Commonwealth Consolidated Acts Commonwealth Consolidated ActsIn this Act:
"25-year permanence period project" has the meaning given by paragraph 27(3)(f).
"100-year permanence period" , in relation to an eligible offsets project, has the meaning given by section 87.
"100-year permanence period project" has the meaning given by paragraph 27(3)(e).
"Aboriginal peoples" has the same meaning as in the Native Title Act 1993 .
"account number" , in relation to a Registry account, has the same meaning as in the Australian National Registry of Emissions Units Act 2011 .
"agricultural emissions avoidance project" means a project to avoid any of the following emissions:
(a) an emission of methane from the digestive tract of livestock;
(b) an emission of:
(i) methane; or
(ii) nitrous oxide;
from the decomposition of:
(iii) livestock urine; or
(iv) livestock dung;
(c) an emission of methane from:
(i) rice fields; or
(ii) rice plants;
(d) an emission of:
(i) methane; or
(ii) nitrous oxide;
from the burning of:
(iii) savannas; or
(iv) grasslands;
(e) an emission of:
(i) methane; or
(ii) nitrous oxide;
from the burning of:
(iii) crop stubble in fields; or
(iv) crop residues in fields; or
(v) sugar cane before harvest;
(f) an emission of:
(i) methane; or
(ii) nitrous oxide;
from soil.
Paragraph (f) does not apply to an emission that is attributable to the operation of a landfill facility.
"alter" the Registry has the same meaning as in the Australian National Registry of Emissions Units Act 2011 .
"applicable carbon sequestration right" , in relation to a project area for a sequestration offsets project, has the meaning given by section 43.
"applicable methodology determination" , in relation to an offsets project, means the methodology determination that is applicable to the project.
Note: See also sections 124 to 130.
"area-based emissions avoidance project" has the meaning given by section 53A.
"area-based offsets project" means an offsets project that is:
(a) a sequestration offsets project; or
(b) an area - based emissions avoidance project.
"assigned amount unit" has the same meaning as in the Australian National Registry of Emissions Units Act 2011 .
"associated provisions" means the following provisions:
(a) the provisions of the regulations;
(aa) the provisions of the legislative rules;
(b) sections 134.1, 134.2, 135.1, 135.2, 135.4, 136.1, 137.1 and 137.2 of the Criminal Code , in so far as those sections relate to:
(i) this Act; or
(ii) the regulations; or
(iii) the legislative rules.
"audit team leader" means a registered greenhouse and energy auditor appointed under any of the following provisions:
(a) paragraph 13(1)(e);
(aa) paragraph 13(1)(ea);
(ab) paragraph 13(1)(eb);
(b) paragraph 23(1)(d);
(c) paragraph 76(4)(c);
(ca) paragraph 76(4)(ca);
(cb) paragraph 76(4)(cb);
(d) section 214;
(e) section 215.
"Australia" , when used in a geographical sense, includes the external Territories.
"Australian carbon credit unit" means a unit issued under section 147.
"Australian police force" means:
(a) the Australian Federal Police; or
(b) a police force or police service of a State or Territory.
"Australia's greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets" means:
(a) if:
(i) Australia's current nationally determined contribution was communicated in accordance with Article 4 of the Paris Agreement in June 2022; and
(ii) that nationally determined contribution has not been adjusted in accordance with paragraph 11 of Article 4 of the Paris Agreement;
the greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets set out in paragraphs 10(1)(a) and (b) of the Climate Change Act 2022 ; or
(b) in any other case--the greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets included in:
(i) Australia's current nationally determined contribution communicated in accordance with Article 4 of the Paris Agreement; or
(ii) if that nationally determined contribution has been adjusted in accordance with paragraph 11 of Article 4 of the Paris Agreement--that nationally determined contribution, as adjusted and in force from time to time.
"avoid" , in relation to emissions of greenhouse gases, includes reduce or eliminate.
"benchmark sequestration level" has the meaning given by subsection 97(8).
"carbon abatement" means:
(a) the removal of one or more greenhouse gases from the atmosphere; or
(b) the avoidance of emissions of one or more greenhouse gases.
"carbon abatement contract" has the meaning given by section 20B.
"carbon abatement contractor" has the meaning given by section 20B.
"carbon abatement purchasing process" has the meaning given by section 20F.
"carbon dioxide equivalent" , of an amount of greenhouse gas, means the carbon dioxide equivalence (within the meaning of the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act 2007 ) of the amount of the gas.
"carbon estimation area" , in relation to an area - based offsets project, has the meaning given by the applicable methodology determination for the project.
"carbon maintenance obligation" has the meaning given by paragraph 97(2)(a).
"certificate of entitlement" means a certificate issued under section 15.
"Chapter 5 body corporate" has the same meaning as in the Corporations Act 2001 .
"civil penalty order" means an order under subsection 221(1).
"civil penalty provision" means a provision declared by this Act to be a civil penalty provision.
"Climate Change Convention" means the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change done at New York on 9 May 1992, as amended and in force for Australia from time to time.
Note: The text of the Convention is set out in Australian Treaty Series 1994 No. 2 ([1994] ATS 2). In 2011, the text of a Convention in the Australian Treaty Series was accessible through the Australian Treaties Library on the AustLII website (www.austlii.edu.au).
"common law holders" , in relation to native title land, has the same meaning as in the Native Title Act 1993 .
"Commonwealth holding account" has the same meaning as in the Australian National Registry of Emissions Units Act 2011 .
"Commonwealth place" has the same meaning as in the Commonwealth Places (Application of Laws) Act 1970 .
"Commonwealth Registry account" has the same meaning as in the Australian National Registry of Emissions Units Act 2011 .
"Commonwealth relinquished units account" means the Commonwealth Registry account designated as the Commonwealth relinquished units account.
"constitutional corporation" means a corporation to which paragraph 51(xx) of the Constitution applies.
"crediting period" , in relation to an eligible offsets project, means:
(a) the crediting period for the project worked out under section 69 or 71; or
(b) a crediting period for the project worked out under section 70.
Note: Sections 70 and 71 deal with transitional matters.
"crediting period extension review" has the meaning given by section 255A.
"Crown land" means land that is the property of:
(a) the Commonwealth, a State or a Territory; or
(b) a statutory authority of:
(i) the Commonwealth; or
(ii) a State; or
(iii) a Territory.
For this purpose, it is immaterial whether the land is:
(c) subject to a lease or licence; or
(d) covered by a reservation, proclamation, dedication, condition, permission or authority, made or conferred by the Commonwealth, the State or the Territory; or
(e) covered by the making, amendment or repeal of legislation of the Commonwealth, the State or the Territory under which the whole or a part of the land is to be used for a public purpose or public purposes; or
(f) held on trust for the benefit of another person; or
(g) subject to native title.
"Crown lands Minister" :
(a) in relation to a State--means the Minister of the State who, under the regulations or the legislative rules, is taken to be the Crown lands Minister of the State; or
(b) in relation to the Northern Territory--means the Minister of the Northern Territory who, under the regulations or the legislative rules, is taken to be the Crown lands Minister of the Northern Territory; or
(c) in relation to the Australian Capital Territory--means the Minister of the Australian Capital Territory who, under the regulations or the legislative rules, is taken to be the Crown lands Minister of the Australian Capital Territory; or
(d) in relation to a Territory other than the Northern Territory or the Australian Capital Territory--means the person who, under the regulations or the legislative rules, is taken to be the Crown lands Minister of the Territory.
"designated" , in relation to a Commonwealth Registry account, has the same meaning as in the Australian National Registry of Emissions Units Act 2011 .
"designated savanna project" means a project to avoid the emission of methane or nitrous oxide from the burning of savannas .
"director" includes a constituent member of a body corporate incorporated for a public purpose by a law of the Commonwealth, a State or a Territory.
"Doha Amendment" means the amendments to the Kyoto Protocol that:
(a) were adopted by the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol, in Decision 1/CMP.8; and
(b) are set out in Annex I to that Decision.
Note 1: The Doha Amendment was adopted in Doha, Qatar, in December 2012.
Note 2: The Doha Amendment could in 2014 be viewed on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change website (http://www.unfccc.int).
"electronic communication" means a communication by means of guided and/or unguided electromagnetic energy.
"electronic notice transmitted to the Regulator" has the meaning given by section 7.
"eligible carbon abatement" from an offsets project means carbon abatement that:
(a) results from the carrying out of the project; and
(b) is able to be used to meet Australia's climate change targets under:
(i) the Kyoto Protocol; or
(ii) the Paris Agreement.
"eligible carbon credit unit" means:
(a) a Kyoto Australian carbon credit unit; or
(b) a prescribed eligible carbon unit.
"eligible interest" , in relation to an area of land, has the meaning given by section 43, 44, 45 or 45A.
"eligible offsets project" has the meaning given by subsection 27(2).
"eligible voluntary action" means:
(a) making an application; or
(b) giving information in connection with an application; or
(c) withdrawing an application; or
(d) giving a notice (including an electronic notice); or
(e) making a submission; or
(f) making a request; or
(g) giving information in connection with a request;
to the Regulator, where the application, information, notice, submission or request is permitted, but not required, to be made, given or withdrawn, as the case may be, under this Act, the regulations or the legislative rules.
"emission" of greenhouse gas means the release of greenhouse gas into the atmosphere.
"emissions avoidance offsets project" has the meaning given by section 53.
"Emissions Reduction Assurance Committee" means the committee continued in existence by section 254.
"Emissions Reduction Assurance Committee member" means a member of the Emissions Reduction Assurance Committee, and includes the Chair of the Emissions Reduction Assurance Committee.
"Emissions Reduction Fund Register" means the register kept under section 167.
"engage in conduct" means:
(a) do an act; or
(b) omit to perform an act.
"entrusted public official" means:
(f) an audit team leader; or
(g) a person assisting an audit team leader; or
(h) an Emissions Reduction Assurance Committee member; or
(i) a person assisting the Emissions Reduction Assurance Committee under section 269.
"evidential burden" , in relation to a matter, means the burden of adducing or pointing to evidence that suggests a reasonable possibility that the matter exists or does not exist.
"excluded offsets project" has the meaning given by section 56.
"exclusive possession native title land" means native title land, where the native title confers a right of exclusive possession over the land.
"executive officer" of a body corporate means:
(a) a director of the body corporate; or
(b) the chief executive officer (however described) of the body corporate; or
(c) the chief financial officer (however described) of the body corporate; or
(d) the secretary of the body corporate.
"extended accounting period" has the meaning given by section 7A.
"Federal Court" means the Federal Court of Australia.
"fit and proper person test" has the meaning given by section 60.
"foreign account" , when used in relation to an Australian carbon credit unit, means an account kept within a foreign registry.
"foreign country" includes a region where:
(a) the region is a colony, territory or protectorate of a foreign country; or
(b) the region is part of a foreign country; or
(c) the region is under the protection of a foreign country; or
(d) a foreign country exercises jurisdiction or control over the region; or
(e) a foreign country is responsible for the region's international relations.
"foreign registry" has the same meaning as in the Australian National Registry of Emissions Units Act 2011 .
"freehold land rights land" means land, where:
(a) a freehold estate exists over the land, and the grant of the freehold estate took place under a law of a State or a Territory that makes provision for the grant of such things only to, or for the benefit of, Aboriginal peoples or Torres Strait Islanders; or
(b) a freehold estate exists over the land, and the grant of the freehold estate took place under a law of the Commonwealth that makes provision for the grant of such things only to, or for the benefit of, Aboriginal peoples or Torres Strait Islanders; or
(c) the land is vested in a person, and the vesting took place under a law of the Commonwealth that makes provision for the vesting of land only in, or for the benefit of, Aboriginal peoples or Torres Strait Islanders.
"greenhouse gas" has the same meaning as in the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act 2007 .
"hold" an Australian carbon credit unit: a person holds an Australian carbon credit unit if the person is the registered holder of the unit.
"indigenous land use agreement" has the same meaning as in the Native Title Act 1993 .
"insolvent under administration" has the same meaning as in the Corporations Act 2001 .
"inspector" means a person appointed as an inspector under section 196.
"international agreement" means an agreement whose parties are:
(a) Australia and a foreign country; or
(b) Australia and 2 or more foreign countries.
"issue" , in relation to an Australian carbon credit unit, means issue under section 147.
"joint implementation project" means a project that is treated as a joint implementation project for the purposes of the relevant provisions of the Kyoto rules.
"Kyoto abatement deadline" means:
(a) 30 June 2012; or
(b) if a later day is specified in the regulations or the legislative rules--the later day.
"Kyoto Australian carbon credit unit" means:
(a) an Australian carbon credit unit that:
(i) was issued in accordance with subsection 11(2) after the commencement of this definition; and
(ii) is, or is to be, identified as a Kyoto Australian carbon credit unit within the Registry; or
(b) an Australian carbon credit unit that:
(i) was issued before the commencement of this definition; and
(ii) was a Kyoto Australian carbon credit unit (within the meaning of this Act as it stood before the commencement of this definition).
"Kyoto Protocol" means the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change done at Kyoto on 11 December 1997, as amended and in force for Australia from time to time.
Note: The text of the Kyoto Protocol is set out in Australian Treaty Series 2008 No. 2 ([2008] ATS 2). In 2011, the text of an international agreement in the Australian Treaty Series was accessible through the Australian Treaties Library on the AustLII website (www.austlii.edu.au).
"Kyoto rules" has the same meaning as in the Australian National Registry of Emissions Units Act 2011 .
"landfill facility" means a facility for the disposal of solid waste as landfill, and includes a facility that is closed for the acceptance of waste.
"landfill legacy emissions avoidance project" means a project to avoid emissions of greenhouse gases from the operation of a landfill facility, to the extent to which the emissions are attributable to waste accepted by the facility before the day specified in a legislative instrument made by the Minister for the purposes of this definition.
"land rights land" means land, where:
(a) a freehold estate exists, or a lease is in force, over the land, where the grant of the freehold estate or lease took place under legislation that makes provision for the grant of such things only to, or for the benefit of, Aboriginal peoples or Torres Strait Islanders; or
(b) the land is vested in a person, where the vesting took place under legislation that makes provision for the vesting of land only in, or for the benefit of, Aboriginal peoples or Torres Strait Islanders; or
(c) neither paragraph (a) nor (b) applies, and the land is held expressly for the benefit of, or is held in trust expressly for the benefit of, Aboriginal peoples or Torres Strait Islanders; or
(d) the land is reserved expressly for the benefit of Aboriginal peoples or Torres Strait Islanders; or
(e) the land is specified in the regulations or the legislative rules.
Note: For specification by class, see subsection 13(3) of the Legislation Act 2003 .
"lease" , in relation to land rights land, includes:
(a) a lease enforceable in equity; and
(b) a contract that contains a statement to the effect that it is a lease; and
(c) anything that, at or before the time of its creation, is, for any purpose, by a law of the Commonwealth, a State or a Territory, declared to be or described as a lease.
"legislative rules" means rules made under section 308.
"methodology determination" has the meaning given by section 106.
"monitoring powers" has the meaning given by section 199.
"monitoring warrant" means a warrant issued under section 211.
"National Native Title Register" has the same meaning as in the Native Title Act 1993 .
"native title" has the same meaning as in the Native Title Act 1993 .
"native title" holder has the same meaning as in the Native Title Act 1993 .
"native title land" : an area of land is native title land if there is an entry on the National Native Title Register specifying that native title exists in relation to the area.
"natural disturbance" , in relation to an eligible offsets project, means any of the following events, where the event could not reasonably be prevented by the project proponent for the project:
(a) flood;
(b) bushfire;
(c) drought;
(d) pest attack;
(e) disease;
(f) an event specified in the regulations or the legislative rules.
"net total number" of Australian carbon credit units issued in relation to an eligible offsets project in accordance with Part 2 has the meaning given by section 42.
"no double counting test" has the meaning given by section 15A.
"nominee account" means a Registry account designated as a nominee account under subsection 140(6).
"non-Kyoto Australian carbon credit unit" means an Australian carbon credit unit other than a Kyoto Australian carbon credit unit.
"officer" has the same meaning as in the Corporations Act 2001 .
"offsets integrity standards" has the meaning given by section 133.
"offsets project" means:
(a) a sequestration offsets project; or
(b) an emissions avoidance offsets project.
For this purpose, it is immaterial whether the project has been carried out.
"offsets report" means a report under section 76.
"open" , in relation to a Registry account, has the same meaning as in the Australian National Registry of Emissions Units Act 2011 .
"operation" , in relation to a landfill facility, includes the subsistence of the landfill facility.
"paid work" means work for financial gain or reward (whether as an employee, a self - employed person or otherwise).
"Paris Agreement" means the Paris Agreement, done at Paris on 12 December 2015, as amended and in force for Australia from time to time.
Note: The Agreement is in Australian Treaty Series 2016 No. 24 ([2016] ATS 24) and could in 2022 be viewed in the Australian Treaties Library on the AustLII website (http://www.austlii.edu.au).
"permanence period" , in relation to an eligible offsets project, has the meaning given by section 86A.
"permitted carbon activity" has the meaning given by paragraph 97(2)(b).
"person" means any of the following:
(a) an individual;
(b) a body corporate;
(c) a trust;
(d) a corporation sole;
(e) a body politic;
(f) a local governing body.
"person assisting" an inspector has the meaning given by section 200.
"premises" includes the following:
(a) a structure, building, vehicle, vessel or aircraft;
(b) a place (whether or not enclosed or built on);
(c) a part of a thing referred to in paragraph (a) or (b).
"prescribed" means prescribed by the regulations or the legislative rules.
"prescribed eligible carbon unit" means a prescribed unit that is issued under a scheme relating to either or both of the following:
(a) the removal of one or more greenhouse gases from the atmosphere;
(b) the avoidance of emissions of one or more greenhouse gases.
It is immaterial whether a unit was issued in or outside Australia.
A unit must not be prescribed for the purposes of this definition unless the unit represents carbon abatement that is able to be used to meet Australia's climate change targets under:
(c) the Kyoto Protocol; or
(d) the Paris Agreement; or
(e) any other international agreement.
"project" includes a set of activities.
"project area" , in relation an area - based offsets project, means an area of land on which the project has been, is being, or is to be, carried out.
"project proponent" , in relation to an offsets project, means the person who:
(a) is responsible for carrying out the project; and
(b) has the legal right to carry out the project.
Note 1: See also section 46 (registered native title bodies corporate).
Note 2: See also section 135 (multiple project proponents).
"protected audit information" means protected information that was obtained by a person in the person's capacity as:
(a) an audit team leader; or
(b) a person assisting an audit team leader.
"protected ERAC information" means protected information that was obtained by a person in the person's capacity as:
(a) an Emissions Reduction Assurance Committee member; or
(b) a person assisting the Emissions Reduction Assurance Committee under section 269.
"protected information" means information that:
(a) was obtained after the commencement of this section by a person in the person's capacity as an entrusted public official; and
(b) relates to the affairs of a person other than an entrusted public official.
"quarter" means a period of 3 months beginning on 1 January, 1 April, 1 July or 1 October.
"regional natural resource management plan" means a plan prepared by a regional natural resource management organisation.
"registered greenhouse and energy auditor" has the same meaning as in the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act 2007 .
"registered holder" , in relation to an Australian carbon credit unit, means the person in whose Registry account there is an entry for the unit.
"registered indigenous land use agreement" means an indigenous land use agreement the details of which are entered on the Register of Indigenous Land Use Agreements.
"registered native title body corporate" has the same meaning as in the Native Title Act 1993 .
"Register of Indigenous Land Use Agreements" has the same meaning as in the Native Title Act 1993 .
"Registry" means the Australian National Registry of Emissions Units continued in existence under the Australian National Registry of Emissions Units Act 2011 .
"Registry account" has the same meaning as in the Australian National Registry of Emissions Units Act 2011 .
"Regulator" means the Clean Energy Regulator.
"regulatory approval" , in relation to an offsets project, means an approval, licence or permit (however described) that:
(a) relates to, or to an element of, the project; and
(b) is required under a law of the Commonwealth, a State or Territory that relates to:
(i) land use or development; or
(ii) the environment; or
(iii) water.
"relevant carbon pool" , in relation to a sequestration offsets project:
(a) to the extent (if any) to which the project is a project to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by sequestering carbon in particular living biomass--means the biomass; or
(b) to the extent (if any) to which the project is a project to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by sequestering carbon in particular dead organic matter--means the dead organic matter; or
(c) to the extent (if any) to which the project is a project to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by sequestering carbon in particular soil--means the soil.
"relevant land registration official" :
(a) in relation to an area - based offsets project that is or was an eligible offsets project--means the Registrar of Titles or other proper officer of the State or Territory in which the project area, or any of the project areas, is situated; or
(b) in relation to an area of land that is or was subject to a carbon maintenance obligation--means the Registrar of Titles or other proper officer of the State or Territory in which the area of land is situated.
"relinquish" , in relation to an Australian carbon credit unit, means relinquish under section 175.
"reporting period" for an eligible offsets project means a period that is expressed, in an offsets report about the project, to be a reporting period for the project.
Note: See section 76.
"reviewable decision" has the meaning given by section 240.
"Royal Commission" has the same meaning as in the Royal Commissions Act 1902 .
"scheme" , when used in Part 22, means:
(a) any agreement, arrangement, understanding, promise or undertaking, whether express or implied and whether or not enforceable, or intended to be enforceable, by legal proceedings; or
(b) any scheme, plan, proposal, action, course of action or course of conduct, whether there are 2 or more parties or only one party involved.
"Secretary" means the Secretary of the Department.
"sequestration offsets project" has the meaning given by section 54.
"special native title account" means a Registry account designated as a special native title account under subsection 48(6).
"statutory authority" of the Commonwealth, a State or a Territory, means an authority or body (including a corporation sole) established by or under a law of the Commonwealth, the State or the Territory (other than a general law allowing incorporation as a company or body corporate), but does not include:
(a) an Aboriginal Land Trust established under the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 ; or
(b) the Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community Council established by the Aboriginal Land and Waters (Jervis Bay Territory) Act 1986 ; or
(c) a corporation registered under the Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006 ; or
(d) an authority or body that is:
(i) established by or under a law of the Commonwealth, a State or a Territory; and
(ii) specified in the regulations or the legislative rules.
"Torrens system land" : land is Torrens system land if the title to the land is registered under a Torrens system of registration.
"Torres Strait Islander" has the same meaning as in the Native Title Act 1993 .
"transfer" , in relation to an Australian carbon credit unit, has the meaning given by section 151.
"trust" means a person in the capacity of trustee or, as the case requires, a trust estate.
"trustee" has the same meaning as in the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 .
"trust estate" has the same meaning as in the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 .
"United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea" means the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, done at Montego Bay on 10 December 1982.
Note: The Convention is in Australian Treaty Series 1994 No. 31 ([1994] ATS 31) and could in 2014 be viewed in the Australian Treaties Library on the AustLII website (http://www.austlii.edu.au).
"vacancy" , in relation to the office of an Emissions Reduction Assurance Committee member, has a meaning affected by section 6.
"voluntary cancellation account" has the same meaning as in the Australian National Registry of Emissions Units Act 2011 .