Australia maintains one of the strictest regimes of environmental regulation in the world. The World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Report 2007-08 ranks Australia 16th out of 125 nations for the overall stringency of its environmental regulations. The only non-European nations ranked higher than Australia were New Zealand, Japan and Canada. The IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook 2007 also ranked Australia in the top ten countries in the world for the extent to which local environmental laws do not hinder the competitiveness of businesses.
Ensuring the sustainability of the environment for human habitation and preserving scarce resources is now a global concern, and is increasingly becoming a factor in quantifying well-being.
The New South Wales government administers environmental protection legislation covering air and water quality, contaminated land, noise control, pesticides, hazardous chemicals, dangerous goods, radiation and waste. In relation to waste management, the focus in New South Wales has shifted from disposal to waste avoidance and resource recovery. Households, industry and government agencies in New South Wales participate in recycling and waste reduction programs.