Government sustainability

The Australian Government aims to improve the environmental performance of Australian Government departments and agencies, by providing advice, communication networks, and access to best practice environmental management techniques from around the world. Activities include:

Government energy management
Energy Efficiency in Government Operations (EEGO) aims to improve energy efficiency, and consequently reduce the whole of life cost and environmental impact of Government operations, and by so doing, lead the community by example. Energy Efficiency in Government Operations (EEGO)
Environmental management systems (EMS)
- assisting Government agencies to develop and introduce environmental management systems (EMS)
Australian Government purchasing
- encouraging the consideration of relevant environmental policies, programmes, costs and benefits in Australian Government purchasing by the provision of voluntary environmental purchasing tools
Promoting public reporting
- promoting public reporting on performance. Australian Government Departments and agencies are required to report on their sustainability performance as part of their Annual Reports. This reporting, mandated by S516A of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act, includes coverage of agency activities against the principles of ecologically sustainable development (ESD). Some are also producing stand-alone Public Environment Reports (PER) or Triple Bottom Line (TBL) Reports.