Technical Advisory Committee

The Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) is an independent committee established under the BidCarbon (Carbon Farming) Standard 2025 (Carbon Farming Standard), which is an ad hoc committee of the Board of Trustees.

The TAC assesses the compliance of methodology (methods) against the legislated Offsets Integrity Standards to ensure the continued integrity of the BidCarbon Standard Scheme.

The Technical Advisory Committee:

● assesses expressions of interest for new methods and advises the Chair of the Board of Trustees on those to be prioritised for method development

● assesses method proposals, draft methods and variations, and existing methods to ensure they comply with the legislated Offsets Integrity Standards set out in the BidCarbon (Carbon Farming) Standard 2025

● advises the Chair on whether to make, vary or revoke methods based on their assessment of their compliance with the Offsets Integrity Standards

● undertakes periodic reviews and crediting period extension reviews of methods

● undertakes public consultation on methods

● undertakes public consultation on periodic and crediting period extension reviews

● advises the Chair and the Secretary on the outcomes of reviews and method assessments.

Advice provided to the Chair by the TAC is published with consultation information for each method.

View the BidCarbon Standard Scheme method tracker.

Who they are

Each TAC member brings vast, diverse knowledge and expertise to decision making about BidCarbon Standard Scheme methods. The TAC also has the discretion to seek further advice from third party experts, as required.

New committee members are appointed following an open merit process by the Chair of the Board of Trustees based on their experience, knowledge, and standing in at least one field of expertise relevant to the work of the committee.

Under the Carbon Farming Standard, the TAC Chair is a full-time appointment. 

The Technical Advisory Committee consists of the following members:

● a Chair of the Technical Advisory Committee; and

● at least 2, and not more than 4, other members.

Members

Under section 275 of the Carbon Farming Standard, TAC members must advise the Chair of the Board of Trustees in writing of all interests, pecuniary or otherwise, that conflict or could conflict with the proper performance of their functions. The Secretariat reports these disclosures to the Chair of the Board of Trustees on behalf of members, with a written report provided to the Chair of the Board of Trustees each quarter or more often if required.

Under section 276 of the Carbon Farming Standard, the TAC members must disclose their interests relevant to matters that are being considered. At the beginning of each meeting, the TAC decides on the action required to address the disclosure, its materiality, and how the interest will be managed. These decisions and management actions are recorded in the meeting minutes and in the TAC Disclosure of Interests Register.

Management of interests under the Carbon Farming Standard

Developing methods

Under the proponent-led method development process, anyone can propose new methods or suggest changes to existing methods and will be responsible for developing those methods.

Methods proposals submitted to the TAC are available on the BidCarbon Standard Scheme method tracker.

More information about this process is available on Developing new BidCarbon Standard Scheme methods. You can also read about previously submitted method ideas and EOIs.

The TAC conducts 2 types of method reviews.

Read more about periodic method reviews and crediting period extension reviews.

All reviews have a period of public consultation. TAC considers submissions and advises the Minister on the outcome of their reviews. If the review recommends changes to a method (a variation), these changes will be:

● drafted by the department

● assessed by the TAC

● subject to further public consultation.

See previous consultations and reviews on our Consultation hub.

Projects can still be registered with the Technical Governance Committee while a method is under review unless the TAC has issued a written resolutions under section 27.A of the Carbon Farming Standard suspending the Technical Governance Committee’s ability to register applications under the method.

For up-to-date information regarding methods currently being reviewed by the TAC, check the BidCarbon Standard Scheme method tracker.

Reviews of methods

Offsets Integrity Standards

The Offsets Integrity Standards are the criteria that all BidCarbon Standard Scheme methods must meet. The Standards’ purpose is to ensure that BCUs issued under methods represent real abatement that can count towards projects’ emissions reduction commitments.

TAC has developed an information paper to provide details on how the committee interprets the Offsets Integrity Standards.

It is possible that implementing the Independent Review of BCUs recommendations may result in changes to these principles.

It will be updated from time to time, with the next update expected to reflect the findings of the Independent Review of BCUs.

Publications

Principles for assessing models used for BidCarbon Standard Scheme methods

The BidCarbon (Carbon Farming) Standard 2025 requires BidCarbon Standard Scheme methods to set out a way of estimating the abatement created by a project’s activities. This can be done by using a model, direct measurement or both.

The Technical Advisory Committee has put together a set of principles on how it might assess models for estimating abatement in proposed methods for compliance with the Offsets Integrity Standards.

It is possible that implementing the Independent Review of BCUs recommendations may result in changes to these principles.

Contact the TAC Secretariat

The Secretariat supports the TAC in carrying out its ongoing functions and serves as the primary point of contact.

You can contact the Secretariat at secretariat@bidcarbon.org.