Client obligations and entitlements

Climate change law sets out the compliance obligations of clients including the basis on which they may receive valuable entitlements such as Renewable Energy Certificates or free carbon units under the industry assistance arrangements. The Clean Energy Regulator delivers services that enable clients to meet their obligations, checks that those obligations are being met and can impose consequences where those obligations are not being met.

As shown in Figure 2 below, the obligations fit into four broad categories which are consistent across the schemes administered by the Clean Energy Regulator (though clients may not be required to meet every one of these obligations).

Through its deployment of people, processes and systems, the Clean Energy Regulator is putting into operational form the requirements of the legislation. This work is designed to address the risk that clients are uninformed, unwilling or unable to comply.

The Clean Energy Regulator has made it an early priority to establish its regulatory posture, drawing extensively on the experience of its more mature schemes, namely the Renewable Energy Target and National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting. The cornerstone of this work is the Compliance, Education and Enforcement Policy. The Policy sets out the principles adopted by the Clean Energy Regulator to optimise compliance with the laws which it administers, including the role of client education and the Regulator's approach to compliance monitoring and enforcement.

The Clean Energy Regulator recognises that engagement, education and support, in the first instance, assist clients to meet their obligations and avoid inadvertent non-compliance. To this end, the Clean Energy Regulator publishes guidelines, factsheets, booklets, brochures, newsletters and calculators. Additionally, the Clean Energy Regulator ensures that clients have the opportunity to raise issues of concern and participate in workshops and discussion forums.

In stages, the Clean Energy Regulator is developing a range of new forms, processes and systems to meet the legislated milestones of the carbon pricing mechanism. Client input is invited during the development and testing of these new products.