Overview
The Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) Scheme supports landholders, communities and businesses to deliver projects that cut greenhouse gas emissions and increase carbon storage.
It plays a key role in Australia’s net zero transition and mitigation efforts.
Multiple independent reviews of the ACCU Scheme have found it is well designed and administered, and contributing to Australia’s transition to net zero by 2050, while also finding opportunities for continuous improvement.
The Australian Government undertook public consultation on the Exposure Draft of the Carbon Credits and Other Legislation Amendment (Integrity and Transparency) Bill 2026 between 30 April and 22 May 2026. The Exposure Draft proposed a suite of legislative amendments to implement review recommendations, respond to stakeholder feedback and bolster the integrity of the ACCU Scheme. The amendments to both the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative) Act 2011 (CFI Act) and the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act 2007 (the NGER Act) Act would:
Strengthen ACCU Scheme consent requirements by recognising registered native title claimants as eligible interest holders and requiring up-front and staged consent for projects on land that is recognised as native title land, or subject to native title claims.
Enable the existing ACCU Scheme Emissions Reduction Assurance Committee to evolve into the new Carbon Abatement Integrity Committee (CAIC).
Clarify the governance arrangements for proponent-led method development (PLMD) in the ACCU Scheme.
Create new Ministerial powers to manage critical integrity risks the ACCU Scheme could face in the future.
Encourage greater investment and participation in research and development into new emissions reduction opportunities for the ACCU Scheme.
Enhance the Clean Energy Regulator’s compliance and publication powers to ensure ongoing integrity and transparency of the ACCU Scheme.
Simplify and streamline the ACCU Scheme administration.
Enhance the transparency and administration of the NGER Scheme.
Alongside the Exposure Draft, the Australian Government prepared a ‘Consultation Paper’ which provided more detail on the amendments. The ‘Bill Compilation’ shows the Act as it would appear following passage of the amendments.
During the consultation period the Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water held a series of webinars to explain the details of the Bill and provided an opportunity for questions. Webinar recordings and transcripts remain available below.
Public consultation submissions
Submissions on the Exposure Draft were accepted until 5pm AEST on Friday 22 May 2026.
73 individual submissions were received during the public consultation period.
All submissions received during the public consultation period have been published, except those that indicated their submission was private and confidential.
Read published submissions.
Bill introduced to Parliament
The Australian Government has introduced the Carbon Credits and Other Legislation Amendment (Integrity and Transparency) Bill 2026 to Parliament.
The Carbon Credits and Other Legislation (Integrity and Transparency) Bill 2026 (the Bill) makes important improvements to the Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) Scheme, National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting (NGER) Scheme and New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES) Scheme, necessary to strengthen the integrity of these schemes and ensure they make the greatest possible contribution to achieving Australia’s ambitious emissions reduction targets.
The Bill and associated parliamentary documents are available on the Australian Parliament House website.
The Department will host a webinar on Tuesday, 8 September 2026, from 3:30 pm to 4:30 pm (AEST) to provide an overview of the key changes made between the exposure draft and the version introduced to Parliament. Please register here.
Consultation documents
Supporting information
Summary of proposed reforms
Summary of the proposed ACCU Scheme legislation reforms [PDF 389KB]
Summary of the proposed ACCU Scheme legislation reforms [DOCX 351KB]
FAQs
Webinar recordings
Introductory Webinar: Overview of the Bill
Download the transcript: introductory webinar [DOCX 109KB]
Deep-dive webinar 1: Carbon Abatement Integrity Committee and Proponent-led Method Development amendments
Download the transcript: deep-dive webinar 1 [DOCX 138KB]
Deep-dive webinar 2: Integrity Risk Method Declaration amendments
Download the transcript: deep-dive webinar 2 [DOCX 132KB]
Deep-dive webinar 3: Native Title Consent amendments
Download the transcript: deep-dive webinar 3 [DOCX 412KB]
Deep-dive webinar 4: Integrity improvements and administrative amendments
Download the transcript: deep-dive webinar 4 [DOCX 142KB]
Converlens