Peter holds a PhD in environmental policy and law (2019) and is an Honorary Associate Professor in the College of Law. From 2000 to 2013 he held a number of senior leadership positions in the Federal Department of Environment and worked on a diverse range of policy and regulatory issues including development of national pollution standards, Australia's international participation in chemical and waste issues, World and National Heritage, environmental impact assessment of major developments, and reform of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act. Before joining the Federal Department he was Environment Management Authority in the ACT.
Peter’s research interests include environmental and biodiversity policy; environmental regulation; and natural capital accounting. In addition to his position at the College, he is a Councillor with the Biodiversity Council and publishes regular commentaries on environmental policy in The Conversation and an environmental policy blog, Sustainability Bites.
Significant research publications
- Burnett, P., 2018. Australia's National Approach to 'Ecologically Sustainable Development': Success in Principle, Failure in Policy, Still in Prospect. PhD Thesis, ANU Library, Canberra, available at https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/handle/1885/156800.
- Vardon, M., Burnett, P., Dovers, S., 2016. The accounting push and the policy pull: balancing environment and economic decisions. Ecological Economics 124, 145–152. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2016.01.021
- Vardon, M; May, S; Keith, H; Burnett, P and Lindenmayer, D (2019). ‘Accounting for ecosystem services – Lessons from Australia for its application and use in Oceania to achieve sustainable development’, Ecosystem Services 39, 100986 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2019.100986
- Burnett, P; Vardon, M; Keith, H; King, S and Lindenmayer, D (2020). ‘Measuring net-positive outcomes for nature using accounting’ Nature Ecology & Evolution 4 (3), 284-28 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-020-1108-7
- Lindenmayer, D and Burnett, P, (2021). ‘Biodiversity in court: will the Regional Forest Agreements (RFAs) make the EPBC Act irrelevant’? Pacific Conservation Biology https://doi.org/10.1071/PC21035
- Vardon, M; Keith, H; Burnett, P and Lindenmayer, D (2021) ‘From natural capital accounting to natural capital banking’ 4(7) Nature Sustainability https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-021-00747-x
- Vardon, Michael; Chen Yuqing; van Dijk, Albert; Keith, Heather; Burnett, Peter; and Lindenmayer, David (2023) ‘Conservation of the critically endangered Box-gum grassy woodlands with ecosystem accounting in Australia’, Biological Conservation, Vol 284, August 2023, 110129, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2023.110129
Research biography
Peter is undertaking research in the fields of environmental public policy and regulation, including on the use of environmental information in devopment approvals and the role of environmental impact assessment (EIA) in environmental decision-making.
How my works connects with public policy
As a former senior official Peter has a special interest in contributing to developments in environmental policy and decision-making. In 2019 he has contributed to events associated with the release of an OECD Environmental Performance Review of Australia and is one of a group undertaking collaborative research with the Federal Environment Department into the use of environmental information in decision-making.
