In 2011, the National Environment Protection Council released the Methodology for Setting Air Quality Standards in Australia alongside the National Environment Protection (Ambient Air Quality) Measure Review Report.

The Methodology for Setting Air Quality Standards in Australia addresses:

• the level of health protection to be built into standards
• the application of uncertainty or safety factors
• approaches to dealing with non-threshold pollutants
• approaches to exposure assessment
• equity and social justice issues
• application and approaches to cost–benefit analysis.

The methodology establishes the framework to guide the development of air quality standards in Australia and in particular provides detailed guidance on the approach to be used for hazard and exposure assessment and risk characterisation. It also provides guidance on the application of the precautionary principle and approaches to address environmental justice issues in setting air quality standards in Australia.