You may have to report under the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting (NGER) Scheme if you are a controlling corporation:
- with operational control of an NGER facility
- with group members that have operational control of an NGER facility.
Who must report under NGER
Controlling corporations or group members may have reporting obligations under NGER. If you have reporting obligations, you must register as an NGER reporter.
Controlling corporation
A controlling corporation is a constitutional corporation that does not have an Australian incorporated holding company.
It's usually the corporation at the top of the corporate hierarchy in Australia. It can be a non-operational holding company that doesn't handle day-to-day business.
A controlling corporation can also be a foreign incorporated entity that operates directly in Australia without an Australian incorporated subsidiary.
If you're having trouble identifying your controlling corporation, you can seek professional services advice.
Constitutional corporations
A constitutional corporation is a foreign, trading or financial corporation:
- formed within the limits of the Commonwealth
- that the Australian Government has power to make laws for under the Australian Constitution.
To determine if an incorporated government agency (such as a local council) is a constitutional corporation, you should consider:
- if the council is “trading” where trading is considered to be the provision of goods and services for reward, rather than goods and services provided under obligation (e.g. maintaining roads, collecting residents’ rubbish)
- whether the trading activities form a substantial or sufficiently significant proportion of all total activities of the council.
If you aren't sure if an incorporated government agency is a constitutional corporation, you should seek independent legal advice.
Group member
A controlling corporation’s group may consist of a controlling corporation only or it may include subsidiaries. A 'subsidiary' is defined in the Corporations Act 2001.
For the purpose of NGER, subsidiaries are called group members.
If the controlling corporation is a foreign company, its subsidiaries are only group members if they operate directly in Australia. This is because NGER reporting only covers activities within Australia.
It's important to correctly identify group members because this determines which facilities the controlling corporation must report on.
What is an NGER facility
Controlling corporations need to identify facilities under the operational control of the controlling corporation and their group members.
A facility is an activity or series of activities (including ancillary activities) that generate greenhouse gas emissions, produce energy or consume energy. A facility will need to form a single undertaking or enterprise and meet the requirements of the Regulations.
The definition of a facility for the purposes of NGER is broad to allow different industries to accurately define their facility boundaries.
To understand what a facility is, refer to:
- section 9 of the NGER Act
- division 2.4 of the Regulations
- our guide on defining NGER facilities.
In some circumstances, controlling corporations can apply to declare a facility under section 54 of the NGER Act. To do this, you must contact us. We can also declare an activity or series of activities to be a facility.
Safeguard facilities
Safeguard facilities are specific activities that have high levels of direct emissions. They are subject to the Safeguard Mechanism.
Safeguard facilities must either:
- keep their emissions below a baseline
- manage any excess emissions.
Designated generation facilities
A designated generation facility (DGF) is a facility whose principal activity is electricity production.
Facilities that generate electricity for their own use or as a secondary activity are not considered a DGF.
NGER thresholds
There are 2 types of thresholds that determine which corporations have an obligation under the NGER Act: facility thresholds and corporate group thresholds.
The facility thresholds are:
- 25,000 tonnes or more of carbon dioxide equivalence (CO2-e) (scope 1 and scope 2 emissions)
- production of 100 terajoules (TJ) or more of energy, or
- consumption of 100 TJ or more of energy.
The corporate group thresholds are:
- 50,000 tonnes or more of CO2-e (scope 1 and scope 2 emissions)
- production of 200 TJ or more of energy, or
- consumption of 200 TJ or more of energy.
If your corporation's group only triggers facility level thresholds, you only need to report on the individual facilities that reach the facility thresholds.
Once you reach a corporate threshold, you must report on all of your group's facilities, regardless of whether individual facilities reach facility thresholds.
The Safeguard Mechanism applies to facilities that emit more than 100,000 tonnes of CO2-e covered emissions a year.
Assess if you have to report
Follow these steps to assess if you have reporting obligations under the NGER Scheme.
You're responsible for assessing your own obligations under the NGER Act. If you're unsure, contact us.
Your controlling corporation is the entity that will need to be registered if it, or any of its group members, meet any of the reporting thresholds.
A corporation will have operational control over a facility if it has the authority to introduce and implement 3 types of policies for the facility:
- operating policies
- health and safety policies
- environmental policies.
If more than one corporation has the authority to introduce and implement policies, the corporation with the greatest authority for operating and environmental policies has operational control over the facility.
The person with operational control of a safeguard facility is known as a 'responsible emitter'.
To find out more about how to identify the corporation with operational control, download our operational control guide.
Declarations or nominations for operational control
Where there is an equal share of operational control and one person or corporation will take on reporting responsibilities or where operational control can't be agreed, you can:
- nominate operational control for a facility (section 11B of NGER Act)
- apply for a declaration of operational control (section 54 of NGER Act)
Before you make a declaration or nomination, you should contact us. You will need to complete and submit an application form.
Download application for declaration
Change in operational control
The corporation with operational control of a facility can change. For example, where a facility is sold part way through the year.
If the corporation with operational control changes, each corporation needs to report for the part of the year they were in control.
Part year reporting does not apply where ownership of the controlling corporation or group member changes but operational control of a facility does not.
Once you identify your controlling corporation, its group members and the facilities under its control, you can estimate if your emissions, energy production or consumption meet any of the reporting thresholds.
If you meet any of these thresholds, you have reporting obligations under the NGER Act.
Estimate emissions and energy
When estimating emissions and energy data, you must consider all activities that take place at the facility under your control. This includes activities of contractors and sub-contractors.
You can start by considering your emissions and energy costs. Do this by compiling bills for gas, electricity, diesel and other fuels, and waste.
You can also use our threshold calculator to help you estimate if you meet any of the reporting thresholds.
Transfer reporting obligations
In certain circumstances, a controlling corporation can transfer its reporting obligations for individual facilities.
Transfer to a corporation with financial control
Reporting Transfer Certificates (RTCs) allow reporting obligations to transfer from a controlling corporation with operational control over the facility to the corporation that has financial control over the facility.
RTCs are tied to a particular facility. So, if a corporation wants to report on multiple facilities it has financial control over, it needs to get an RTC for each one.
To apply for an RTC, you must complete the application for a Reporting Transfer Certificate form.
For more information, use our guideline for RTC.
Transfer to a group member with operational control
Under a section 22X agreement, a controlling corporation can transfer reporting obligations to the group member that has operational control over a facility or facilities. The group member taking on the reporting obligations is known as a 'responsible member'.
To transfer reporting obligations, you need to notify us by 30 June each year. For more information, contact us.