Who sets the criterion your site has to meet
PFAS in Australia is managed through national guidance applied by eight state and territory regulators. This page lists the instruments we read your data against, with links to the primary sources, checked on 17 October 2026.
It is a map, not advice. The criterion for your site is set by your regulator for the land use, the receiving environment and the disposal or reuse path in question, and where a statutory audit applies it is confirmed by the independent auditor you appoint. If you are not sure which instrument applies, send us what you have and the desk screen will say.
National
The national instruments
Guidance set nationally and applied by each jurisdiction. NEMP values are investigation and screening values unless a regulator has adopted them into a licence, approval or guideline of its own; the state table below says where to look.
- PFAS National Environmental Management Plan 3.1 (PFAS NEMP)
- The national framework for investigating, assessing and managing PFAS: soil and water guideline values, waste classification and landfill acceptance, reuse, biosolids, monitoring and remediation. Published by the Heads of EPAs Australia and New Zealand (HEPA); version 3.1 was released on 2 June 2026, replacing 3.0 (March 2025) and 2.0 (2020). Version 3.1 carried the 2025 drinking water values into its tables and revised the freshwater PFOS values; the soil values did not change. PFAS NEMP at DCCEEW →
- Assessment of Site Contamination NEPM (ASC NEPM)
- The National Environment Protection (Assessment of Site Contamination) Measure 1999, amended in 2013, sets the framework every site assessment report in Australia follows: investigation levels, sampling design, laboratory quality and the schedules (B1 to B9) that assessors and auditors work to. PFAS-specific values sit in the NEMP; the method of assessment sits here. The 2013 amendment on the Federal Register →
- Australian Drinking Water Guidelines, PFAS values
- The National Health and Medical Research Council published revised health-based values on 25 June 2025: PFOS 8 ng/L, PFOA 200 ng/L, PFHxS 30 ng/L and PFBS 1,000 ng/L. They apply to drinking water directly and are the reference the NEMP's Table 4 now carries. NHMRC PFAS review →
- Industrial Chemicals Environmental Management Standard (IChEMS)
- The national standard for managing industrial chemicals through their life cycle. PFOS, PFOA and PFHxS, with their salts and related compounds, were listed in Schedule 7 from 1 July 2025: manufacture, import, export and use prohibited, with limited exemptions. A June 2026 update of the register adds further PFAS groups to Schedules 4, 5 and 7 from 1 January 2027. The standard takes effect in each jurisdiction through its own law, at different rates. IChEMS explained (Business Queensland) →
- EPA Victoria Publication 3010
- Validation of PFAS soil treatment technologies: technical guide (April 2024) describes how a soil treatment is shown to work: a treatability study on the site's own soil, validation at scale and verification of the treated material. It is the framework our treatability tests and verification packs are built to, whichever state the soil is in. Publication 3010 →
- Intergovernmental Agreement on a National Framework for Responding to PFAS Contamination
- Signed by the Commonwealth, states and territories in 2018 and revised in 2020, the agreement commits governments to a consistent national approach and is the authority under which the NEMP is written. The agreement →
- Senate Select Committee on PFAS
- The committee reported in November 2025 with 47 recommendations for a nationally consistent approach, including a single point of contact for affected owners. A government response was still pending in mid-2026; we will note here when it is made. Final report, chapter 10 →
State and territory
Eight regulators, one criterion each
The regulator, the principal legislation, the PFAS guidance it has issued and who may audit or certify the work. Links go to the regulator's own pages.
| Jurisdiction | Regulator and legislation | PFAS guidance | Audit and certification |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Australia | EPA South Australia. Environment Protection Act 1993 (site contamination provisions) and the Environment Protection Regulations 2023. | Guidance for managing PFAS in SA: the PFAS in waste soils interim guideline (July 2023) and landfill disposal criteria for PFAS-contaminated waste, both consistent with the NEMP. | Site contamination auditors accredited by the EPA, who must be independent of anyone involved in the assessment or remediation. Certified site contamination practitioners (CEnvP-SC recognised). Audit system |
| Victoria | EPA Victoria. Environment Protection Act 2017, including the general environmental duty and environmental audits. | Manage PFAS-contaminated materials and waste; waste classification and designations; Publication 3010 on validating soil treatment. | Environmental auditors appointed by EPA Victoria in the contaminated land area, independent of the consultant and the works. |
| New South Wales | NSW Environment Protection Authority. Contaminated Land Management Act 1997; Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 (waste classification; IChEMS under Part 9.3E). | NSW EPA position statement on the PFAS NEMP; Landfill and Sewage Treatment Plant PFAS Monitoring Chemical Control Order, commencing 1 October 2026. | NSW Site Auditor Scheme: accredited site auditors. Reports prepared or reviewed by a certified consultant (CEnvP-SC or CPSS). |
| Queensland | Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation. Environmental Protection Act 1994: general environmental duty, contaminated land provisions and section 319A, which ties the duty to IChEMS. | PFAS management in Queensland, including the PFAS Contamination Protocol and sector guidance on landfill, biosolids, composting and waste tracking. | Contaminated land auditors approved under the Act. |
| Western Australia | Department of Water and Environmental Regulation. Contaminated Sites Act 2003 and Contaminated Sites Regulations 2006. | PFAS investigations in Western Australia; Interim Guideline on the Assessment and Management of PFAS (2017). | Contaminated sites auditors accredited by the Department (CEnvP-SC accepted as the certification requirement). |
| Tasmania | EPA Tasmania. Environmental Management and Pollution Control Act 1994. | PFAS contamination and the Tasmanian PFAS Action Plan; Classification and management of contaminated soil. | Site assessment reports prepared by a site contamination certified consultant (CEnvP-SC is the endorsed scheme); the EPA approves. |
| Northern Territory | NT Environment Protection Authority. Waste Management and Pollution Control Act 1998. | NT EPA on PFAS, including its position statement; contaminated land. | Reports assessed by the NT EPA. |
| Australian Capital Territory | ACT Environment Protection Authority, through Access Canberra. Environment Protection Act 1997 and the Contaminated Sites Environment Protection Policy. | PFAS in the ACT and the ACT PFAS Action Plan (2025); contaminated sites. | EPA-accredited contaminated land auditors; CEnvP-SC recognised for consultants. |
Each regulator applies the NEMP in its own way, and some have not yet adopted every national instrument into law. Where we quote a value in a screen or a specification, we cite the instrument it comes from and attach the current version.
In practice
What this means for your endpoint
Five things the instruments above decide before any treatment is considered.
- The criterion depends on the use
- The same soil can pass for one land use or disposal path and fail for another. The screen starts by naming the criterion that applies to your site, and the instrument it comes from.
- Total and leachable PFAS are both read
- Classification and landfill acceptance turn on both. Binding treatments act on leachable PFAS, so whether they can change your outcome depends on which result drives the class.
- Treatment is shown, not assumed
- Publication 3010 sets the order: treatability on your own soil, validation at scale, verification of the treated material. Every specification we write follows it.
- Laboratories must be accredited
- Every result in the record comes from a NATA-accredited laboratory, and you receive the certificates of analysis themselves.
- The audit is independent
- Where a statutory audit applies, the auditor is accredited by your regulator and appointed by you. We prepare the records the auditor needs and never audit our own work.
Next step
Read your data against the right instrument
Send the classification letter and laboratory reports you hold. Within one working day you will have a one-page screen naming the criterion that applies, whether treatment could change the outcome, and what it might save.
This page was checked against the linked sources on 17 October 2026. Instruments change; if you find one that has moved, tell us at [email protected] and we will correct it.