Introduction
- ‘Major facilities’ refer to Australia’s largest industrial facilities.
- These are known as ‘Safeguard facilities’ because they’re regulated under the Safeguard Mechanism—Australia’s policy for managing emissions at large-scale operations.
- The Safeguard Mechanism is a law that sets emissions limits—called baselines—for Australia’s largest industrial facilities.
What are Safeguard Facilities?
- The Safeguard Mechanism applies to any facility that emits more than 100,000 tonnes of CO₂-equivalent in a financial year.
- This typically includes 210 to 220 facilities, though the number varies year to year.
- Most are large industrial sites—coal mines, gas processors, aluminium smelters, and manufacturers.
- However, a ‘facility’ isn’t always a single location. Under the NGER Act, it refers to activities that produce emissions or use energy, which may span multiple sites. For example, transport companies may report grouped activities as a single Safeguard facility.
- Read more: CER
Setting Baselines and Why Baselines Matter
- The Safeguard Mechanism sets legislated limits—called baselines—for Australia’s largest emitters.
- Most baselines fall each year, requiring facilities to reduce emissions over time.
- Each baseline is calculated by multiplying a facility’s output by an emissions-intensity factor.
- Read more: DCCEEW.
The Electricity Sector
- The Safeguard Mechanism treats the electricity sector differently. It applies a single ‘sectoral’ baseline across all electricity generators connected to one of Australia’s main electricity grids.
- The sectoral baseline is 198 million tonnes of CO₂-e, based on average emissions from 2009–10 to 2013–14.
Other Special Cases
Other facilities fall under tailored rules, including:
- TEBA facilities – covered by the Trade-Exposed Baseline Adjusted framework. Read more here.
- Multi-year monitoring periods – which allow facilities to average emissions over multiple years. Read more here.
The Role of Credits and Why They Matter
- If a facility exceeds its baseline, it must offset the excess—typically by buying and surrendering Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs).
- If it stays below its baseline, it earns Safeguard Mechanism Credits (SMCs), which it can sell.
- Each ACCU or SMC represents one tonne of CO₂-equivalent.
OnlyFacts Data and Rankings
The Big Picture
- When you look at the Major Facilities dashboard, the first thing you see is the big picture.
- The chart below shows emissions from major facilities make up about one-third of Australia’s total.
- Between 2022–23 and 2023–24, those emissions fell 1.9%, from 138.7 to 136.0 million tonnes of CO₂-e.
Individual Facilities
OnlyFacts ranks the facilities in three different ways:
- Highest emissions
- Highest baselines
- Highest credit use
Emissions: Which facilities emit the most greenhouse gases?
Explore by industry here.
Baselines: Which facilities have the largest gap between their baseline and actual emissions?
A wide gap can suggest progress—or unused headroom. That headroom can be sold as Safeguard Mechanism Credits (SMCs), turning lower emissions into revenue.
Explore by industry here.
Credit use: Which facilities relied most on carbon credits to meet their baseline? This highlights facilities that met targets through offsets rather than direct reductions.
Explore by industry here.
Corporate Players
OnlyFacts apply the same lens to corporate groups.
Which companies operate the highest-emitting Safeguard facilities?
Explore by industry:
Which companies hold the highest baselines?
Explore by industry.
Which companies used the most credits?
Explore by industry.
About the Data
- Companies report their own emissions using methods approved under the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting scheme.
- Reporters choose from a range of methods, balancing cost and accuracy. They must declare the method used for each source. Direct measurement is rare but does occur, particularly in the coal sector, where methane monitoring is required by law for safety reasons. Emissions data is typically estimated using activity data—such as fuel consumption—multiplied by standard emissions factors.
- How reliable is it? The Clean Energy Regulator may audit reported data, but most reporting is unaudited. Audits aim for reasonable assurance—strong confidence, but not certainty. All figures involve assumptions and estimates.
- Can we trust it? The key is consistency. Using the same method year after year helps ensure meaningful comparisons over time.
Read the full methodology here.
