You need to obtain eligible interest-holder consent before you can apply to register an area-based emissions avoidance or sequestration project under the Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) Scheme.
Your project is not eligible to receive Australian carbon credit units (ACCUs) until you have obtained all consents.
About eligible interest-holder consent
Area-based emissions avoidance and sequestration ACCU Scheme projects must have the consent of any person or organisation with an eligible interest in the project area. The consent ensures stakeholders are aware of the project and any risks or benefits to them.
It's important to make sure that eligible interest-holders understand what they are agreeing to. Consent can't be withdrawn once the project is registered.
Consent from an eligible interest-holder does not:
- establish a legal right to carry out the project or claim ACCUs
- stop the sale or transfer of the land
- assign carbon sequestration rights to the project proponent
- give permission to run a project on land owned by the person or organisation holding the carbon sequestration right
- prove the project is eligible to participate in the ACCU Scheme
- transfer ownership of the project to the eligible interest-holder
- make the eligible interest-holder responsible for restoring lost carbon stocks
- establish commercial arrangements for allocating future ACCUs with the eligible interest-holder
- prevent the project proponent from withdrawing from the ACCU Scheme at any time.
You will need to vary or revoke your project if an eligible interest-holder doesn't grant consent.
Who is an eligible interest-holder
An eligible interest-holder is any person or organisation that has a legal interest in the land a project will run on. They might include:
- landholders
- banks or mortgagees
- state and territory Crown Lands Ministers
- registered native title bodies corporate.
A listing of eligible interest-holders is in sections 43 to 45A of the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative) Act 2011.
There may be more than one eligible interest-holder in your project area.
Parties that have granted you legal right to conduct the project may also need to provide their consent as an eligible interest-holder.
Native title, legal right and eligible interest-holder consent guidance
Our Native title, legal right and eligible interest-holder consent guidance can help you engage with eligible interest holders before you apply to register an ACCU Scheme project.
It is important to consider the principles set out in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, in particular the principle of free, prior and informed consent, when running a project on land subject to native title.
Find out more about legal right and native title.
When you need consent
You need eligible interest-holder consent for area-based emissions avoidance projects and sequestration projects.
You need to provide eligible interest-holder consent when you:
If you are unable to provide consents when you apply, your project may be registered with the condition that consents are provided before the end of the first reporting period.
You don't need consent from eligible interest-holders if their interest arises after the project is registered unconditionally or ACCUs have been issued.
Conditional registration
If you haven't obtained signed consent forms from each eligible interest-holder when you apply to register your project, it can only be conditionally registered. This means your project can't receive ACCUs.
You must provide all outstanding consents before the end of the project's first reporting period.
Once all consents have been provided, we will remove the condition.
Change your project area
If you want to add new area to an existing sequestration project, you must obtain written consent from all eligible interest-holders of the new area and provide this with your application to vary the project. This is required even if they don't have an interest in the land being added or removed.
Find out more about making changes to your project.
How to obtain consent
You must seek consent from every eligible interest-holder and submit signed consent forms from each. You must use the eligible interest-holder consent form.
An eligible interest-holder consent form is a legal document. It confirms the eligible interest-holder understands the details of the project and any risks or benefits to them.
You don't need a form if the consent is already set out in an Indigenous Land Use Agreement (that is made and registered under the Native Title Act 1993).
Blue carbon method consent forms
If your project is under the blue carbon method, you must use a specific eligible interest-holder consent form.
- Eligible interest holder consent form for land within the project area for blue carbon projects
- Eligible interest holder consent form for land outside the project area for blue carbon projects
Consent form for Crown Lands Minister, Western Australia
We have developed consent forms to use when seeking eligible interest-holder consent from the Crown Lands Minister of Western Australia for human-induced regeneration method or savanna fire management method projects.
Disclaimer
The information and documents on this page are for general guidance only. We don't accept responsibility for the accuracy, currency or completeness of the information. You should consult the relevant legislation and seek your own legal or professional advice.