Business and Industry Portal - provides information for different sectors and a range of sustainability issues including: Licenses and permits Regulatory frameworks and compliance requirements Managing waste, energy and water in your business. The information links to or is drawn from the relevant Queensland government departments: Department of Environment and Heritage Department of Energy and Water Supply Department of Natural Resources and Mines … [Read more...]
Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012
The Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012 replaced the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act 1999. The legislation requires non-public sector employers with 100 or more employees (relevant employers) to report to the Agency annually. If the number of employees falls below 100, it must continue to report unless its number of employees falls below 80. The Act is administered by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency. The Agency guidance on compliance and reporting requirements and … [Read more...]
National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting (NGER)
The National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act (NGER Act) requires corporations who meet the thresholds to report on their greenhouse gas emissions, energy production and energy consumption. They can also report on any projects to reduce of offset greenhouse gas emissions. For information see: http://www.cleanenergyregulator.gov.au/NGER/Pages/default.aspx For the legislation see: http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Series/C2007A00175 … [Read more...]
Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Commonwealth)
The Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (previously know as the Trade Practices Act 1974) is administered by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. The Act provides protection for small businesses and consumers and prevents some restrictive trade practices including: Market activities that manipulate supply or demand Price fixing Market sharing deals Misleading or deceptive conduct False representation Bait advertising – eg advertising exceptional deals that do not … [Read more...]
Anti-discrimination legislation (Commonwealth)
The Australian Human Rights Commission manages the following federal laws to protect people from discrimination and harassment: Age Discrimination Act 2004 Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986 Disability Discrimination Act 1992 Racial Discrimination Act 1975 Sex Discrimination Act 1984 Discrimination is where someone is treated differently or unfairly due to a perceived characteristic. Characteristics might be: Religion Ethnicity Sexual … [Read more...]
Product Stewardship Bill 2011 (Commonwealth)
Product stewardship extends the responsibility for environmental impact of a product to everyone involved in its life-cycle; not only manufacturers but also retailers, consumers and recyclers etc. The Product Stewardship Bill 2011 was passed by Parliament on 22 June 2011. It provides the framework to effectively manage the environmental, health and safety impacts of products in Australia. It forms part of the National Waste Policy and includes voluntary, co-regulatory and mandatory product … [Read more...]
National Pollutant Inventory reporting requirements (NPI)
Businesses have to report on their emissions and waste transfers if they trip the reporting thresholds which are defined for 93 substances, rates of burning waste and fuel and the rate and type of electricity usage. A series of Emission Estimation Technique (EET) manuals have been developed for each reporting industry. These outline the industry processes, various methods for estimating emissions and equations for converting different types of measurement. The full list of manuals is … [Read more...]
Greenhouse Gas Reduction Scheme (GGAS)(NSW)
The NSW Greenhouse Gas Reduction Scheme (GGAS) (sic) closed on 30 June 2012. The GGAS Registry will continue to be supported into the future to enable the trade and surrender of certificates by interested parties. The Energy Savings Scheme (ESS) is the NSW-based mandatory energy efficiency scheme for electricity retailers and other liable parties under the Electricity Supply Act. The ESS reduces electricity consumption in NSW by creating financial incentives to invest in energy … [Read more...]
Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act 1999 (Commonwealth)
The Act has been replaced by the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012, which is administered by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency. … [Read more...]
Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Commonwealth)
The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act focuses on the protection of matters of national environmental significance. State and territory governments have responsibility for matters of state and local significance. The Act requires Government approval to undertake any projects, developments or other activities that may have a significant impact on the environment, indigenous heritage, historic places, biodiversity and other matters that are listed under the Act. See … [Read more...]
