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EARTH RESOURCES REGULATION

COMPLIANCE STRATEGY

2016-2017

About this Compliance StrategyEarth Resources Regulation (ERR) is Victoria’s earth resources regulator – our role includes licensing, risk management, enforcing compliance and stakeholder engagement. We are committed to being an accountable and transparent regulator in all aspects of our work.

To be a transparent, responsive and effective regulator, ERR works closely with industry, local communities and other government agencies to: provide timely, accurate and accessible information to stakeholders build community and business confidence.

This ERR compliance strategy outlines how ERR will encourage, monitor and enforce regulatory compliance of Victorian earth resource businesses in 2016-2017. It describes how we will promote a culture to prevent and deal with risk, non-compliance and incidents within industry.

This strategy also describes how ERR staff will work in a professional and transparent manner to give government and stakeholders confidence in the work of the branch. ERR aims for industry, local communities and other government agencies to better understand what ERR does and why.

ERR will put this strategy into operation through its annual compliance plan, which contains detailed information on the branch’s compliance activities. ERR is committed to ensuring robust risk assessment informs the choice of compliance activity, and to understanding the effectiveness of those activities on reducing overall risks of non-compliance.

ERR works closely with industry bodies and environment groups to understand compliance drivers and has incorporated feedback and suggestions in developing this strategy. ERR will expand this feedback process once performance information is publicly available.

ERR will use the performance data collected in 2016-2017 to review the strategy after 12 months. From that point, we will develop a three-year strategy enabling a longer-term direction for compliance.

Scope and applicationERR regulates Victoria’s earth resource industries through, and is limited by, the powers authorised by the following Acts and Regulations. Mineral Resources (Sustainable Development) Act 1990 (MRSD Act)

o Mineral Resources (Sustainable Development) (Extractive Industries) Regulations 2010o Mineral Resources (Sustainable Development) (Extractive Industries) Amendment

Regulations 2014o Mineral Resources (Sustainable Development) (Mineral Industries) Regulations 2013

Geothermal Energy Resources Act 2005o Geothermal Energy Resources Regulations 2006

Greenhouse Gas Geological Sequestration Act 2008o Greenhouse Gas Geological Sequestration Regulations 2009o Greenhouse Gas Geological Sequestration (Exemption) Regulations 2009

Mines (Aluminium Agreement) Act 1961 Petroleum Act 1998

o Petroleum Regulations 2011 Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2010

o Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Regulations 2011 Underseas Mineral Resources Act 1963 Extractive Industries (Lysterfield) Act 1986.

These Acts focus on creating benefits for the community and minimising environmental and safety impacts. Box 1 outlines the purpose and objectives of the MRSD Act and the Petroleum Act.

An Act’s objectives influence ERR’s consideration of both primary and secondary approvals. As such, the meaning and intent of an Act’s purpose and objectives are embedded in ERR’s systems and processes: in ERR’s officer training, standardised primary and secondary assessment procedures, delegated responsibilities, and internal reviews.

Box 1: Examples of purposes and objectives in ERR legislationMineral Resources (Sustainable Development) Act 1990

The purpose of the MRSD Act (section 1) is to encourage mineral exploration and economically viable mining and extractive industries which make the best use of and extract the value from resources in a way that is compatible with the economic, social and environmental objectives of the state.

The objectives of the MRSD Act (section 2) establish a legal framework aimed at ensuring:

risks posed to the environment, to members of the public, or to land, property or infrastructure by work being done under a licence are identified and are eliminated or minimised as far as reasonably practicable

land which has been mined or from which stone has been extracted or removed is rehabilitated

conditions in licences and approvals are enforced.

Petroleum Act 1998

The purpose of the Petroleum Act (section 1) is to regulate petroleum exploration and production in Victoria.

The objectives of the Petroleum Act (section 3) include:

that the impacts on individuals, public safety, public amenity and the environment as a result of petroleum activities will be minimised as far as is practicable

that land affected by petroleum activities is rehabilitated

that petroleum explorers and producers will comply with all authority conditions that apply to them.

Earth Resources Regulation – Compliance Strategy 2016-2017 2

Organisational context for ERR

DEDJTR’s compliance framework and policyERR is one of the Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources’ (DEDJTR) regulators. As such, the branch, and this compliance strategy, is guided by the department’s compliance framework and policy (Figure 1).

This whole-of-department policy requires a compliance strategy to include regular performance measuring and reporting to demonstrate the effectiveness of compliance activities over time. Public reporting of the data will allow stakeholders to monitor progress.

Figure 1: DEDJTR compliance framework

Ministerial Statement of ExpectationsStatements of Expectations aim to improve regulatory governance and performance. They articulate the Victorian Government’s priorities and objectives, and regulators report annually on actions to fulfil these expectations.

This compliance strategy aligns with both the 2015 – 2016 and the 2016 - 2017 Ministerial Statement of Expectations for the Regulation of the Earth Resources.

ERR’s response is available online at http://www.earthresources.vic.gov.au/earth-resources-regulation/about-us/ministerial-statement-of-expectations/soe-2015-16


http://www.earthresources.vic.gov.au/earth-resources-regulation/about-us/ministerial-statement-of-expectations/soe-2015-16

http://www.earthresources.vic.gov.au/earth-resources-regulation/about-us/ministerial-statement-of-expectations/soe-2015-16

Links with other regulators and organisationsERR has a number of Memoranda of Understanding and Agreements with other agencies to ensure a whole of government approach to the regulation of Victoria’s earth resources and pipeline industries.

These working relationships aim to facilitate decision making, provide operators with clear regulatory requirements, assure transparency and support robust engagement with the community.

This joint regulatory landscape includes ERR, Environment Protection Authority Victoria (EPA), Energy Safe Victoria (ESV), the Department of Environment, Land Water and Planning (DELWP), and WorkSafe Victoria (Figure 2): EPA Victoria is responsible for regulating offsite discharges of water from earth resources sites,

and for advising on and monitoring air and noise discharges. ESV is the independent technical regulator responsible for electricity, gas and pipeline integrity

and safety in Victoria. DELWP is responsible for land use planning and environmental assessment in Victoria. It also

manages the regulatory framework and provides advice on planning policy, strategic planning and urban design.

WorkSafe Victoria’s regulatory role includes preventing workplace injuries, illnesses and fatalities by monitoring and enforcing compliance with Victoria’s occupational health and safety laws and regulations. WorkSafe and ERR work together in relation to mine stability; mine fire prevention, mitigation and suppression; explosives, including blasting; and well integrity.

National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA) regulates safety and well integrity in state waters off Victoria for the offshore petroleum and greenhouse gas industries.

Country Fire Authority (CFA) plays a key role in working with ERR on the inspection of coal mines to assess fire preparedness, and is working with ERR to describe roles and responsibilities around fires occurring in earth resource operations more generally.

Figure 2: ERR and other government agencies


Compliance philosophyExtracting earth resources means mining ore, quarrying sand and stone, and exploring and drilling for oil and gas. This type of development affects the land where it occurs, and can affect surrounding communities and their environs.

ERR expects operators to foster a culture of risk prevention on their sites. To help operators prevent risk, ERR provides advice, publishes guidelines and can assist operators to find appropriate and applicable standards that inform the risk management choices made on sites.

Offsite impacts to public safety, environment, land, property and infrastructure are not permitted. Risks, such as those from dust, fly rock and noise must be eliminated or minimised as far as reasonably practicable.

Onsite impacts can be permitted if authorised and approved under the legislation, often with conditions. They are allowed only subject to risk management assessments and rehabilitation requirements. A variety of risk treatments may meet the compliance requirements, and ERR encourages each operator to use fit-for-purpose methods that reduce risk to be ‘as low as reasonably practical’ (ALARP) (Figure 5). Each operator should consider its specific business model, operational structure and work site.

Undertaking earth resource exploration, appraisal or extraction without appropriate approvals and authorisations is illegal. ERR will actively seek out and address illegal operations. This may include prosecution through the courts.


Compliance objectives and principlesIn general terms, all of DEDJTR’s compliance activities aim to deliver better environmental, social and economic outcomes (competitiveness, productivity growth, sustainability, public safety and liveability, tourism and regional development) for all Victorians. More specifically, the objectives of ERR compliance activities are to: identify and manage risks to the environment and public safety meet community expectations, accept a diversity of stakeholder views and feedback and develop

a culture of high performance ensure land is returned for future uses after earth resource development has ceased, through

appropriate and timely rehabilitation support the community and economically important industries and business sectors ensure sustainable resource allocation ensure that resource development is conducted in an environmentally sustainable manner.

ERR will deliver a consistent stakeholder experience and undertake leading practice regulation by upholding DEDJTR’s compliance commitments and principles (Table 1). To measure its success in embedding these principles in its work, ERR will collect feedback from stakeholders.

Table 1: DEDJTR’s compliance principles

Principle DEDJTR’s commitment What ERR stakeholders can expect

Helpful

DEDJTR will provide the operator and the community with appropriate and timely information, advice and assistance to help them understand and meet their compliance obligations.

I can expect to receive easily accessible, appropriate and timely information, advice and assistance to help me understand and meet my compliance obligations.

Respectful DEDJTR’s compliance actions will be professionally and respectfully conducted at all times.

I can expect to be professionally and respectfully treated by DEDJTR compliance staff at all times.

Impartial

DEDJTR will exercise powers and make decisions without real or perceived influences or conflicts of interest and ensure the integrity and objectivity of all regulatory actions.

I can expect to receive fair and honest treatment that is based on the law and consideration of all relevant facts and criteria.

Proportionate

DEDJTR’s compliance actions will be in proportion to the problem they are intended to address based on an assessment of risk, impact and culpability.

I can expect my compliance experience to match the relative risk, impact and intent of my behavior.

PredictableDEDJTR will apply its regulatory approach predictably for regulated parties in equivalent circumstances.

I can expect to be able to anticipate my compliance experience, to be notified of changes, and to be treated the same as any other regulated individual or organisation in equivalent circumstances.

Transparent

DEDJTR will be open about the way in which it regulates the operator and the community, by clearly explaining its compliance decisions and enabling the decisions to be open to public scrutiny.

I can expect to easily understand the way in which DEDJTR regulates both the operator and the community, and to be able to access ERR’s performance reporting.

The concerns and observations of local communities, earth resources businesses and environment groups are a key input to compliance programs. For this reason, engaging with the community is a priority for ERR, and it is represented in ERR’s key performance indicators. It is also a requirement for the industries that ERR regulates.

ERR has a new stakeholder engagement strategy for communicating with the community, industry, other regulators and relevant stakeholder groups. Action by ERR will include a clear process for responding to complaints about compliance issues. Further, ERR is establishing accessible and inclusive channels for providing feedback on ERR and operators. It will use the feedback to inform officer capacity building, compliance activities and the ongoing risk assessment of sites and issues.

The community is a valuable resource for gathering intelligence about emerging issues and impacts. For this reason, ERR will ensure community feedback is fed into compliance related decision making and its continual improvement cycle.


Compliance approachConsistent with DEDJTR’s compliance framework, ERR takes a risk-based approach to prioritising compliance activities.

This approach prioritises highest compliance risks, ensures resources are used efficiently, and applies appropriate measures to deliver consistent stakeholder experiences. It is informed by the Victorian Government’s Risk Management Framework (VGRMF). The VGRMF describes the minimum risk management requirements of agencies to demonstrate they are managing risk effectively, including inter-agency and state significant risk. It adopts the Australian and New Zealand Standard AS/NZS ISO 31000:2009 Risk Management – Principles and Guidelines (ISO 31000).

ERR is committed to ensuring operators are given up-to-date regulatory information in a timely way, to ensure they understand how to achieve compliance. During primary approval processes, for example, ERR assesses a business’s capacity to comply. Intelligence sharing between regulators and past performance of operators informs ERR’s decision making.

ERR’s Risk Management FrameworkERR developed a risk management framework consistent with the requirements of the Victorian Government Risk Management Framework (VGRMF), which are based on AS/NZS ISO 31000:2009.

As part of its commitment to continuous improvement, ERR has developed and is implementing an enterprise risk management framework. Where possible, ERR used initial insights from that framework to inform the development of the 2016-17 compliance strategy, and it will completely embed the framework in its next compliance strategy.

A risk-based approach allows ERR to target its effort in the areas of highest risk, to ensure compliance intervention reduces either the consequence or likelihood (or both) of the risk being realised. Figure 3 outlines the matrix that ERR uses to analyse consequence and likelihood.

Figure 3: Risk matrix

Figure 4 provides the architecture of ERR’s Enterprise Risk Management Framework, which draws on AS/NZS ISO 31000:2009. In particular, it illustrates the importance of the feedback loops for ERR.

Feedback from peak industry bodies, environment groups, and the wider community is collected to improve ERR’s regulatory practice. Further, ERR’s collection of data during monitoring and evaluation activities provides critical and timely information to prompt a change in direction or additional effort.


Figure 4: ERR’s Enterprise Risk Management Framework Architecture


ERR’s risk management framework also considers the level of risk mitigation that is reasonably practicable. As noted above, the ‘as low as reasonably practical’ (ALARP) test, is a common way of determining risk treatments. While a variety of risks treatments can be used to manage risk and to meet the compliance requirements, ERR focuses on ensuring the outcome meets the ALARP test, i.e. risks are treated to reduce their likelihood and/or consequence to the point at which they are as low as possible without costs being disproportionately high in comparison (Figure 5).

Figure 5: ALARP test


High priority risksTo identify high priority risks and compliance priorities, ERR has undertaken two risk assessment processes. Firstly, it focused on all tenements granted and the circumstances of the related activities. Secondly, ERR assessed the high risk activities undertaken across all sites, and developed a priority set on which to focus (while still undertaking compliance maintenance activities).

Overarching high priority risksERR compliance priorities are identified in Table 2, and the top four priorities are discussed further below.

Table 2: High priority compliance focus areas

Priority focus areas Expression of the risk

Community Offsite emissions such as dust, noise, light, blasting vibration and fly-rock.

Fire Coal fires, equipment causing fires on pipelines, flares sparking fires during well activities.

Stability Mine batters, sinkholes, integrity of tailings dams, erosion.

Rehabilitation Surface contouring, revegetation, fencing and gates, subsurface integrity, rehabilitation not maintained or fit for purpose, bonds.

Water impacts Poor quality discharge, erosion, dewatering, seepage from tailings dams, stormwater run-off.

Illegal operationsUnauthorised extraction, unauthorised clearing, liability not covered by bond, offsets not being obtained in accordance with requirements, loss of cultural and European heritage.

Tenement Expenditure requirements, statutory returns, rents royalties, data submission.

Security The site is not secure against public/fauna access or does not adequately contain the risk of exposure.

Community impactsResource developments have the potential to pose environmental and public health risks to the community. With each approval, ERR reinforces that operators must manage emissions such as dust and noise, and activities such as blasting to maintain an ALARP risk profile. When this does not happen, communities are more likely to lodge complaints, and community dissatisfaction often spreads to other businesses in the same industry, and even to other earth resource sectors. To reduce this risk, ERR will address offsite emissions as part of its compliance activities.

FireVictoria is a fire-prone state as a result of its geography and climate. The fire that caused coal to ignite at the Hazelwood mine demonstrates that ERR must consider this risk during its regulatory activities. On behalf of government, ERR has recruited people with expertise on fire safety to more effectively manage this risk.

StabilityTailings storage facilities and slimes dams (collectively called tailings dams) exist throughout Victoria.

Tailings dams must be designed to be fit for purpose, and must be maintained in accordance with the tailings dam guidelines and other relevant engineering standards to protect and maintain stable containment.

Erosion of dam walls, seepage from the base and potential overflow during intense rain are three of a number of risks that have been identified during targeted audits in 2015. Internationally, significant tailings dam failures have caused the loss of lives and property. Other stability risks include the slope of mine batters and dewatering that causes sink holes.


RehabilitationRehabilitation is ongoing for the life of the site. Land used for resource exploration, appraisal and production must be returned for other uses on the completion of activities or the end of a tenement’s term.

To ensure rehabilitation happens in a timely and appropriate manner, a financial assurance (bond) is required to be submitted prior to any works.

Bonds are calculated based on the activity, environmental sensitivities, the location specific details including area to be disturbed and the proposed end use. The bond is retained by the state until rehabilitation is complete. Rehabilitation must include all parts of an activity, including tailings dams, satellite locations and additional work space that may be remote from the main activity centre.

Industry sector risksA range of specific risks arise within each key earth resources sector. The high risk priorities for ERR in each sector are presented in Table 3.

Table 3: High priority risks in each industry sector

Sector High risks

Coal Fire, dust, stability of batters, water drawdown, rehabilitation

Gold and other metals Dust, stability of tailings dams, rehabilitation

Hard rock Dust, blasting

Soft rock Dust, stability of tailings dams, water quality and drawdown, illegal operations (inc. clearing)

Pipelines Fire from equipment, rehabilitation of right of way

Petroleum Noise, fire from flare, sump rehabilitation

Minerals sands Dust, water quality, stability of tailings storage, rehabilitation

Sand quarries Stability of batters, dust

Site-specific risks In addition to focusing on the risks above, ERR officers also track site-specific high risk issues.

The annual compliance plan for ERR commits to an inspection and audit schedule that means at least one third of ERR’s tenement sites will be visited each year. Every site will be visited regularly, and many will be visited on multiple occasions over a year.

Officers will complete this work as part of the compliance maintenance activities that are core business for ERR. An example of site specific maintenance compliance activities include tenement production sites, sites proposing to vary or alter operations and exploration surveys.


Compliance processes and tools

Compliance processesProportionality, fairness, predictability and transparency are important compliance principles for ERR.

Compliance actions will be in proportion to the problem that they are intended to address, based on an assessment of risk, impact and culpability.

By analysing an operator’s behaviour for the level of intent and motivation to comply, ERR will address issues proactively and with the appropriate response. If ERR detects non-compliance, and the operator’s intent does not indicate a goal of voluntary compliance, then ERR will decide on the appropriate enforcement action.

The decisions about interventions are predictable and follow the direction of flow outlined in Figure 6.

Being clear about cause and effect means that ERR is improving transparency to regulated industries and the community. Documenting the linkage between behaviour analysis and interventions to decide on a predictable enforcement action (possible sanctions) is a new part of ERR’s compliance regulation and contributes to ERR’s continual improvement cycle.

Figure 6: Tailoring enforcement action to compliance behaviour

ERR approvalsConsistent with the relevant legislation, ERR provides approvals, manages a rehabilitation bond regime and undertakes associated compliance.

Its approach to approvals has two stages: Primary approval is the granting of a right to extract an earth resource. Such a right takes the form

of a tenement, title or authority, and is also called a licence, permit, lease or right (depending on the legislation applicable to the resource). Except for low impact exploration under the MRSD Act, primary approval does not allow works to be carried out on land or in offshore waters. A secondary approval is required before these activities can take place.

Secondary approval includes an assessment of legislatively required documentation from the proponent/operator. This documentation must describe how any proposed resource appraisal and extraction will occur (including whether it will occur in stages).


No work may commence until both primary and secondary approvals are in place (except for low impact exploration under the MRSD Act) and a rehabilitation bond is lodged acceptable to the Minister. Operators must work in accordance with these approvals.

ERR prioritises its compliance effort by gathering information from a range of sources to monitor operator compliance. This intelligence can contribute to risk identification and assessment. ERR conducts regular and random inspections and audits, which feed into its risk prioritising and trend analysis to identify emerging issues.

ERR responds to non-compliance by investigating suspected breaches of the law, and by imposing enforcement remedies and sanctions. This response is essential to an accountable and robust governance structure.

Rehabilitation bondsA rehabilitation bond is an assurance against the liability created when a resource is extracted or ground-disturbing activities are conducted (bonds do not apply to works in offshore waters).

In addition to submitting the bond, all operators are required to outline rehabilitation commitments in secondary approval documentation.

ERR assesses compliance with those commitments against works done on site during the reinstatement/rehabilitation process over the life of the resource extraction work.

AuditsERR’s risk assessments are used to schedule regular audits. Depending on the risks identified, audits may cover the whole operation or target issues in accordance with ERR’s three-level approach (statewide risk, sector risk or site-specific risk).

Audits are intended to support voluntary compliance by identifying and addressing potential issues before they escalate into serious problems. The audit findings are communicated immediately and during exit meetings between auditors and tenement holders, to give the tenement holder the best chance to take corrective action and resolve any non-compliance or near misses.

Guidance materialERR regularly develops, updates and publishes guidelines, codes of practice and other strategies for regulated industry. These publications give operators the necessary information to understand how to comply with their regulatory obligations.

Other guidance material is available for the wider community, including land owners who may find their land subject to earth resource development proposals. This information helps people ask questions and make agreements about works on their land.

Compliance toolsWhen non-compliance is identified, ERR will respond in accordance with the principles, in proportion to the risk posed, and with the tools available under relevant legislation. It will consider the cause of non-compliance, the risk of any impacts (including offsite impacts) and the capacity of the alleged offending operator or unlicensed offender to ameliorate the situation. Offences under the legislation administered by ERR carry serious penalties.

ERR will deal with non-compliance by enforcing remedies and/or sanctions (Table 4).

Remedies are enforcement actions that include suggestions, notices and directions requiring an offending person or company to appropriately manage the issue to ‘as low as reasonably practical’ ALARP. Remedies can be serious and can be used when a significant near-miss situation has resulted from non-compliant activity.

Sanctions are penalties that often include a fine or a court order to cover the costs of someone else correcting the issue. They can be used across the spectrum of non-compliance, from low risk to high risk, but the penalty will vary according to that risk and the cost to fix the impact.

ERR’s authorised officers are trained to understand the responsibility associated with using the powers provided by legislation. They have qualifications in their specialist areas, and exercise their powers in accordance with their appointments as authorised officers and their delegations. Their training includes courses relating to law, fairness in administrative decision making, auditing, conflict


and negotiation, and investigations.

Training will be undertaken regularly to ensure it remains current and all officers can maintain their skills and knowledge.

Table 4 notes the risk being addressed in any compliance decision influences the level of intervention required – though ERR will consider the behaviour and intent of tenement holders.

Through its internal governance framework, ERR will regularly review the consistency of its decision making (particularly in escalating compliance matters to the high level risk) and its interventions against the compliance principles and risk assessments.

Table 4: Compliance tools

Compliance measure Description

Lower level of risk and intervention

Engagement and advice

ERR inspectors respond to requests for advice from industry, members of the public and stakeholder groups. They help affected parties access guidance materials, codes of practice and public operator publications. They make all parties aware of their compliance obligations under ERR legislation.

Provision of guidance material

Guidance materials are made available and easily accessible on the DEDJTR website. They advise on best practice and outline compliance obligations for operators and members of the public.

Inspections and auditsERR obtains information from operators for regulatory compliance purposes through site inspections and audits. Inspections determine whether the operator is meeting their compliance obligations and, if not, ERR decides on appropriate action.

Field entry and audit reports

Following inspections and audits, ERR prepares a report for internal record keeping and for the operator to monitor compliance. The report discusses findings and actions that may be required to address any non-compliance. In addition, ERR records the timeframe for closing out the non-compliance, which inspectors follow up.

Warnings ERR issues warning letters or official warnings when the severity of the offence and the culpability of the offender are low.

Amendments, conditions and variations

ERR requires operators to amend existing plans, including by adding or amending conditions on tenements to impose greater control (for example, increased monitoring and reporting levels) on operators.

Infringements and notices

ERR may issue an infringement or notice when an infringeable offence has allegedly occurred under the relevant legislation. The receiver may have the right of appeal, depending on the applicable legislation.

DirectionsEarth resources legislation provides ERR with the power to give directions that require certain actions to occur by a certain time. Significant penalties can apply if those instructions are not followed.

Suspensions and cancellations

ERR can respond to critical non-compliance by suspending or cancelling tenements. A formal process must be followed when senior officers take this action, and oversight by department legal representatives is employed to support cases.

Prosecutions

ERR may initiate prosecution proceedings when a serious offence has allegedly occurred under Victoria’s earth resources legislation. Inspectors must prepare a brief of evidence to present the case to the Magistrates Court of Victoria. The legislation provides a range of penalties for a person found guilty of an offence.

Higher level of risk and intervention


Governance and reporting frameworksERR has resources dedicated to the planning and delivery of risk-based compliance, engagement, education, regulation and enforcement programs.

It aims to ensure operator compliance with all statutory obligations, including (but not limited to) all mining, extractive and petroleum operator approvals, the payment of rents and royalties, offence management, and bond setting and submission.

To provide a consistent and proportional response to compliance and enforcement activities across Victoria, ERR’s compliance committee and compliance registrar: reviews and documents compliance action decisions reviews and documents the compliance plan effectiveness ensures internal guidance documents, standard operating procedures and authorised officer

training is in accordance with DEDJTR training standards.

The compliance registrar is responsible for maintaining a register of all compliance actions and decisions, and an account of how the decisions and risks fit into ERR’s compliance strategy, ERR’s annual plan and departmental policy initiatives. The registrar is also responsible for communicating lessons from committee decisions, notifying procedure owners about required continual improvements, and keeping branch staff updated on important compliance issues.


Performance monitoringERR uses a range of indicators (Earth Resources Regulation Key Performance Indicators) to monitor its activities and performance, and the compliance of tenement holders.

In 2016, ERR updated its set of key performance indicators and embedded them into DEDJTR’s regulator performance monitoring framework. ERR will publish key performance indicators on its website and update the information on a quarterly basis.

ERR’s performance monitoring spans three themes to capture its wide range of activities as a regulator for the earth resources industries in Victoria: community engagement, tenement applications and compliance activities.

The community engagement indicator covers the interaction between the regulator and the community by reporting Environmental Review Committee meetings. This is one of a number of engagement tools used by ERR. Over time additional engagement tools may be added to the KPIs such as feedback from annual surveys.

Tenement applications indicators cover the development of the earth resources market, and can be measured by the number of tenement applications received and assessed within statutory timeframes.

Compliance activity indicators capture the degree of stakeholder compliance and measure the number of inspections, activities that encourage compliance, and the number of audits performed. They also cover responses to non-compliance ‒ via measures such as the number of newly initiated investigations, the number of infringement notices, and the number of cancellations of work plans or licences ‒ and the training of and complaints about authorised officers.


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