When penalties apply
If your post-1989 forest land enters the ETS as permanent forestry, you must ensure it is not clear-felled or deforested. You may receive a fine if any area of your forest is:
- clear-felled so that 30% or less crown cover remains in each hectare, or
- deforested.
Find out more about how the ETS defines deforestation
You will not be fined if:
- the land is permanently damaged by a natural event and forest can't be re-established
- an area is cleared for best practice forest management
- you applied successfully to pause accounting for carbon due to temporary damage to the forest (a "temporary adverse event suspension" in the ETS legislation), and areas were cleared for site access or health and safety reasons.
The decision to impose a fine is made by the court. You may not receive a fine if you can show in your defence that:
- the clear-felling was beyond your control, and
- you could not have reasonably foreseen that the clear-felling was going to happen, and
- you couldn’t have prevented the clear-felling.
What to do if permanent forestry is clear-felled or deforested
If any of the land is clear-felled or deforested, you must:
- let us know as soon as is practically possible
- submit an emissions return covering the affected carbon accounting area or areas.
Optionally, you can include additional information to explain the situation.
To inform us about clear-felling or deforestation of permanent forestry, and to submit an emissions return, email or phone us using the contact details at the end of this page. We’ll put you in touch with someone who can advise.
What happens once we hear from you
Once we receive your emissions return for the affected areas, we must consider your explanation for why this clear-felling or deforestation happened, if you provided one. If your defence is not sufficient, we must refer the matter to the court.
We may not refer this to the court if you can show (as above) that:
- the clear-felling was beyond your control, and
- you could not have foreseen it was going to happen, and
- you couldn’t have prevented it.
A penalty would not apply in this situation. Even if the matter is referred to the court, if the court decides that your defence meets the three criteria above, you will not receive a fine.
Decisions by the court about imposing a fine
Once we refer the matter to the court, the court must determine:
- whether the clearing on the permanent forestry is clear-felling or deforestation under the rules for the ETS
- whether your explanation for why this happened is a defence, as explained above.
If the court decides you don’t have a defence for the clear-felling or deforestation, the court will:
- make a declaration of contravention – this confirms that the ETS rules for clearing permanent forestry were breached
- order you to pay a fine, and let you know how to pay.
