Living Carbon grants - Frequently asked questions

The NSW Government is investing $5 million in grants to support eligible landholders to participate in the carbon market. Living Carbon grants will be available in 3 regions in NSW:  

1. the Riverina Local Land Services region
2. the North Coast Local Land Services region
3. the MidCoast Local Government Area.  

Living Carbon projects will focus on land suitable for the environmental planting pilot method under the Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) Scheme, spotlighting the revegetation of habitats of iconic and threatened species, including koalas.

Living Carbon aims to demonstrate that carbon projects can deliver biodiversity co-benefits, which in turn can add value to the price of Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) and/or a landholder’s business.  

In return for funding, grantees will commit to:

• sharing information and data with the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) and the public
• educating interested parties on their methodologies via case studies and demonstration sites,
• building an evidence base around abatement activities conducted directly by landowners. This will also build evidence around any additional benefits realised from projects that improve local biodiversity. 

In relation to our grant, a carbon project will be registered with the Clean Energy Regulator (CER) under the Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) Scheme. These projects sequester carbon in vegetation through planting trees.  

Your environmental planting project must be registered with the Clean Energy Regulator before you apply for the grant.  

The ACCU Scheme operates as a baseline and credit model. You can earn Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) for your projects that sequester (store) carbon above a baseline level of carbon stored on your land. An ACCU is issued for each tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e) sequestered by a registered project. 

Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) are a financial product created and issued by the Clean Energy Regulator. They are tradeable units that can be sold for income or retained to offset one's own emissions. 

To be eligible for this grant, you must have an Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) Scheme registered carbon project with a planting area between 10 and 200 hectares within one of the 3 eligible regions in NSW. Projects must aim to provide habitat for iconic or threatened native species or threatened ecological communities. 

The eligible regions for funding are the Riverina Local Land Services (LLS), the North Coast Local Land Services (LLS), and the MidCoast Local Government Area (LGA). 

To check whether your property address is in one of the two eligible regions, the Riverina and the North Coast, you can look up your property on the Local Land Services region website. 

To check whether your property is within the MidCoast Local Government Area, enter your property address on the Office of Local Government NSW website. 

You can also contact the MidCoast Council or confirm that your rate notice comes from them.

Alternatively, you can contact the on-ground support partner in your region to confirm if your property is eligible. Find their details on our website. 

A total of $5 million of funding is available under the Living Carbon grants. If you are successful, you will receive up to $200,000 (excl. GST) for your project. You are expected to provide co-funding either through direct funding or in-kind contributions. There is no minimum amount of co-funding.

The total grant funding amount will be split across the eligible regions to ensure a diversity of project locations. Once funding for a region is exhausted, there is no guarantee that additional funding will be allocated. Grants will be approved on a first-come-first-served basis, so it is recommended that you submit your application as soon as possible. 

You must complete all the grant-funded components of your project within 18 months of the funding deed being signed.  

The components you will need to complete will include:

• a completed planting project in line with your endorsed planting plan, targeting native, iconic, or threatened Australian species or threatened ecological communities
• a registered and certified Environmental Account with Accounting for Nature (AfN)
• evidence that the Clean Energy Regulator (CER) has approved your first project report after your planting is completed
• mandatory communication activities to promote your project
• any infrastructure (like fencing) and other outcomes outlined in your application.

Your registered Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) Scheme project is directly managed by the Clean Energy Regulator and will be delivered outside of and beyond the lifetime of our grant. 

There is a pre-recorded information session available. Alternatively, our on-ground support partners may host information sessions in each region. We recommend you speak with your region's listed Local Land Services or Council contact.  

You may need a Plantation Authorisation from the NSW Government under the NSW Plantations and Reafforestation Act 1999, even if you don’t intend to harvest the trees. Plantation forestry involves planting trees for commercial timber production or environmental purposes, including carbon projects. All new plantations, except for plantations of less than 30 hectares which do not require development approval, must be authorised before their establishment. See  the Plantation Authorisation information on the NSW Department of Primary industries website for further information. 

You should also check with your local Council to confirm there are no local approvals needed.

The Environmental Planting Pilot method is currently the only Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) Scheme method eligible under this grant.

This method:

• is designed for landholders to implement carbon projects themselves without the need for industry consultants
• requires landholders to register projects in their own name so they maintain control of the carbon credits earned
• simplifies project registration and crediting processes
• has straightforward monitoring and reporting processes
• introduces easier ways to sell ACCUs to the Australian Government.

Please note that other methods may be added to the eligibility list in the future at the discretion of the NSW Government.

To register a project under the Australian Government’s Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) Scheme, you must use one of their standard methods. By law, the Minister approves these methods for a 10-year period, after which they expire and can’t be used. Typically, if a method has been popular and successful, an updated version will be developed and approved before the previous method expires.

The Living Carbon grant program requires carbon projects to be registered to use the Environmental Plantings Pilot method, which is part of a broader method: the Reforestation by Environmental or Mallee Plantings FullCAM method 2014 (commonly called the Environmental Plantings method). This method is scheduled to end on 30 September 2024 and there is no equivalent method available yet.

The Australian Government Is working on an equivalent method that we expect will be available soon. Until a new method is approved, there may be a period after 30 September 2024 when no suitable method is available for Living Carbon grants. 

As the Clean Energy Regulator (CER) requires up to 90 days to process applications, it is unlikely that any new applications from July onwards will be approved under the old 2014 method, which expires on 30 September 2024.

The application requirements under the 2024 method are expected to be very similar to the 2014 method. If you are planning to apply for a Living Carbon grant, and have not yet registered your project under the Environmental Plantings Pilot method, it is recommended that you continue to work with your on-ground delivery partner to design your planting project based on the requirements of the old 2014 method. You should then wait to finalise your carbon project design and submit your application for the new method, once it becomes available.

If your project is not yet registered with the Clean Energy Regulator (CER), it is recommended that you continue to refer to the requirements of the Environmental Plantings Pilot method 2014, and work with your on-ground delivery partner to design your planting project. It is expected that the carbon project requirements will be very similar under the new 2024 method.

Until the new method is in place, you can continue to design the size, shape, density, and species diversity of your planting sites, as well as your budget and Environmental Account. There are also other administrative tasks required under the ACCU Scheme, such as obtaining eligible interest holder consent from your bank if you have a loan on your property, which can take several months to finalise. We also recommend you attend any events that your on-ground support partner is hosting, to build your skills and knowledge of carbon farming.

No. Please ensure you have completed your project’s registration with the CER and that you can provide the CER’s declaration of registration and an audit schedule for your project, as supporting evidence. Please note that the CER may issue a conditional registration, for example, if you are waiting on eligible interest holder consent from another party that has an interest in your property (such as a bank, or a part owner of the property). However, the NSW Government will not approve any Living Carbon grant funds unless you can prove that your carbon project has no conditions that may potentially delay or prevent your project from being implemented.

If your grant was approved based on your project being registered under the Environmental Plantings Pilot method 2014, then you can continue to implement your project under that method. 

Once a new method is available, you will need to follow the Clean Energy Regulator (CER)’s guidance and review any options provided by the CER to proponents with existing projects registered under the 2014 method (link when available). There may be an opportunity for you to switch your project to the new 2024 method. See the draft Draft Simple Method Guide section 1.5, page 14 for further advice.

You can find updates about the new method on the Federal DCCEEW website.

To be eligible you must be:

• a private landholder who is the proponent of the carbon project.
• an Aboriginal or Traditional Owners group that owns or has legal right to the land and who are the proponent of the carbon project
• public land managers may be considered for inclusion following discussion with Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water and pre-approval to apply. NSW National Parks are not eligible for these grants because they have access to funding for similar projects through a different initiative.

Note: The project proponent is the person that registers a carbon project, is responsible for carrying out a project and has the legal right to do so. 

Yes, so long as you own the land on which the project will be delivered and are the proponent of the Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) Scheme registered project. Grants are only available for projects in the Riverina Local Land Services region, the North Coast Local Land Services region, and the MidCoast Local Government Area. 

This grant aims to demonstrate that carbon projects can deliver biodiversity co-benefits, which in turn can add value to the price of your carbon credits and/or marketing of your products. For buyers to pay a premium price for your carbon credits, or otherwise put a value on your biodiversity improvements, you will need to prove the improvements you have made. Preferably, buyers should also be able to compare like-for-like products, for example, improvements in fauna biodiversity between projects.  

Biodiversity improvements should be monitored, measured and reported using a trusted standard. The Accounting for Nature Framework (AfN) is a consistent standard for measuring, certifying and communicating changes in the condition of environmental assets of native vegetation, soils, fauna, freshwater and marine ecosystems.

To be eligible for a Living Carbon grant you must commit to using at least one of the specified methods from Accounting for Nature (AfN) to monitor one or more of the biodiversity outcomes that your project will achieve.  

There may be grant opportunities for both small and larger projects that are more suitable for you in the future. Please register your interest to receive further information as it becomes available. 

As a first step, please visit Living Carbons grant to review the guidelines and other information, including links to the eligible ACCU Scheme method. You can contact an on-ground support partner in your eligible region for more information about the grants and guidance on completing a planting plan.  

Contact Accounting for Nature for more information and to get direct support. You can also contact us to get more information at [email protected]. 

You must:

• design a planting plan  
• register your carbon project with the Clean Energy Regulator before applying for a grant.  

The application is a single-phase non-competitive process which consists of a combination of eligibility and merit criteria. You will need to submit your application via SmartyGrants using the link specific for your region.  

Once you submit your application, the assessor will assess your eligibility, and if you are deemed eligible, your application will then be assessed against a pass/fail merit criteria. If you are successful, you will be offered funding managed through a funding deed. 

All applications must be submitted online via SmartyGrants, a secure online grant management tool. Each eligible region will have a specific link to SmartyGrants. Please ensure you submit using the link that is relevant to your region: North Coast Local Land Services, Riverina Local Land Services, and the MidCoast Local Government Area.

Regardless of when applications open in your region, all applications will close on Wednesday 30 April 2025 at 5 pm AEDT, unless funding is exhausted before that date. Feedback regarding your application will be delivered through the SmartyGrants portal.  

Yes, you must use the planting plan template that we have provided. The on-ground support partner for your region is available to assist you in preparing your plan.  

Your planting plan must also be endorsed by the on-ground support partner to confirm that the plan meets the requirements of the grant program and is suitable for your location. We have also provided a planting plan guide (Riverina Local Land Services region planting plan guide, MidCoast Local Government Area planting plan guide) to help you to correctly complete your planting plan.  

An applicant can submit only one application. If an application is deemed unsuccessful, a new application can address the deficiencies noted in the original application.

Applicants who have successfully sought Living Carbon grant funding cannot apply for additional funding under this grant. 

You will be notified by email via the SmartyGrants portal that your application has been received. This email will contain a unique application number you can quote if you have any questions about your application.  

If you do not receive this notification or have any other queries regarding your application, please email us at [email protected].  

Yes. Please refer to the grant guidelines, specifically section 6 for information on developing your application and section 7 for information on submitting your application. 

We will assess applications individually as they are submitted in SmartyGrants. We will assess your application against the eligibility and merit criteria outlined in sections 3 and 4 of the grant guidelines. They will be assessed on a pass/fail basis, and if you pass all eligibility and merit criteria, you will be offered a funding deed. 

Yes. If you are unsuccessful, we will advise you in writing with details on how to seek feedback on your application. An unsuccessful application will not disqualify you from applying for future rounds of funding.  

Unfortunately, the deadline is binding, and if you submit applications beyond the deadline, they will not be considered. There may be more grant opportunities in the future. 

We expect you to commit to co-contribution through direct funding and/or in-kind contributions (for example, labour), at the time of your application submission. You cannot substitute third party contributions as a replacement for your required co-contribution. There is no minimum amount of co-contribution mandated, but you must ensure that your project can be successfully delivered over the lifetime of your grant.  

In-kind contributions are non-monetary resources where no cash has been transferred to your account(s) for your project. In your application, you should detail the assumptions or estimates of the dollar value equivalent of in-kind contributions, such as hourly costs associated with ground preparation or maintenance that you are doing yourself.  

In the budget table within the SmartyGrants application, you will need to add the co-funding and in-kind contribution values you will commit to for various activities required for the delivery of your project. 

You can use additional funding, deemed third-party funding, whether it be from another government agency or a charity, or a private party, to deliver the same project. This can include non-cash contributions such as volunteered time. You must clearly detail what this funding is in your application. Please note that we have the right to reduce NSW Government funding through Living Carbon if third-party funding is significant. This is at NSW Government discretion. You also cannot use third-party funding in place of your contributions, whether co-funding or in-kind contributions.  

The NSW Government has legal obligations under the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 (NSW) in relation to the collection, storage, access, use and disclosure of personal information. When collecting your personal information, we will provide you with a privacy statement that details how this information will be managed in accordance with privacy law.

The SmartyGrants portal is a secure location for your project application information.  

You can register to be on our mailing list so we can keep you updated on future grant funding opportunities as they become available. 

If you are interested in starting a carbon project, we recommend that you start by reviewing information about the Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) Scheme provided by the Clean Energy Regulator (CER). The NSW Government also provides advice through the On-Farm Carbon Advice program, or you can contact Local Land Services office.  

If you have a question that you can’t find an answer to in the grant guidelines or in our frequently asked questions, please email us at [email protected]

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