B: The Authority conducts public consultations for all of its reviews. Throughout this review, the Authority consulted with a wide range of interested parties including industry, non-government organisations, research and development corporations, Indigenous groups, academics and Commonwealth and state and territory government organisations. On 31 August 2017, the Authority released a paper to facilitate consultation for this review. The Authority received 28 stakeholder submissions, four of which were confidential. The submissions are available on the Authority’s website at In the interests of efficiency, the Authority also drew on submissions to the Action on the land: reducing emissions, conserving natural capital and improving farm profitability issues paper it released in March. The Authority also drew on submissions to the Department of the Environment and Energy’s 2017 review of Australia’s climate change policies. The Authority thanks all those that provided submissions or engaged with the Authority for this work. Organisations that made non-confidential submissions to this review were: AGL Energy Kimberley Land Council Arnhem Land Fire Abatement (NT) National Farmers' Federation Australian Forest Products Association National Waste and Recycling Industry Council Australian Gas Infrastructure Group Our Energy Group Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association Dr. Paul Burke (Australian National University) Carbon Market Institute Peter Yench Climate Friendly Southern Atherton Tablelands Revegetation Alliance ConocoPhillips The Wilderness Society Country Carbon Trust for Nature Eastern Alliance for Greenhouse Action Victorian Catchment Management Authorities Farmers for Climate Action Wentworth Group GreenCollar Western Australian Local Government Association
RECOMMENDATION ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTIVENESS EQUITY IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS COSTS BENEFITS R. 10 The CER include on their website a search function for ERF projects based on individual properties. Increases administrative costs for CER. Increases availability of information to future purchasers of land with a sequestration project and increases confidence that eligible interest holders are aware of projects. Could reduce risk of reversal to some extent by increasing the transparency of obligations on the land. Improves information availability and transparency for those with interests in relevant land areas. CER R. 11 Develop guidance for conveyancers and state and territory legal societies on permanence obligations that run with the land. Increases administrative costs for CER. Increases availability of information to future purchasers of land with a sequestration project so they have better knowledge of costs and risks to property values over time. Could reduce risk of reversal to some extent by increasing the transparency of obligations on the land. Improves information availability and transparency for potential purchasers of land. CER R. 12 Review the: - risk of reversal buffer and - the permanence period discount. Increases costs for the Authority. Assists Government in understanding the risks of reversal. Could lead to better management of the risk of reversal across the scheme. NA CCA R. 13 Require ERF scheme participants to notify CER of individuals and firms that they paid to provide them with advice. Small increases in transaction costs for scheme participants. Could enhance CER intelligence gathering and improve scheme compliance. Could improve environmental effectiveness of the scheme by strengthening compliance. Creates a more level playing field for scheme participants that abide by ERF rules. Reduces risk of unscrupulous scheme advisers. Change to legislative rule R. 14 Extend the Fit and Proper Person test to apply to designated agents. Increases administration costs to CER and transaction costs to some scheme participants. Could improve scheme compliance. Could improve environmental effectiveness of the scheme by strengthening compliance. Treats agents the same as scheme participants. Change to CFI Act
RECOMMENDATION ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTIVENESS EQUITY IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS COSTS BENEFITS R. 15 Require a declaration from landholders that they have read the Department’s aggregation agreement resources to register an aggregated project. Small increase in administrative costs for CER and transaction costs for scheme participants. Could enhance scheme participant’s understanding of obligations and reduce the need for compliance action. NA Improves transparency and reduces asymmetry of information between landholder and aggregator. Change to legislative rule R. 16 Some industry bodies and local government associations consider providing advice to their stakeholders on ERF projects. Increases costs for some industry bodies and local government associations. Could lead to lower cost abatement opportunities. May reduce transaction costs and increase participation. May increase abatement. NA Industry bodies/local government associations R. 17 Finalise guidance on consultation with Indigenous communities. Require scheme participants to notify and engage with Registered Native Title Body Corporates and eligible interest holders (EIH) of intention to register a project and provide the CER with evidence of consultation. Scheme participants not be allowed to bid at auction until all eligible interest holder consents have been obtained. Increases administrative costs for scheme participants. Restriction on bidding at auction may present a barrier to procuring finance. Could lead to reduced participation and higher auction prices. Increases transparency. Reduces risk that ERF contract’s conditions precedent are not met and ERF projects do not deliver abatement, delivering better value for tax payer funds. May reduce net administrative costs for CER. Increased likelihood of Government contracting with projects that will go ahead to deliver abatement but less abatement may be purchased if auction prices rise. Improves transparency and ability for EIHs to negotiate with scheme participants. Treats new entrants differently to incumbents, EIHs can negotiate with scheme participants prior to a contract being in place. CER and Change to legislative rule R. 18 Make explicit the CER’s ability to reverse specific decisions in cases where the original decision was based on false or misleading information. Increases risks for scheme participants. More efficient administrative decision making. NA NA Change to CFI Act
RECOMMENDATION ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTIVENESS EQUITY IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS COSTS BENEFITS R. 24 Investigate ways to further enhance CER’s client services, particularly when responding to complex enquiries. Increases administration costs to CER. May reduce transaction costs and increase participation. NA Improved information and transparency for clients. CER R. 25 Expand the CER’s regulatory toolkit to include issuing penalty infringement notices. NA Should reduce compliance costs by reducing need to initiate court proceedings. NA NA Change CFI Act R. 26 Allocate additional funds to the Department to collaborate with research organisations and stakeholders on new methods for the land sector and require rural research and development corporations include emissions reductions as priorities for their R&D work. Increases costs for Government and could redistribute existing funds from other areas. Could lead to lower cost abatement opportunities. May increase abatement through new methods. Increases stakeholder engagement and participation. May have equity implications if there are less funds available for other programs. Australian Government and rural research and development corporations. Note: The implementation column notes how the scheme rules and operation would need to change in order to implement the recommended change. Where an agency (eg CER or Department) is noted, the required change is an internal administrative change that does not require changes to legislation or legislative instruments. Regardless of the technical implementation, scheme participant actions may also need to change to comply with the new arrangements.