaning it up. They would have replaced a voluntary system that has categorically failed. The government has acknowledged that the current system is “not effectively managing the impacts of packaging on our environment”.
The reversal breaks a commitment the government has made and repeated for years. In 2022, Australia’s environment ministers agreed to regulate packaging. In June 2023, they agreed that voluntary action was inadequate, and that mandatory laws were needed. Then-Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek said the country was seeing “packaging in the guts of dead birds, floating in our oceans” and warned it destroys nature for generations. As recently as last year, Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt pointed to packaging reform as proof Australia was acting on plastic pollution.
The Australian Government’s decision to not proceed ignores overwhelming support for change. The government’s own 2024 consultation found 95% of respondents backed the reforms’ objective and 65% supported mandatory producer-responsibility laws. Independent national polling shows the majority of Australian voters agree: 63% want mandatory packaging laws, and 62% say the companies that produce and sell packaging should be responsible for their waste, including the cost of collection and disposal.
AMCS Plastics Campaign Manager Cip Hamilton (she/her) said: “It’s deeply disappointing that the Albanese Government has backflipped on its promise to regulate packaging, and has blatantly ignored the overwhelming support for reform.
“This backflip makes no sense. Recyclers want action, businesses want certainty, and environmental organisations want an end to plastic pollution. Almost everyone was at the table, and the government has walked away.
“The Australian Government claims it’s protecting people from cost-of-living pressures, but right now it costs households more to do the right thing. A family of four pays around $155 a year extra just to avoid single-use packaging on apples, potatoes and onions at Australia’s major supermarkets. These laws would have put the cost and the responsibility back where they belong – on the businesses using the packaging, not the households stuck with it.
“Plastic pollution is having very real consequences. Little penguins are choking, seabirds are starving, and corals are suffocating. And the solutions already exist – reusable milk kegs, reusable cup systems, reusable pallet wrap. Businesses have shown what’s possible; they just need the certainty and support to make reuse the norm. Instead of leading, the Australian Government is lagging.”
