When you need an environmental audit in Victoria and who does it
Learn when Victoria requires an environmental audit, who can conduct it, how a preliminary risk screen works and what the audit statement means.
In Victoria, an environmental audit is an independent assessment under Part 8.3 of the Environment Protection Act 2017, carried out only by an EPA-appointed environmental auditor, of the risk of harm to human health or the environment from contaminated land, waste, pollution or an activity, and it ends in an environmental audit statement and an environmental audit report. You usually need one when land in an Environmental Audit Overlay, or other potentially contaminated land, is going to housing, child care or a school. You also need one when EPA requires it through a notice or permission. For a land use, the statement says the site is suitable, suitable if its recommendations are followed, or not suitable for the stated use.
A preliminary risk screen can show that no audit is needed. This is Victoria's statutory system, not ISO 14001.
Objectives of an environmental audit
Section 208 of the Act lets any person engage an environmental auditor. The objectives are to assess the nature and extent of the risk of harm, recommend measures to manage that risk, and make recommendations to manage the contaminated land, waste, pollution or activity (EP Act 2017, s 208).
When a site needs an environmental audit
The Environmental Audit Overlay (EAO)
Clause 45.03 applies whether or not a planning permit is required. Before a sensitive use starts (residential use, child care centre, kindergarten, pre-school centre or primary school, even if ancillary), or a children's playground or secondary school, or buildings and works for those uses, one of four documents must be issued.
The four accepted documents are:
- a preliminary risk screen assessment (PRSA) statement saying an audit is not required for the use
- an environmental audit statement under Part 8.3 saying the land is suitable for the use
- a certificate of environmental audit issued under the 1970 Act
- a statement of environmental audit under the 1970 Act saying the land is suitable
Some buildings and works are exempt: those EPA or an auditor requires to make the site suitable, those an auditor reasonably needs for a PRSA or audit, and buildings and works listed in Clause 62.02-1 or 62.02-2 associated with an existing sensitive use, secondary school or children's playground, where the soil is not disturbed.
Check the current planning scheme. An old copy of Clause 45.03 can lag.
Rezoning and planning permits without an overlay
Ministerial Direction No. 1 requires a planning authority preparing an amendment that would allow a sensitive use, playground or secondary school to work out whether the land is potentially contaminated. If it is, the normal route is a PRSA statement saying no audit is needed, or an audit statement saying the land is suitable, before the amendment is exhibited. Where that is impractical, the authority can defer the assessment by applying an Environmental Audit Overlay or another appropriate measure.
For planning permits, Planning Practice Note 30 recommends an audit for a new sensitive use on land with high potential for contamination, and a PRSA where it is unclear whether an audit is needed.
When EPA requires it
An audit can be a condition of an EPA permission (a licence or permit), or required by a remedial notice or order (EPA Victoria). Owners also commission one for purchase due diligence.
The duty to manage contaminated land under s 39 applies to whoever manages or controls the land, even if they didn't cause the contamination. That duty exists with or without an audit, and it doesn't by itself require one.
When a preliminary risk screen is useful
A preliminary risk screen assessment works out how likely contamination is, whether an audit is needed for the proposed use and, if so, what its scope should be. It never certifies that a site is suitable. Outcomes are contamination unlikely and no audit needed, contamination likely but no audit needed for that use, or contamination likely and an audit required.
A consultant can do the site investigation, including limited sampling. But only an EPA-appointed auditor issues the PRSA statement and report. A PRSA can take weeks or months, depending on the site's size and history.
Who can be an environmental auditor
You need an EPA-appointed environmental auditor. A "certified environmental auditor" label is not the test EPA uses. EPA appoints auditors under s 193 of the Act and reassesses them every three years (EPA Victoria). EPA does not recommend or engage them. You find them on its public registers.
A National Harmonised Auditor Accreditation Process for contaminated land auditors starts in 2026. Victoria is not in the first round and intends to join the second (EPA Victoria).
EPA's auditor categories are contaminated land, industrial facilities (wind energy facilities, landfills and other industries) and natural resources.
Auditors must be independent. They can't have a financial interest in the site, or a conflict with the site or a stakeholder. They can't design or carry out the clean-up, or argue for less assessment or remediation. EPA advises getting quotes for environmental audit services, with a defined scope and terms for extra work and delays (EPA Victoria).
The environmental auditing process
- The auditor notifies EPA within 5 business days of being engaged (s 209).
- The auditor submits the proposed scope to EPA, unless a PRSA already produced an endorsed scope (s 208). If EPA reviews the scope, it has up to 30 business days, excluding time waiting for information it requested.
- A simple site can take a few months to a year. Big or complex sites often take more than a year (EPA Victoria).
- Within 5 business days of finishing, the auditor sends the statement and report to EPA. For contaminated or potentially contaminated land, copies also go to the planning authority and responsible authority (s 210).
The EPA submission fees for 2026-27 are $1,904.19 for an environmental audit and $360.25 for a PRSA (EPA fees). Those are EPA's fees only. The auditor's fee is quoted per job. Method is in EPA's guidelines for conducting environmental audits (publication 2041.1).
What the environmental audit statement means
Under s 211 of the Act, the statement sets out the site or activity, the use, and the elements of the environment assessed. It also records the standards and reference documents, assumptions, limitations and exclusions. For a land-use audit, the findings are:
- the site is suitable for the specified use
- it is suitable if the recommendations in the statement are followed
- it is not suitable for the specified use
A statement saying a site suits commercial use says nothing about apartments.
Recommendations take effect through whatever applies them, mainly permit conditions, the overlay, EPA notices and the duty to manage (PPN30). Under s 214, the person managing or controlling the site must give a copy of any audit or PRSA statement to anyone proposing to take over. If they don't, the new person may, within 12 months, recover reasonable compliance costs in court.
Clause 45.03 still accepts the old 1970 Act "statement of environmental audit" and "certificate of environmental audit". The current document is the "environmental audit statement".
Finding past audits on the audit register
EPA's audit register holds audits completed under the 2017 Act since 1 July 2021, plus some going back to 1990. If a report is missing, contact EPA. The data updates overnight, so it can lag by up to 24 hours (EPA public registers).
Victoria Unearthed maps audit locations, report links, PRSAs, priority sites, groundwater restrictions and landfills. It's a starting point, not proof that land is clean.
The Priority Sites Register lists only sites under an EPA clean-up or management notice or order, not every contaminated site and not the audit register.
For a cited answer on a specific case, ask RegAffairs AI about environmental audits in Victoria.