Pre-Conference Workshops

The proliferation of environmental laws and regulation poses a major challenge to regulators in trying to determine compliance. It also poses a challenge to the regulated community in understanding and complying with their compliance obligations.  Environmental auditing is an important tool that is more frequently being relied upon by both regulators and the regulated community to assess compliance with these requirements.

What is an audit and getting it right?
‘Environmental auditing 101’ introduces environmental auditing and is the perfect workshop for anyone new to the field or auditing professionals wanting refresher training. The workshop provides an overview of the "environmental audit life cycle". Auditing is a systematic process, and participants will learn the full life cycle of auditing including planning an audit, undertaking the audit inspection, evaluating objective evidence against the audit criteria, presenting the audit findings and conclusions, and the importance of follow-up. Learn about the evidence-based and risk-based approach to auditing.

Environmental auditing 101 will introduce and clarify the key concepts and terminology in environmental auditing using practical examples. The workshop will also demystify some common misconceptions in auditing.

This workshop will interactively walk participants through the basics of environmental auditing and provide tips on how to get it right. Participants will gain useful skills that they can apply to many different regulatory contexts, beyond audits.

Do you have to draft, review, or enforce statutory instruments? Consents, approvals, notices, orders, permits – no matter what the name, almost all environmental regulators are a part of the statutory instrument process at some stage. This workshop will cover the basics including legal an policy considerations, plain English and behaviour change considerations, and drafting quality conditions. It will make reference to legislation from around the country, include relevant and recent case law, and leave you with our 10 Tips for Statutory Instruments and 10 Tips for Quality Conditions.

Workshop participants will engage in a workshop facilitated by NSW EPA that will use structured analytical techniques and/or futures tools to explore CSIRO’s 2022 global megatrend[1] “Leaner, cleaner, greener – the global push to reach net zero and beyond, protect biodiversity and use resources efficiently”. The activity will aim to identify emerging issues, challenges, opportunities and possible responses for environmental regulators to face the identify emerging challenges.

Participants of this workshop should be able to:

• describe how the three levels of intelligence (Tactical, Operations and Strategic) can be used to identify, assess, and respond to emerging challenges
• use structured analytical techniques and/or futures tool to explore emerging issues, challenges, opportunities and possible responses 
• develop contacts with other environmental regulators interested in intelligence and analysis.

Gordan Plath, NSW Environment Protection Authority

Overview: To provide an interactive session on what it means to be an Authorised Officer, the settings in which they operate (namely, being part of a regulatory agency) and, generally, the responsibilities that go hand in glove with the powers granted to AOs. As the powers of AOs vary across (and within) jurisdictions the workshop will not focus on any particular set of powers however will use some as examples. 

 What does it mean to be an AO?

• appointment of AOs
• being part of a regulatory agency

Exercising powers 

• examining the power and figuring out its requirements (using examples)
• limits on the use of powers - generally
• what is the requisite mental state you must have to be able to exercise the power
• it is your power
• can your boss direct you to use your power (as opposed to advising you or providing comfort)
• your responsibilities 

AOs are regulators

• what does that mean?
• what is the authorising environment?
• sensitivities
• a broader concept than being an investigator
• Investigations
• Cert IV in investigations (some jurisdictions say it is compulsory others advisory) 
• being par

Regulatory tools 

•  What are yours?  
• examples of common tools across jurisdictions
• Discretion 
• which tools and when (generally)
• Communication styles 
• Communicating with the regulated community and others
• Avoiding unnecessary conflict
• being aware of avenues for airing grievances