Australia's ACCU reforms: what the 2026 changes mean for project owners

Karbuna

Oct 21

4 min read

Aerial view of grassland with stands of trees

The Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) Scheme is going through a further round of integrity reforms. A bill introduced to federal Parliament in August 2026 would change how consent works on native title land, who advises on methods, and what happens if a method is later found to have a serious integrity problem. Here we set out what is proposed and what it could mean for new and existing projects, as at early October 2026.

Where the reforms come from

The ACCU Scheme has issued 190.5 million ACCUs since 2011 and has 2,608 registered projects, according to the Climate Change Authority. In January 2023 the Australian Government agreed in principle to all 16 recommendations of the Independent Review of ACCUs, led by former Chief Scientist Professor Ian Chubb.

The Carbon Credits and Other Legislation Amendment (Integrity and Transparency) Bill 2026 is designed to deliver a range of recommendations from that and other reviews of the scheme. A draft was released for public consultation from 30 April to 22 May 2026, and the bill was introduced to Parliament on 20 August 2026. The House of Representatives began debating it in September. At the time of writing it had not passed, and its final form may still change.

What the bill proposes

Based on the consultation materials and the parliamentary debate, the main measures are:

Native title consent. Registered native title claimants would be recognised as eligible interest holders, and consent on native title land, or land under claim, would be required up front and in stages.
A new integrity committee. The Carbon Abatement Integrity Committee would replace the Emissions Reduction Assurance Committee, which advises on methods, with clearer governance for proponent-led method development.
A ministerial circuit breaker. A new power would allow the Minister to stop projects earning credits under a method later found to have a serious integrity problem.
Compliance and transparency. The Clean Energy Regulator would gain stronger compliance and publication powers, including infringement notices for lower-level breaches.
Administrative changes. These include new pathways to voluntarily relinquish credits in some circumstances, and measures to support research and development into new ways of reducing emissions.

Consent on native title land

For land-based projects, the consent changes carry real practical weight. Under the consultation draft, consent would be given in two stages: first, to the making of the project application, from the outset; and second, before any ACCUs are issued, to the way the project will be carried out.

Adding registered claimants means a native title claim that has not yet been determined could affect whether, and how, a project goes ahead. In practice, it places engagement with Indigenous peoples and local communities at the very start of a project.

What changes for existing projects

Much of the bill looks forward, but two points matter for projects already registered:

Consent. Under the consultation draft, the new native title consent rules would apply only to new project applications made after the changes commence.
Method risk. The circuit-breaker power could stop existing projects earning further credits under a method found to have a serious integrity problem. MinterEllison describes the power in the consultation draft as a mechanism of last resort, with transition periods of two to five years depending on project type.

Method settings and the wider review

Individual method settings are also under review. In April 2026 the Emissions Reduction Assurance Committee concluded a periodic review of the soil carbon method and found it needed strengthening to meet the scheme's "conservative" standard. Under the proposed change, projects with a 25-year permanence period could be credited for soil organic carbon gains of up to 3 tonnes of carbon per hectare per year, or 3.8 tonnes for 100-year projects. The Clean Energy Regulator has suggested that a fall in new project registrations in the June quarter of 2026 was likely linked to participants awaiting that outcome.

In September 2026 the Climate Change Authority completed its 2026 review of the scheme. It found that "the ACCU Scheme remains fundamentally sound" and that recent reforms "are still being implemented and need time to mature". Its six recommendations include:

reviewing permanence settings, including the reversal buffer and permanence discount, by the end of 2027
assessing whether 25-year permanence ACCUs are suitable for use under the Safeguard Mechanism, whose facilities account for around 80% of ACCU demand
giving buyers clearer information about ACCUs, projects and market activity
publishing a forward roadmap of method development priorities.

Our view

The 2026 changes do not alter the basics of the ACCU Scheme, but they raise expectations of how projects are started and run. Consent would sit at the beginning of a project, method choice would carry a clearer risk that settings change mid-life, and records and transparency would count for more.

Karbuna is a carbon project development and management company based in the GCC. We develop and manage projects for their owners across the region, and we do not buy, sell or broker carbon credits. For land-based projects, we focus on the parts these reforms touch most: early and respectful engagement with Indigenous peoples and local communities, careful choice of method and permanence period, and the governance and records that keep a project compliant as the rules evolve.

This article is general information only. It is not legal, financial or investment advice.