The Victorian Auditor General's Office Report - Managing the Municipal and Industrial Landfill Levy

The Victorian Auditor General's Office Report - Managing the Municipal and Industrial Landfill Levy.......
The Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) - Conflict of Interest.
The report highlights a range of concerning anomalies and conflicts of interest in the administration of the Sustainability Fund which the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) has now undertaken to address.
The Victorian Auditor General's Office makes 14 recommendations for Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning in this audit.

A few interesting points from the report: 

•         Since 1992, Victorians have been paying the Municipal and Industrial Landfill Levy (MILL) when they dispose of waste to landfill. Since 2005, approximately $1.7 billion has been collected through the levy.

•         As at 31 December 2017, the balance of the Sustainability Fund was $562 million. DELWP expects this to be $513 million by 30 June 2018. The balance of the fund was $29 million in 2009–10. 

•         Over the past three years, MILL payments to environmental agencies have increased by 71 per cent—from $76.1 million in 2015–16 to a forecasted $130.5 million in 2017–18. This increase is primarily due to EPA reform funding. Over the next four years, the MILL is expected to collect approximately $215 million a year.

•         The rate of expenditure from the fund against income has been low when compared to other trust funds such as the Community Support Fund and the New South Wales Environment Trust Fund that typically distribute over 90 per cent of their annual income.

•         Until May 2018, public reporting about the activities of the MILL and the fund was limited to appendices to DELWP’s annual report and general information on their website. In May 2018 DELWP published an activity report for 2015–17, Investing in a more sustainable future. It is unclear why it has taken DELWP nearly two years to produce the report. DELWP advised it intends to publish an annual activity report each September after the close of the financial year.


The report highlights a range of concerning anomalies and conflicts of interest in the administration of the Sustainability Fund which the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) has now undertaken to address. For example, the role of the Sustainability Fund Committee is to provide impartial, strategic advice to the Minister regarding allocations from the fund. DELWP is now the primary recipient of funding from the fund, receiving $354.13 million or 79 per cent of active program funding (though a proportion of this funding is passed on through grant programs). Two of the five Sustainability Fund Committee members are DELWP employees responsible for policy areas that benefit from funding. As committee members they are also involved in assessing and providing advice on their own budget proposals.

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