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Environment and Heritage
Environment and Heritage

Transfer or retire biodiversity credits

 

Understanding transferring or retiring credits

Transferring credits refers to the process of transferring the ownership of specific credits after buying, selling or trading credits.  

Retiring credits refers to the process of a credit owner removing credits from the market so they can no longer be traded – for example, to meet an offset obligation.  

There are separate forms and processes for transferring and retiring Biodiversity Offsets Scheme credits, and BioBanking credits created under the previous scheme (including BioBanking credits that have been assessed for equivalence).  

How to transfer or retire biodiversity credits

To transfer or retire credits, an applicant must:  

  • be the credit owner or have the appropriate legal authority to act on behalf of the owner, set out in the Authority to sign and proof of identity practice guideline  
  • provide proof of identity (acceptable documents are listed in the practice guideline)
  • submit completed application forms and accompanying documentation
  • where required, make the relevant payment towards the Total Fund Deposit
  • pay an application fee.

View Scheme fees.

Typical processing for an application is approximately 3 weeks if the application is complete and no requests for further information are required. Submitting an incomplete application will delay the processing time.

This timeframe allows the department to review the application, and request and review any additional information. It also allows for the payment towards the Total Fund Deposit and for the application fee to be received.

The time taken to process an application may vary depending on how long it takes to receive additional information or if there are unexpected circumstances. 

You may submit a draft unsigned application and supporting documents for the department to review before signing. Often, this may expedite processing times.

Specific forms and process information can be found at:  

Paying the application fee for a Biodiversity Offsets Scheme credit transfer or retirement application

There are 2 ways to pay the application fee that must accompany a BOS credit transfer or retirement application.

The department can either:

  • accept online payment of the application fee using a credit or debit card
  • provide an invoice for payment of the application fee.

Applicants must select their preferred payment method in Part E of the credit transfer application form or Part D of the credit retirement application form. Applicants will need to provide the information required by these parts of the application form for the department to accept payment online or via invoice. This includes providing an active email address.

Paying the application fee through the payment portal will likely reduce any delays to your application that may be associated with payment of the application fee.

Guidance and support

The department has prepared guidance materials and annotated forms to help applicants. There are also instructions in the application forms.    

Change of contact details on the public register

If you want to change the designated contact person to take enquiries in relation to your biodiversity credits and credit transactions on the public registers, you need to complete the 

This should be submitted to [email protected]. The person listed as a designated contact on the BOS public register must be the credit holder or someone who is authorised to act on behalf of the credit holder.

For guidance on how to complete this form, see Annotated Biodiversity Offsets Scheme Credit Holder Change of Contact Form 

Proof of Biodiversity Offsets Scheme credit ownership

Credit holders (credit owners) can request a PDF BOS credit ownership report from the department.

The report is available for a credit holding and identifies all owners of the credits, and outlines the status, number and class of credits available within a credit holding.

The report will be made available to credit holders (credit owners) after credit transfers.

Credit holders (credit owners) can request a credit ownership report from the department by emailing [email protected]  

You must include your full name and the credit holding reference in your request. The department may ask for additional information to ensure the correct ownership report is provided to you.

The department will only provide a credit ownership report to third parties (for example, an accredited assessor) after receiving written consent from the credit holder (credit owner). 

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