ACCU and SMC spot prices from the CER Quarterly Carbon Market Report. The cost of carbon for Safeguard Mechanism facilities and voluntary buyers.
Latest reporting quarter: 31 March 2026
An Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) represents one tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent avoided or removed through a project registered under the Emissions Reduction Fund. ACCUs are issued by the Clean Energy Regulator and trade in a voluntary secondary market. The generic ACCU spot price is the benchmark for ERF projects without method-specific premia.
A Safeguard Mechanism Credit (SMC) is issued when a facility covered by the Safeguard Mechanism emits below its assigned baseline. SMCs can be sold to other Safeguard facilities or surrendered against their own future obligations. SMCs trade separately from ACCUs but are functionally interchangeable for compliance.
For an emissions-intensive Safeguard facility, the spot price multiplied by tonnes of excess emissions over baseline is the headline annual compliance cost. With baselines declining around 4.9% per year, the trajectory of these prices materially affects medium-term operating cost. See the Safeguard Mechanism overview and the guide to reading the QCMR.
The CER QCMR also publishes method-specific ACCU spot prices (Human-Induced Regeneration, Native Forest from Managed Regrowth, Savanna Burning) and a Cost Containment Measure statutory ceiling that caps the per-tonne cost facilities pay in any given compliance year. These series will surface here as they are populated in the gridIQ reference dataset.
Customers on Solo and above can see the full per-method history plus the CCM Ceiling in the authenticated Carbon Credits page. Watt AI can resolve ACCU-priced Safeguard compliance cost across a portfolio of facilities.
See also: LGC and STC clearing-house prices, Safeguard Mechanism explainer, real-time grid carbon intensity.
Source: Clean Energy Regulator Quarterly Carbon Market Report, licensed under CC BY 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Prices are indicative quarter-end spots and are not a substitute for live broker quotes or actual surrender settlement. The CER QCMR is the authoritative published source.