Compliance

Under the State Development and Public Works Organisation Act 1971 (the Act), the Coordinator-General may condition coordinated projects to ensure that their impacts are properly managed.

The Coordinator-General may impose and/or state conditions that must be attached to future approvals such as an environmental authority, or a relevant planning approval.

Coordinator-General imposed and stated conditions are documented in the Coordinator-General's:

• evaluation report on the environmental impact statement for a coordinated project
• evaluation report on the impact assessment report for a coordinated project
• change report for a coordinated project (if applicable)
• material change of use approval for a coordinated project in a state development area
• an evaluation report on the social impact assessment (under s11(2) of the Strong and Sustainable Resource Communities Act 2017)
• a report that includes an evaluation of the potential social impacts of a large resource project under the Act, or the Environmental Protection Act 1994.

Under the Act, conditions (and in some instances, recommendations), required by the Coordinator-General are legally enforceable. They apply to anyone undertaking the project, including the project proponent and the proponent's agents, contractors, subcontractors or licensees.

Administering authorities

The Coordinator-General may nominate an administering authority, such as the Department of Environment, Science and Innovation, to have jurisdiction for a Coordinator-General condition.

Compliance with stated conditions is monitored and enforced by the relevant administering authority.

Compliance with imposed conditions may be monitored and managed by an administering authority; however the Coordinator-General retains overall responsibility for the auditing and enforcement of imposed conditions.

Compliance activities

On behalf of the Coordinator-General, the Office of the Coordinator-General's compliance activities include the:

• provision of advice to the Coordinator-General on the conditioning of approvals, to ensure that conditions are reasonable, relevant and enforceable
• monitoring of proponent compliance with imposed conditions of approval
• assessment of non-compliance notifications and provision of possible enforcement options to the Coordinator-General. The Coordinator-General decides on the most appropriate enforcement option
• reviewing of third-party audit reports and provision of advice to the Coordinator-General on audit outcomes and any actions that may be required
• maintenance of collaborative working arrangements with state agencies, or other entities that have condition jurisdiction or a compliance role.

Overview: management and enforcement of Coordinator-General conditions

The Office of the Coordinator-General's Overview: management and enforcement of Coordinator-General conditions for coordinated projects ( 251.0 KB) outlines its approach to monitoring and enforcing compliance with the conditions of approval.

Compliance measures

The Office of the Coordinator-General uses a range of compliance measures to ensure project proponents comply with Coordinator-General imposed conditions of approval such as:

• education
• remediation
• enforcement actions.

Third-party audits

Coordinated project proponents may be required to engage an independent and suitably qualified person/s to conduct a third-party audit of project compliance with imposed conditions. The audit reports must be submitted to the Coordinator-General for review.

The frequency of project auditing varies, but is generally conducted every six to 12 months during the audit period. The audit period remains active until all imposed conditions have been met.

Audit report

The audit report certifies the status of all Coordinator-General imposed conditions. The report must include:

• findings of the audit
• any breaches of imposed conditions
• any corrective actions taken, or revised practices to be implemented.

More information

For more information contact us on 1800 001 048 or via ocgcompliance@coordinatorgeneral.qld.gov.au