The Department of Environment and Conservation is responsible for administering the legislation concerning environmental regulation in Western Australia. The legislation includes the following acts:

• Environmental Protection Act 1986
• Swan River Trust Act 1988
• Contaminated Sites Act 2003

In January 2001, after extensive consultation, the Department (then the Department of Environmental Protection) adopted the Enforcement and Prosecution Guidelines to help in enforcement of environmental conditions. In August 2002, the Minister for the Environment commissioned a review of the Guidelines to assess whether the Department's enforcement performance was adequate.

The Robinson review, released in February 2003, resulted in 33 recommendations for improvements related to the Department’s enforcement and prosecution functions.

The Department’s Environmental Enforcement Unit was established in July 2003 as the key vehicle for driving the recommended reforms and creating a new enforcement focus for the Department. This unit provides specialist support, management and enforcement quality control in respect to environmental enforcement, including all investigations, prosecution actions, and licensing activities.

Environmental Enforcement Unit Mission Statement

To support the protection of the environment by achieving best practice in the provision of specialist support, licensing/audit quality control investigative and prosecution actions across the operations of the Department.