October 2025 Legislative Update: Key Changes Across VIC, QLD, TAS and SA

Australia’s regulatory landscape continues to move quickly, with a wave of new Acts, amendments and regulations landing across Victoria, Queensland, Tasmania and South Australia in 2025. These changes span core areas of public administration and compliance: planning and infrastructure, gaming and gambling harm minimisation, environmental and resource management, tribunal and court procedure, workplace safety and service leave, child safety, and digital surveillance.

To make it easier to keep track, we’ve pulled together a state-by-state snapshot of the latest instruments. You’ll see updates such as:

• Victoria (VIC): A strong focus on compliance, governance and public safety. Key changes touch planning and environment controls, VCAT procedure, gambling pre-commitment and loyalty schemes, surveillance devices (including body-worn cameras), tunnel traffic management, and criminal procedure rules. There are also updates to how the resources sector is regulated under the Mineral Resources framework.

• Queensland (QLD): Education, child safety and statutory investigations are front and centre. Amendments affect the Education (General Provisions) framework, the Child Safe Organisations regime, and the Child Protection Act. Queensland has also introduced targeted changes to coronial powers (including for mining and resources incidents) and to environmental protections via the Nature Conservation Regulation.

• Tasmania (TAS): The focus ranges from justice system housekeeping to planning, governance and environmental protection. Recent instruments cover tribunal operations, corrections and sentencing, statutory holidays, threatened species protection orders, and local government regulation. There are also project-specific planning directions such as the Macquarie Point Precinct order.

• South Australia (SA): SA’s reforms are aimed at economic development, infrastructure and workforce protections. Highlights include new or updated frameworks around state development facilitation, planning and renewal, portable long service leave, transport and rail operations, and marine/natural park management.

The table below sets out the relevant Acts, Regulations, Orders and Proclamations by jurisdiction. It’s designed as a quick reference for in-house counsel, compliance teams, planners, operators and project leads who need to understand which instruments may impact approvals, reporting obligations, governance settings, and day-to-day operations in each state.