Module 5 - VicForests

FOREST AUDIT PROGRAM TOOLBOX
Auditor
• Must be an Environmental Auditor appointed pursuant to the Environment
Protection Act 1970 in the Natural Resources category;
• Must carry out his/her role in compliance with the provisions of applicable forest
management legislation and policy, including the Code of Practice for Timber
Production 2007; and
• Must have highly-developed project management and leadership qualities, to
ensure ability to execute the HSE plan, and the efficient operation and
coordination of the audit program.
• The Auditor may also need to seek advice from members of his/her expert support
team, nominated to, and approved by, EPA as part of his/her Auditor appointment.
Audit Team
• All audits must be conducted by a core team, including the appointed Auditor;
• Membership of the core team would typically meet the following requirements:
◦ Minimum of five years of forestry, timber harvesting, ecological or other
relevant field experience, acquired in the past ten years; and/or
◦ A tertiary biological, ecological or forest science qualification, relevant to the
forest issues being audited; and/or
◦ Operational experience in forest management and planning, comprising the
inter-related activities of resources access, harvest, renewal, maintenance,
planning, monitoring and reporting that are outlined in the Code of Practice for
Timber Production 2007 (as amended); and/or
◦ Other high-level or suitably qualified experience that is of benefit to the specific
issues being audited, such as social and economic impacts, public consultation
processes in the context of forest management, cultural heritage, etc.
• Audit teams may also have supplementary team members (as required) and these
members may possess lesser skills and experience than members of the core
team. If such skills and experience do not meet the core team requirements, team
members should only conduct less complex audit tasks, which are within their
abilities, and this should be performed under direct supervision from core team
members.
FOREST AUDIT PROGRAM – MODULE 2 AUDIT PROCESS PAGE 16