This bill became law on Dec 10th, 2024.
Climate, energy & environment
Australia now has a voluntary national certification scheme that lets businesses prove the renewable electricity or emissions linked to products, starting with hydrogen and able to expand to products like green metals and low-carbon fuels.
Australia lacked a national way for businesses to prove the renewable electricity or emissions linked to products such as hydrogen, leaving claims hard to verify. This bill creates a voluntary certification scheme run by the Clean Energy RegulatorThe federal body that runs the scheme, keeps the register, issues certificates, and can enforce compliance. that issues certificates, tracks claims and product emissions, and can expand to products like green metals and low-carbon fuels.
Before this bill, Australia did not have a national system for businesses to verify the renewable electricity used in products or the emissions linked to products such as hydrogen, making those claims harder to prove as governments and industry pushed to build low-carbon manufacturing and trade. The bill responded by creating a voluntary Guarantee of Origin schemeThe voluntary certification system created by this bill to prove where energy or product emissions came from. run by the Clean Energy RegulatorThe federal body that runs the scheme, keeps the register, issues certificates, and can enforce compliance., and after Parliament passed it in late 2024 and Royal AssentThe final step that turns a passed bill into an Act of Parliament. followed, Australia had the legal basis for certificates that can support claims for hydrogen and later products such as green metals and low-carbon fuels.
The main criticism was that the scheme is too narrowly designed around green hydrogen and certain renewable technologies, which critics said could distort investment, add costs and complexity, and even open the door to a broader carbon-pricing regime. That case was pushed mainly by Coalition and National Party speakers, while some crossbench support remained conditional on tighter safeguards in the bill and stronger scrutiny of the rules.
Josh Wilson MP introduced this bill. In the House final vote, support came from Labor, Greens, some crossbench members; opposition came from Liberal Party, Nationals, some crossbench members.
Did it become law?
Yes
Became law 10 Dec 2024
Final passage
Recorded final vote
3 counted final-passage votes were recorded.
Passage speed
89 days
From introduction to the latest recorded parliamentary step
Meaning
Australia now has a voluntary national certification scheme that lets businesses prove the renewable electricity or emissions linked to products, starting with hydrogen and able to expand to products like green metals and low-carbon fuels.
Renewable electricity certificates can be bought, sold and retired for renewable power claims, while product certificates stay tied to the physical product and record its emissions through to delivery.
The Clean Energy RegulatorThe federal body that runs the scheme, keeps the register, issues certificates, and can enforce compliance. runs the scheme by registering participants and facilities, issuing certificates, keeping the public register, and taking compliance action.
Businesses that use the scheme will pay fees and levies to cover its costs, with details such as exemptions, refunds and waivers set later in ministerial rulesDetailed scheme settings made later by the minister, rather than written directly into the bill itself..
Scheme participants can be audited and penalised, and the scheme must also be formally reviewed over time to check whether it is working well and still fits international developments.
The Future Made in Australia (Guarantee of Origin) Bill 2024 (the Bill) would establish the voluntary Guarantee of Origin (GO) scheme to track and verify attributes associated with low-emissions products, starting with hydrogen, and establish an enduring certification mechanism for renewable electricity. Participants that opt in to the GO scheme who produce low-emissions products or renewable electricity, would be able to create certificates that contain information about their emissions or renewable attributes that would be tracked through a public register providing greater certainty and trust to domestic and international customers. Green metals, low carbon liquid fuels, and other products would be able to be incorporated in the future.Future Made in Australia (Guarantee of Origin) explanatory memorandum
The key distinction between PGO and REGO certificates is that only REGO certificates can be traded. Renewable electricity certificates decouple claimable attributes of the electricity from its physical delivery, reflecting the reality that electrons cannot be tracked, and most generated electricity is pooled in a network before reaching users. PGOs, on the other hand, would not be tradeable, but track the embodied emissions of a product to the point of its delivery to a consumer.Future Made in Australia (Guarantee of Origin) explanatory memorandum
The Bill provides for the Clean Energy Regulator (the Regulator) to administer the GO scheme. This would include registering participants and facilities, issuing certificates, maintaining the public register of certificates and undertaking compliance and enforcement.Future Made in Australia (Guarantee of Origin) explanatory memorandum
The GO scheme is to be fully cost recovered with fees and levies being included from commencement of the GO scheme. Consistent with the Australian Government Cost Recovery Policy, the Bill would impose cost recovery fees on scheme participants where the cost of providing a service can be directly attributed to that individual scheme participant. The Bill provides for fees to be payable for particular activities, such as making applications. Fees would be prescribed in rules made by the Minister along with circumstances for exemptions, refunds, waivers and remissions and methods of determining fees.Future Made in Australia (Guarantee of Origin) explanatory memorandum
The Bill provides for periodic formal review of the GO scheme, which at a minimum would consider the effectiveness of meeting the objects of the Act, functionality and efficiency of the GO scheme, and the relevant international context.Future Made in Australia (Guarantee of Origin) explanatory memorandum
Context
Before this bill, Australia did not have a national system for businesses to verify the renewable electricity used in products or the emissions linked to products such as hydrogen, making those claims harder to prove as governments and industry pushed to build low-carbon manufacturing and trade. The bill responded by creating a voluntary Guarantee of Origin schemeThe voluntary certification system created by this bill to prove where energy or product emissions came from. run by the Clean Energy RegulatorThe federal body that runs the scheme, keeps the register, issues certificates, and can enforce compliance., and after Parliament passed it in late 2024 and Royal AssentThe final step that turns a passed bill into an Act of Parliament. followed, Australia had the legal basis for certificates that can support claims for hydrogen and later products such as green metals and low-carbon fuels.
Government introduces Guarantee of Origin schemeThe voluntary certification system created by this bill to prove where energy or product emissions came from. bills
The government introduced the bill as part of a package to establish a national certification scheme for renewable electricity claims and product emissions, starting with hydrogen.
Hansard ↗Bill begins its parliamentary journey
The bill's introduction to the House formally opened debate on creating a voluntary scheme to verify clean-product claims that Australia previously lacked.
Parliamentary timeline ↗House passes the bill after amendments
The House agreed to the bill in principle, accepted government amendment packages in detail, and passed it at third readingThe final vote in a chamber before the bill goes to the other house or becomes law..
Parliamentary timeline ↗Parliament passes the bill
The Senate passed the bill the next day, completing Parliament's approval of the new certification framework.
Parliamentary timeline ↗Royal AssentThe final step that turns a passed bill into an Act of Parliament. turns the bill into law
Royal AssentThe final step that turns a passed bill into an Act of Parliament. converted the bill into an Act, giving legal force to the national Guarantee of Origin schemeThe voluntary certification system created by this bill to prove where energy or product emissions came from. and its regulator-run certificate system.
Parliamentary timeline ↗Legislative route
The bill was formally presented to the chamber and read a first time, which starts its parliamentary journey.
Introduced and read a first time
A minister or sponsoring member moved the second readingThe vote on whether the House or Senate agrees to the bill in principle., opening the main debate on the bill's purpose and principles.
Second readingThe vote on whether the House or Senate agrees to the bill in principle. moved
Referred to Committee (12/09/2024): Senate Environment and Communications Legislation Committee; Committee report (31/10/2024)
Referred to committee
APH bill page notesThe bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.
The bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.
Recorded vote: 86 to 53.
The chamber agreed to the bill at second readingThe vote on whether the House or Senate agrees to the bill in principle., meaning it accepted the bill in principle and allowed it to continue.
Second readingThe vote on whether the House or Senate agrees to the bill in principle. agreed to
The chamber considered amendments before the bill moved to the next stage.
Consideration in detail debate
Recorded vote: 86 to 53.
The chamber agreed to the bill at third readingThe final vote in a chamber before the bill goes to the other house or becomes law., which completed passage through that chamber.
Third readingThe final vote in a chamber before the bill goes to the other house or becomes law. agreed to
The bill was formally presented to the chamber and read a first time, which starts its parliamentary journey.
Introduced and read a first time
A minister or sponsoring member moved the second readingThe vote on whether the House or Senate agrees to the bill in principle., opening the main debate on the bill's purpose and principles.
Second readingThe vote on whether the House or Senate agrees to the bill in principle. moved
The chamber agreed to the bill at second readingThe vote on whether the House or Senate agrees to the bill in principle., meaning it accepted the bill in principle and allowed it to continue.
Second readingThe vote on whether the House or Senate agrees to the bill in principle. agreed to
Recorded vote: 33 to 24.
The chamber agreed to the bill at third readingThe final vote in a chamber before the bill goes to the other house or becomes law., which completed passage through that chamber.
Third readingThe final vote in a chamber before the bill goes to the other house or becomes law. agreed to
Both houses passed the bill in the same form, completing parliamentary passage.
Finally passed both Houses
The Governor-General gave Royal AssentThe final step that turns a passed bill into an Act of Parliament., turning the bill into an Act.
Key criticism
The main criticism was that the scheme is too narrowly designed around green hydrogen and certain renewable technologies, which critics said could distort investment, add costs and complexity, and even open the door to a broader carbon-pricing regime. That case was pushed mainly by Coalition and National Party speakers, while some crossbench support remained conditional on tighter safeguards in the bill and stronger scrutiny of the rules.
Most criticism focused on design, neutrality and safeguards rather than rejecting product certification itself.
Not technology-neutral
Coalition and National Party critics argued the bill backs a narrow set of favoured technologies, especially green hydrogen linked to wind and solar, instead of setting neutral rules that let all lower-emissions energy options compete. They said that risks government picking winners and missing more practical pathways for industry.
Risk of higher costs and weak industry take-up
Opponents said a certificate-heavy scheme will not attract manufacturers if Australia still has expensive or unreliable energy, and could instead add compliance burden, higher power costs and investment uncertainty. They argued the framework may be unrealistic or commercially ineffective unless the underlying energy system is cheaper and more dependable.
Safeguards left too much to later rules
Supportive but cautious critics said too many important protections were left to ministerial rulesDetailed scheme settings made later by the minister, rather than written directly into the bill itself. instead of being spelled out in the bill. They wanted clearer limits to stop offsets, greenwashing and below-baseline credits, plus better consultation and scrutiny before the detailed scheme settings are locked in.
Further sources
Votes
The chamber-passage votes come first. Expand a vote to see the party breakdown.
Passed 86 to 53. Support came from Labor, Greens, and minor parties and independents. Opposition came from Liberal Party and Nationals. Minor-party and independent votes were split.
Passed 88 to 53. Support came from Labor, Greens, Centre Alliance, and minor parties and independents. Opposition came from Liberal Party and Nationals. Minor-party and independent votes were split.
Passed 33 to 24. Support came from Labor, Greens, Australia's Voice, and minor parties and independents. Opposition came from Liberal Party, Nationals, and UAP. Minor-party and independent votes were split.
Earlier bill-stage votes
Passed 33 to 23. Support came from Labor, Greens, Australia's Voice, and minor parties and independents. Opposition came from Liberal Party, Nationals, and UAP. Minor-party and independent votes were split.
Amendments grouped by chamber. Where APH reports aggregate counts, the package card summarizes the matching public amendment sheets by source theme.
House
Defeated 62 to 75. Support came from Liberal Party and Nationals. Opposition came from Labor. Minor-party and independent votes were split.
This would have shifted scrutiny of the bills into committee before further House consideration; the motion was defeated.
Passed 78 to 61. Support came from Labor and Greens. Opposition came from Liberal Party, Nationals, Katter's Australian Party, and minor parties and independents. Minor-party and independent votes were split.
Because it was a second-reading statement, the vote expressed a position on the bill rather than changing the law itself; the amendment was defeated before the bill’s second readingThe vote on whether the House or Senate agrees to the bill in principle. proceeded.
Passed 88 to 53. Support came from Labor, Greens, Centre Alliance, and minor parties and independents. Opposition came from Liberal Party and Nationals. Minor-party and independent votes were split.
These amendments refined how the scheme would operate in practice without changing its overall purpose, and they were agreed to in consideration in detail.
Government amendments would change the bill’s rules for delivery gates, add factors the Regulator and Minister must consider, and expand the information needed for consumption profiles.
Passed on the voices
The chamber agreed to this amendment package without a counted vote. APH records the agreed count by amendment, while the source documents are grouped into amendment sheets.
Senate
Passed 33 to 24. Support came from Labor, Greens, Australia's Voice, One Nation, and minor parties and independents. Opposition came from Liberal Party, Nationals, and UAP. Minor-party and independent votes were split.
These amendments pushed the scheme away from backing fossil fuel expansion and toward cleaner industrial investment criteria; the division carried.
The Senate defeated, on voices, remaining amendments on sheet 2872 and amendments on sheets 2871, 2901 and 2997.
Defeated on voices
The chamber decided this amendment without a counted division, so there is no list of individual Aye and No votes.
The Senate defeated, on voices, remaining amendments on sheets 2880 and 2881 and amendments on sheets 2878 and 2879.
Defeated on voices
The chamber decided this amendment without a counted division, so there is no list of individual Aye and No votes.
This list includes amendment votes, procedural votes and votes on the bill itself.
Parliamentary debate
Start here — lead voices
Josh Wilson strongly supports the bill, saying it creates the certification framework Australia needs to support net zero industries, attract investment, and expand exports and jobs.
Read in Hansard ↗Barnaby Joyce opposes the bill, arguing that it is pointless while Australia has high energy costs and unreliable power.
Read in Hansard ↗Tink supports the bill and says it could be an important part of Australia’s energy transition, but she wants stronger scrutiny of the rules and clearer primary-legislation protections against offsets, greenwashing and below-baseline credits.
Read in Hansard ↗O'Brien says the coalition supports the idea of a guarantee of origin schemeThe voluntary certification system created by this bill to prove where energy or product emissions came from. for hydrogen, but will not back this bill in its current form because it is not technology-neutralA policy design that does not favour one energy source or production method over another., favours wind and solar over hydro, and could be used to expand carbon pricing more broadly.
Read in Hansard ↗All speeches by bloc
1 speaker · 1 support
“This bill creates that framework.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
6 speakers · 5 oppose · 1 mixed
“The intent itself, I must say, I agree with. The intent itself, at a very high level, is to establish a guarantee of origin scheme for hydrogen—one that allows the tracking and verification of emissions for that product so that buyers and sellers in the marketplace can understand from where that product comes and its emissions profile. At that level, there is no problem with this scheme. But in the detail, where Labor has applied their renewables-only dogma, it all goes wrong.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“When it comes to manufacturing, no-one is going to come here and set up a factory if you can't even keep your air conditioner on. No-one is going to take you seriously if you've got the highest power prices in the world. No-one's even going to look at you. You can have all the bills you want, but, until you decide to get the fundamentals right, it's just a narrative. It's just rhetoric.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“What this bill does is put all our eggs in one basket. It's very focused on green hydrogen and it's very focused on some other things. Like a lot of the government's investments, it's very ideologically narrowly focused. I worry that, if some of those things don't take off or if technology goes off in a way that we didn't predict, we are not going to be in the game globally. That's frightening for Australia and it's frightening for the people of the Goulburn Valley. If those businesses that I started out with in this address leave our shores, there'll be a lot of people in my electorate who won't have jobs anymore. If those people don't have jobs, they won't have money. Their living standards will go back even further than they have done. So we really have to focus on making sure we protect Australia's manufacturing future, and this bill is not it.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“But this particular bill and this package of bills are not good.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“It is regrettable that this is a lost opportunity to have a bipartisan bill that would have been able to continue on from the work we did in our last term, would create something that would provide certainty for Australian industry and, of course, would be agnostic in relation to the great opportunities around technologies like nuclear that we look forward to presenting to the people of Australia at the upcoming election. It is very regrettable that, again, the government are not open to the people having their say on a matter like that through this legislation. So, indeed, I support the second reading amendment from the member for Fairfax. We don't support this bill for all the reasons outlined. I commend the member for Fairfax's amendment to the House.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“I hate to disappoint listeners and members in this chamber, but I can't support it, because of the reasons I'll outline. The Future Made in Australia (Guarantee of Origin) Bill 2024 and associated bills are really quite extensive, but, on reading an analysis guided by the investigative powers of the Parliamentary Library, it has confirmed my worst fears. This is another renewable subsidy boondoggle.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
1 speaker · 1 mixed
“In summary, the Guarantee of Origin scheme could play a really important role in Australia's energy transition and create an enduring renewables certification framework to empower the purchaser to purchase green energy, with the inclusion of energy attributes giving customers choice about the type of certificate they want to purchase. It's a welcome move—one supported by my community of North Sydney. But, to get it right and ensure the scheme is not used to facilitate greenwashing, it is critical there is proper scrutiny of the rules and regulations that will govern the operation of the Guarantee of Origin scheme. While it's appropriate for highly technical matters to be included in delegated legislation, I urge the government to ensure proper and detailed consultation on the rules and methodologies underpinning this scheme, to explicitly rule out the use of offsets and to make clear the government position on below-baseline credits within the primary legislation.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
Record
House · Introduced and read a first time
Introduced
The bill was formally presented to the chamber and read a first time, which starts its parliamentary journey.
House · Second reading moved
Second readingThe vote on whether the House or Senate agrees to the bill in principle. opened
A minister or sponsoring member moved the second readingThe vote on whether the House or Senate agrees to the bill in principle., opening the main debate on the bill's purpose and principles.
House · Second reading debate
Second readingThe vote on whether the House or Senate agrees to the bill in principle. debate
The bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.
House · Second reading debate
Second readingThe vote on whether the House or Senate agrees to the bill in principle. debate
The bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.
House · Second reading agreed to
Recorded vote: 86 to 53.
Second readingThe vote on whether the House or Senate agrees to the bill in principle. agreed
The chamber agreed to the bill at second readingThe vote on whether the House or Senate agrees to the bill in principle., meaning it accepted the bill in principle and allowed it to continue.
House · Consideration in detail: amendments considered
Amendment packages agreed
The chamber considered amendments before the bill moved to the next stage.
House · Third reading agreed to
Recorded vote: 86 to 53.
Third readingThe final vote in a chamber before the bill goes to the other house or becomes law. agreed
The chamber agreed to the bill at third readingThe final vote in a chamber before the bill goes to the other house or becomes law., which completed passage through that chamber.
Senate · Introduced and read a first time
Introduced
The bill was formally presented to the chamber and read a first time, which starts its parliamentary journey.
Senate · Second reading moved
Second readingThe vote on whether the House or Senate agrees to the bill in principle. opened
A minister or sponsoring member moved the second readingThe vote on whether the House or Senate agrees to the bill in principle., opening the main debate on the bill's purpose and principles.
Senate · Second reading agreed to
Second readingThe vote on whether the House or Senate agrees to the bill in principle. agreed
The chamber agreed to the bill at second readingThe vote on whether the House or Senate agrees to the bill in principle., meaning it accepted the bill in principle and allowed it to continue.
Senate · Third reading agreed to
Recorded vote: 33 to 24.
Third readingThe final vote in a chamber before the bill goes to the other house or becomes law. agreed
The chamber agreed to the bill at third readingThe final vote in a chamber before the bill goes to the other house or becomes law., which completed passage through that chamber.
Parliament · Finally passed both Houses
Passed both houses
Both houses passed the bill in the same form, completing parliamentary passage.
Assent · Assent
Assent
The Governor-General gave Royal AssentThe final step that turns a passed bill into an Act of Parliament., turning the bill into an Act.
Senate Environment and Communications Legislation Committee; Committee report (31/10/2024)
Referred to committee
Referred to Committee (12 Sept 2024): Senate Environment and Communications Legislation Committee; Committee report (31 Oct 2024)
APH bill page notes
