Memo · Climate, ESG & Sustainability Reporting

Memo: legal right to carry out an ACCU Scheme project

Internal memo testing whether the proponent has the legal right to carry out an Australian carbon credit unit project, in the sense the Clean Energy Regulator describes, before registration.

Kind
Memo. An internal or advice memo.
Where it applies
Australia, Commonwealth
AI use
Red You write the text. The tool writes nothing into the document. Where permitted, it may check, clarify or collect data, and anything it checks or collects is verified.
Law stated as at
22 October 2026
Status
Maintained. Checked on 22 October 2026 against the authority it cites, for Australia and Commonwealth.
Version
1
Source
Written for this library

When to use it

Use before an application to register a project, before a variation, and when an offsets report is being prepared. The Regulator requires legal right to be shown at each of those points.

Used for these tasks

Each task page says how far AI may help with the task and what the lawyer must review.

How AI may be used

The lawyer decides whether legal right is held. AI may index contracts, leases and title searches and leave the conclusion blank.

AI may

  • List the agreements on the file, their dates, the parties and the land they mention
  • Note whether a native title search has been done and attach the file name of the result
  • Set out the two limbs the Regulator uses, with a blank for the lawyer

AI must not

  • Must not state that the proponent has, or does not have, the legal right
  • Must not describe the effect of a native title claim or an Indigenous land use agreement
  • Must not draft the declaration or the evidence statement that goes to the Regulator

The lawyer checks

  • Both limbs are addressed: the right to carry out the project activities on the sites, and the lawful and exclusive right to receive the units
  • The evidence is a written agreement, and the file records the steps taken, the advice received and who was consulted, as the Regulator asks
  • The term of the right covers the project life the Regulator describes for this method (usually 7 years for emissions avoidance and 25 years for sequestration)
  • Native title has been checked where the project is area-based, including by the National Native Title Tribunal map, and the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative) Act 2011 and the Native Title Act 1993 have been read on the points that arise

Method: how the Green, Yellow and Red levels are decided. This is guidance for planning, not legal advice.

Authorities

Read the full text

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