Australia’s Climate Change Department has been criticized for its ineffective governance arrangements that are failing to support the country’s efforts to combat climate change. This comes after a new audit by the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) revealed that the Department’s reporting methods are not helping reduce carbon emissions.
The audit followed two pieces of legislation passed by the federal parliament in September 2022, outlining national goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 43 percent below 2005 levels by 2030 and achieving net zero emissions by 2050. The Department is responsible for managing and coordinating actions, policies, and strategies to facilitate the government’s climate change plan and is required to report the progress to the Parliament annually.
However, the ANAO report found that the Department had not delivered the strategies and plans needed to help achieve the emissions reduction targets. Specifically, the report stated that while the governance arrangements introduced by the Department were “partly effective” in assisting the government in carrying out its climate change commitments, it failed to deliver some components, including national plans, strategies, and frameworks.
The report also found that the Department could not demonstrate the extent to which specific Australian government policies and programs have contributed, or are expected to contribute, to overall emissions reduction. Additionally, oversight arrangements and risk management strategies for the government’s climate change commitments were not established.
The audit also examined the effectiveness of the Department in managing the government’s Powering Australia program, an ambitious plan aimed at bringing cheaper renewable energy to Australian households and businesses. Despite significant government investment in the program, the report found that the Department did not establish effective strategies to manage it, and there was no consolidated policy and program-level reporting on progress, valuation, and decision-making across the program.
As a result of the audit findings, the ANAO made five recommendations to help the Department measure the achievements of the government’s climate change commitments. The Department agreed with the recommendations and stated that it had already carried out work to implement the reforms.