NGER reporting is Australia's mandatory scheme for reporting greenhouse gas emissions, energy production, and energy consumption. It runs under the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act 2007, is administered by the Clean Energy Regulator, and applies to corporate groups that cross defined emissions or energy thresholds.
Groups that meet a registration threshold must register and report for the relevant financial year. The usual annual reporting date is 31 October, with a next-business-day rule when it falls on a weekend or relevant public holiday. The Clean Energy Regulator confirms that 2025–26 reports are due by midnight AEDT on Monday 2 November 2026. CER reporting deadline
This guide covers what NGER measures, the thresholds that pull a group in, what has to be reported, how the reporting year works, how NGER differs from ASRS and the Safeguard Mechanism, and what changed for the 2025-26 reporting year.
What Is NGER Reporting?
NGER is a data scheme before it is a climate scheme. The NGER Act created a single national framework so emissions and energy numbers are collected once, in one format, under one set of rules, rather than through a patchwork of state programs.
The Clean Energy Regulator runs it. It handles registration, collects reports through the Emissions and Energy Reporting System, audits what comes in, and publishes results on the National Greenhouse and Energy Register.
Reporting follows facilities and corporate-group boundaries defined by the scheme. Operational control is central to deciding who reports a facility. Ownership, billing accounts and site addresses alone don't establish the reporting boundary.
Who Has to Report Under NGER?
Registration is triggered by thresholds, not by industry or intent. A corporate group is captured if it crosses either of the following in a financial year.
Facility threshold. A facility triggers registration at 25,000 tonnes or more of combined Scope 1 and Scope 2 CO2-e, or 100 terajoules or more of energy production, or 100 terajoules or more of energy consumption. Production and consumption are separate tests.
Corporate group threshold. The group as a whole emits 50,000 tonnes or more of CO2-e across Scope 1 and Scope 2, or produces or consumes 200 terajoules or more of energy.
Who registers. The obligation sits with the controlling corporation, defined as a constitutional corporation with no Australian incorporated holding company. That is the top Australian entity in the group, not each operating subsidiary.
When to register. Applications are due by 31 August following the financial year in which a threshold was met. Missing that date contravenes the NGER Act and can attract civil penalties, and finding a triggered year after the fact does not remove the obligation to register and report.
Energy use can trigger registration even without substantial on-site fuel combustion. 100 terajoules is about 27.8 GWh of electricity. Check facility boundaries and corporate-group totals before deciding whether a portfolio meets a threshold.
What Do You Have to Report?
Reporting covers emissions and energy under the scheme's facility and corporate-group rules. The reporting scope depends on which thresholds are met, so a facility-level trigger should not be treated as proof that every small facility has identical reporting requirements.
Scope 1 emissions. Direct emissions released from sources you operationally control: fuel combustion, industrial processes, fugitive emissions from gas and coal operations, and waste.
Scope 2 emissions. Under NGER, these arise from purchased or acquired electricity consumed by a facility. Location-based reporting remains required. Eligible reporters can provide voluntary market-based results in addition, subject to the rules for electricity purchases, certificates and consistent group reporting. CER market-based Scope 2 guidance
Energy production and consumption. Report the applicable quantities in gigajoules using the scheme's classifications and measurement rules. These quantities matter independently of the emissions totals.
The NGER Measurement Determination specifies the methods available for each source. Higher-order methods can require more detailed measurements and evidence. Check the source-specific rules before changing methods.
How Does the NGER Reporting Year Work?
Plan around the reporting year and the applicable registration and lodgement deadlines.
1 July to 30 June. The reporting year is the Australian financial year. Data has to be attributed to the right year and the right facility, including where operational control transferred partway through.
31 August. Registration applications are due for a group that triggered a threshold in the year just ended.
Annual report. Lodge through the Emissions and Energy Reporting System. The usual date is 31 October, adjusted to the next business day when applicable. For 2025–26, the confirmed deadline is midnight AEDT on Monday 2 November 2026.
Publication. The Clean Energy Regulator publishes specified emissions and energy data under the scheme. Public disclosure thresholds and reporting requirements are distinct, so not every item submitted is necessarily published.
Reports are auditable. Keep records that substantiate the reported activities, calculations and methods for five years from the end of the relevant reporting year. The Clean Energy Regulator can require an audit by a registered greenhouse and energy auditor. CER recordkeeping requirements
How Is NGER Different from ASRS, the Safeguard Mechanism, and NABERS?
NGER is the measurement layer several other regimes sit on top of. The distinctions matter because the obligations stay separate even when the underlying data is shared.
NGER vs sustainability reporting. NGER is a regulatory submission to the Clean Energy Regulator. Mandatory climate-related sustainability reporting under the Corporations Act and AASB S2 has a separate scope and phased assurance requirements. NGER status is relevant to coverage, but an entity must also be required to prepare an annual financial report under Chapter 2M and meet the applicable section 292A threshold. Shared data can support both obligations, but each has its own reporting requirements. ASIC sustainability-reporting scope
NGER vs the Safeguard Mechanism. Safeguard generally applies to facilities with more than 100,000 tonnes of covered Scope 1 CO2-e emissions annually. Covered emissions have specific exclusions. Safeguard adds baseline and compliance obligations for covered facilities, while NGER supplies the reporting framework. Safeguard coverage
NGER vs NABERS. NABERS rates one building's measured performance against comparable stock, and is voluntary in most situations. NGER counts absolute emissions and energy across a corporate group because the law requires it. Different unit, different purpose, drawn from the same meter and invoice data.
What Changed for the 2025-26 Reporting Year?
The following changes apply to 2025–26 reporting. Separate amendments apply to 2026–27, so use the rules for the year being reported. 2025–26 amendments
- The 2025–26 amendments introduce market-based reporting for emissions from consumption of biomethane and hydrogen.
- If a controlling corporation elects to report voluntary market-based Scope 2 emissions, it must do so consistently across its facilities consuming purchased or acquired electricity, subject to the specified exceptions. Required location-based reporting continues.
- Electricity emissions factors and the market-based electricity reporting method were updated for 2025–26.
- The amendments also change specified oil and gas reporting requirements. Check the applicable source category and measurement method before preparing the return.
- The changes include reporting for diversion of biosolids to biochar production.
The Method 1 phaseout is specific to fugitive methane from open-cut coal mines covered by Safeguard. Mines that extracted more than 10 million tonnes of run-of-mine coal in 2022–23 moved to the relevant higher-order methods from 2025–26. The remaining covered open-cut mines move from 2026–27. CER coal-mining guidance
NGER requirements are updated over time. Check the measurement rules for the reporting year and document the methods used, rather than reusing last year's calculations without review.
Why NGER Reporting Goes Wrong
A reliable submission needs a sound reporting boundary, the correct methods and evidence that supports the numbers.
The numbers come from invoices, meter reads, fuel dockets, and retailer feeds scattered across sites, systems, and inboxes. Each one has to land against the right facility, the right period, and the right emission source, then hold enough evidence behind it to survive an audit. A group with 40 sites and five utility types is reconciling thousands of line items for one lodgement, and any figure that was never validated against the contract and the meter arrives in the report carrying whatever error it started with.
That is why the October scramble is so familiar. Teams spend the reporting window rebuilding a dataset that should have existed all year, usually in spreadsheets that stopped scaling several sites ago. If you want the operational detail on fixing that pipeline, our guide to automating NGER reporting covers the workflow end to end.
How Utilified Supports NGER Reporting
Utilified's UMS helps teams organise utility invoices and meter data across companies, sites and connections. This supports gathering consumption evidence for reporting. The organisation still needs to establish its NGER facility boundaries, operational control, emission sources and applicable methods.
Joule supports extracting information from source documents, while UMS brings consumption and billing records together for validation and review. Keep the underlying evidence and confirm that each record is assigned to the correct facility and reporting period.
Maintaining the evidence throughout the year can reduce the reconciliation work at reporting time. Software supports that process; responsibility for a complete and accurate submission remains with the reporting entity.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is NGER reporting mandatory?
Registration and reporting are mandatory when the relevant NGER requirements apply. Check the registration thresholds, reporting scope and any separate obligations, including Safeguard, rather than assuming one threshold test resolves every obligation.
What are the NGER reporting thresholds?
Registration thresholds are 25,000 tonnes of combined Scope 1 and Scope 2 CO2-e, 100 TJ of energy production, or 100 TJ of energy consumption at facility level. Group thresholds are 50,000 tonnes, 200 TJ production, or 200 TJ consumption. Each is a separate test.
When are NGER reports due?
The usual annual reporting date is 31 October following the end of the reporting year, subject to the next-business-day rule. For 2025–26, the deadline is midnight AEDT on Monday 2 November 2026. Registration applications are generally due by 31 August after the year in which a threshold was met.
Does NGER cover Scope 3 emissions?
NGER does not require Scope 3 emissions reporting. Separate sustainability-reporting obligations may require Scope 3 disclosures, with transitional relief under the applicable standard. Check those requirements independently.
What is the difference between NGER and ASRS reporting?
NGER reports emissions and energy to the Clean Energy Regulator. Mandatory sustainability reporting under the Corporations Act and AASB S2 covers climate-related financial information. NGER registration is relevant to its thresholds, but coverage also depends on Chapter 2M and the applicable statutory tests.
Do NGER reports have to be audited?
Not every NGER report is audited, but the Clean Energy Regulator can require an audit. Keep supporting records for five years from the end of the relevant reporting year and ensure the figures and methods can be explained.