Australian Government ICT Sustainability Plan
Guidance materials
The Australian Government ICT Sustainability Plan 2010-2015 (ICT Sustainability Plan) introduces a number of strategies and actions aimed at assisting agencies to better manage the environmental performance and impacts of the information and communications technology (ICT) they procure and use.
Guidelines
Mandatory Environmental Standards
Section 2 of the Australian Government ICT Sustainability Plan 2010-2015 focuses on improving sustainable ICT procurement within Australian Government agencies, given the government is a major consumer of ICT products and services. It introduces six mandatory environmental standards into ICT procurement processes to establish minimum levels of environmental performance for relevant ICT acquisitions. These standards also signal to suppliers and manufacturers the Australian Government's intentions for improved ICT sustainability practices.
This is also supported by the Department of Finance and Deregulation's guidance on the principles and practices of incorporating sustainability when purchasing for the Australian Government. The sustainability guidance is under the Procurement Policy Framework, which establishes the Government's expectation for all departments and agencies when performing duties in relation to procurement. It also governs how agencies procure property or services and reinforces the fundamental procurement principle of value for money.
- Guideline 1 - ES1: ICT equipment environmental standards (PDF - 249KB) | (Word - 330KB)
- Guideline 2 - ES2: ICT equipment and ENERGY STAR® (PDF - 172KB) | (Word - 255KB)
- Guideline 3 - ES3: Product take-back, reuse and resource recovery (PDF - 140KB) | (Word - 227KB)
- Guideline 4 - ES4: Recycled content office copy paper (PDF - 152KB) | (Word - 228KB) - UPDATED
- Guideline 5 - ES5: Used packaging requirements (PDF - 165KB) | (Word - 232KB)
- Guideline 6 - ES6: ICT Suppliers and Environmental Management (PDF - 192KB) | (Word - 262KB)
News Alert: The mandatory Environmental Standard 4 (ES4) Recycled content office copy paper has been recently updated. This update provides greater clarification of the recycled content paper requirements which apply to all FMA agencies from July 2015 onwards. Refer to Mandatory Environmental Standards Guideline 4 for the updated standard.
Fact sheets
These fact sheets support the guidelines for the mandatory environmental standards and provide other general guidance to support implementatin of the plan.
- Fact sheet 1 - Glossary (PDF - 77KB) | (Word - 211KB)
- Fact sheet 2 - Responsible ICT suppliers (PDF - 75KB) | (Word - 212KB)
- Fact sheet 3 - Evaluation measures and weightings for procurement (PDF - 26KB) | (Word - 212KB)
- Fact sheet 4 - ICT Sustainability Scorecard (PDF - 108KB) | (Word - 60KB)
- Fact sheet 5 - Strengthening agency management systems (PDF - 72KB) | (Word - 208KB)
- Fact sheet 6a - EPEAT Silver and equivalent eco-labels (PDF - 76KB) | (Word - 218KB)
- Fact sheet 6b - EPEAT Criteria (PDF - 86KB) | (Word - 210KB)
- Fact sheet 7 - ICT Sustainability Initiatives (PDF - 104KB) | (Word - 222KB)
- Fact sheet 8 - Incorporating sustainability principles and practices into procurement (PDF - 72KB) | (Word - 214KB)
- Fact sheet 9 - Agency actions (PDF - 71KB) | (Word - 215KB)
Case studies
The following case studies are practical examples of sustainable ICT initiatives implemented by Australian Government agencies.
- Australian Crime Commission (PDF - 186KB) | (Word - 45KB)
- Defence Housing Australia (PDF - 365KB) | (Word - 567KB)
Latest news & events
Implementation activities
Find out the latest on the implementation of the Plan including the development of guidance materials/fact sheets for agencies.
Guideline updated
The mandatory Environmental Standard 4 (ES4) Recycled content office copy paper has been recently updated. This update provides greater clarification of the recycled content paper requirements which apply to all FMA agencies from July 2015 onwards.
Guidance materials
A suite of ICT Sustainability Plan guidance materials (guidelines and fact sheets) is available to assist agencies and suppliers with implementation of the Plan.
Coordinated Procurement
Mandatory ICT coordinated procurement arrangements have been introduced by the Department of Finance and Deregulation in the past 12 months. Information can be found on their website.
- Subscribe to ICT Sustainability Plan E-news
Resources
- ICT websites and guidelines - Australian Government, international
