Melanie Debenham

Practice Areas

Melanie leads our Perth Environment, Planning & Communities (EP&C) team and is recognised as a market expert on business-critical environment and planning matters in Australia. Melanie is also Herbert Smith Freehills’ specialist native title partner and runs the firm’s national practice.

Melanie has a market leading skillset, uniquely enabling her to take a holistic approach to environment and planning issues. Melanie’s experience includes strategically managing the risk of judicial review proceedings and preparation for the conduct of such proceedings, implementation of carbon farming and ACCU generating projects and responding to environmental crisis’. Her advice is shaping government reform that will transform the Australian regulatory environment. Melanie has assisted the launch of significant projects across Australia by providing expert advice on approval, land access and operational issues.

Complementing Melanie’s environment and planning experience is the exceptional work she does advising on land access, native title and cultural heritage issues. Work in this area is often sensitive in nature and Melanie is always cognisant of the broader environmental, community and regulatory context in which they arise. Melanie advises across a range of industry sectors with respect to cradle-to-grave native title, community engagement, project agreements / authorisations, cultural heritage management and compliance and transactional implications. In particular, she has deep experience advising industry on native title and cultural heritage in the mining, oil and gas, energy, transport and infrastructure sectors.

Melanie advises in multiple jurisdictions, including Western Australia, South Australia, Northern Territory, Victoria and Queensland. Melanie is recognised for her particular expertise in providing strategic advice on large scale, complex projects, acting for both Government and private proponents, including Woodside, IGO, the Western Australian Government, Gladstone Ports Corporation and TasNetworks (a Tasmanian government state owned company).