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This consultation is now closed

We have published the outcomes on this page.

We’re seeking your views on the effectiveness and efficiency of the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative) (Audit Thresholds) Instrument 2015.

The Audit Thresholds Instrument will sunset and be repealed on 1 April 2025. Your feedback will help inform a new Audit Thresholds Instrument.

As part of the consultation, we’re also seeking feedback on whether alternative assurance arrangements should be extended to the new reforestation by environmental or mallee plantings method.

We’re not proposing to increase the audit burden for projects that are already registered.

Background

The current Audit Thresholds Instrument is used to set the audit schedule for Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) Scheme projects. It prescribes thresholds for different types of audits, including scheduled audits and triggered audits. It also sets requirements for alternative assurance projects that may be eligible for a reduced number of audits.

The first projects eligible for alternative assurance were low-risk environmental plantings projects. As a key component of the environmental plantings pilot, alternative assurance opened up scheme participation for small-scale projects (less than 200 hectares) by reducing audit costs.

The environmental plantings method has now sunset, and a new method was made in November 2024. This is an opportunity to reflect on what we have learned from the environmental plantings pilot. We can then consider whether we should extend alternative assurance arrangements to the new reforestation by environmental or mallee plantings method and if we need to make changes to the arrangements.

Our risk-based approach to compliance ensures that audits target situations where they can provide the greatest value in supporting scheme integrity.

Timeline

  • Opened: 18 November 2024
  • Closed: 15 December 2024

Outcomes

We received 20 submissions for this consultation from a range of stakeholders. Overall, submissions agreed the current audit requirements support a risk-based approach. The majority of submissions were also supportive of the inclusion of alternative assurance arrangements for low-risk projects under the reforestation by environmental or mallee plantings 2024 method. 

This means that under the draft instrument: 

  • existing and future projects will be subject to the same audit requirements as those in the Audit Thresholds Instrument 2015
  • low-risk reforestation by environmental or mallee plantings 2024 projects will be able to opt-in to alternative assurance arrangements and have zero scheduled audits
  • low-risk environmental plantings 2014 projects that have opted in for alternative assurance arrangements will continue as normal
  • low-risk plantation forestry projects that have opted in for alternative assurance arrangements will continue as normal and new projects may also apply to receive a reduced audit schedule.

Published responses

We only publish submissions from respondents who gave permission. However, all responses were included in the analysis of this consultation. 

Read our response to the consultation submissions in the consultation paper for the draft Audit Thresholds Instrument 2025.