Strategic Audit Implementation of environmental management systems in Victorian Government 2016-17

Executive summary

I am pleased to present the 2018 strategic audit on the implementation of environmental management systems (EMS) by mandated Victorian Government agencies. This audit for the 2016-17 financial year is based on annually reported information provided by all Victorian Government departments, Sustainability Victoria (SV) and the Environment Protection Authority Victoria (EPA) according to the mandatory reporting requirements described by Financial Reporting Directive (FRD) 24C. The directive applies minimum criteria for government to report its office based emissions.

In my three previous Strategic Audit reports I have taken the opportunity to reflect on the currency and relevance of the FRD 24C reporting framework (last updated in 2008) and note that the minimum reporting criteria for departments and agencies requires updating to capture more contemporary information. For example, last year I highlighted the limitations of the current reporting framework for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The scope of reporting on GHG emissions by government departments in annual reports exceeds that mandated by FRD 24C further indicating that the directive is only capturing a small proportion of available data. For the 2016-17 financial year only 9 percent of GHG emissions reported by mandated agencies were required under FRD 24C.

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