Before you submit your reports, you may want to get a registered greenhouse and energy auditor to undertake a voluntary assurance audit.
This type of assurance is valuable. It provides a greater level of confidence in your reporting compliance. Voluntary assurance also plays a crucial role in providing us with confidence in the accuracy and completeness of your reported information.
We may also conduct audits of reported information under sections 73, 74 or 74A of the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act 2007.
Voluntary audits
Reasonable assurance voluntary audits
For reasonable assurance audits conducted by a Category 2 registered greenhouse and energy auditor, in accordance with the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting (Audit) Determination 2009, we won't re-audit the same information.
Limited assurance voluntary audits
For limited assurance audits conducted by a Category 2 auditor, in accordance with the Determination, we'll have regard to the information contained in the audit report and the extent of testing conducted as part of the limited assurance audit. We won't seek to re-audit the same information where the limited assurance audit provides enough confidence over the reported information.
Compliance history
We'll also take into account your compliance history. Where you've been subject to an audit initiated by us in the past 3 years, we won't undertake another audit over the current reporting year.
Clean Energy Regulator-initiated audits
We might start an audit of previously audited information, where:
- we have reasonable grounds to suspect you have contravened, are contravening or are proposing to contravene the NGER Act or the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Regulations 2008
- a limited assurance audit doesn't provide enough information to provide confidence in the reported information
- the audit wasn't conducted by a Category 2 auditor or in accordance with the Determination
- the audit has identified a potential error or a modified opinion
- the audit doesn't provide enough detail to address our specific compliance priorities.
If you need to undertake an audit initiated by us, we will let you know before the audit starts. You'll have the opportunity to give us extra information that may help in the final audit.
If you have undertaken voluntary assurance of your reports, submit this information with your NGER report.
Examples of voluntary audit use
Example A
Company A is a large coal mining company. Most of their emissions come from the venting and flaring of coalmine waste gas. Company A engages a Category 2 auditor to conduct a reasonable assurance audit over their NGER report following our audit framework. Company A gives us a copy of the full audit report, including the detailed findings in Part B.
It's unlikely we would seek additional assurance over that year’s reporting.
Example B
Company B is a metals and minerals manufacturer with a broad range of NGER activities and fuels. Company B has engaged their financial auditor — an ASIC-registered company auditor who is not a Category 2 auditor — to conduct assurance over their NGER report. Company A attaches a copy of the audit to their submitted report.
The audit opinion may give us some confidence in the accuracy and completeness of the report. We might still audit Company B’s report, or a subset of activities based on our compliance priorities.
Example C
Company C is a large transport company with vehicles and warehouses across the country. They have engaged a Category 1 auditor to conduct a limited assurance audit of their NGER report. Company C provides the audit to us in support of their report.
While this limited assurance opinion can provide some extra confidence, we may choose to start a reasonable assurance audit of Company C. This allows us to better understand their reporting and gain more confidence in the completeness and accuracy of the report.