Service

Practical environmental consulting, ISO 14001 support and compliance reviews for operations that need environmental controls to work in practice.

Protecting the environment is the goal, not just meeting a licence condition. Environmental legislation and ISO 14001 give that a framework; SCG helps you meet the intent behind them, not just the paperwork.

Book a free scoping call Talk to an environmental specialist

SCG supports clients to design, improve and review environmental management systems, ISO 14001 frameworks, compliance programs and operational controls. Engagements span environmental consulting, system uplift, compliance audits, EPA and licence-condition reviews, aspect and impact assessments, environmental risk assessments and incident response support.

SCG has delivered environmental work across government, defence, construction, transport, resources, manufacturing and aviation, including multi-site assurance programs, licence-compliance verification and post-incident reviews. Where independent confirmation is required, SCG also provides audits, inspections and evidence-based reporting, including NATA ISO/IEC 17020 endorsed outputs where the work is within accredited scope.

Environmental risk is managed through systems that identify, control and continually improve significant aspects and impacts across operations.

What we do

Capabilities

ISO 14001 environmental management system design, implementation and uplift
Independent environmental compliance audits and licence-condition reviews
Environmental aspect and impact assessments, and environmental risk reviews
Contractor and operational readiness reviews for environmental controls
Post-incident assurance and verification of corrective action effectiveness

How we deliver

Our approach

Solar powered environmental monitoring station in bushland above farmland.

Environmental consulting, ISO 14001 and system uplift

ISO 14001 environmental management system design, implementation and practical rollout support across single-site and multi-site operations.
Gap analysis, internal audit, pre-certification and surveillance support, including targeted uplift plans where environmental controls or governance need to be strengthened.
Aspect and impact register design, environmental risk assessments and integration of legal and other requirements registers.
Management system simplification and technical writing to remove duplication and reduce administrative burden across environmental procedures.
Digital environmental workflow design, monitoring evidence capture and reporting aligned to licence, regulator and assurance needs.

Independent review, audit and verification

Independent environmental compliance audits, licence-condition reviews and site environmental inspections.
Environmental risk reviews and verification of control effectiveness for high-consequence aspects, including water, air and waste pathways.
Contractor and operational readiness reviews where environmental governance interfaces and control ownership need to be tested before work starts or expands.
Contractor and supply chain environmental assurance, including pre-mobilisation verification and evidence packs.
Post-incident assurance, including verification of corrective actions, root cause closure and sustained control effectiveness.

Compliance inspections

Environmental authority and ERA compliance inspections

An environmentally relevant activity is carried out under an environmental authority, and that authority sets the conditions the site has to meet: release and emission limits, monitoring and record keeping, containment and storage, waste handling and tracking, rehabilitation, and reporting to the administering authority. Those conditions are enforceable, and in most cases the evidence that they are being met is gathered by the same people responsible for meeting them.

We carry out environmental site inspections against the conditions of the authority itself rather than a generic checklist. That covers the release points and monitoring the authority names, the containment and storage arrangements relied on to prevent environmental harm, waste handling and tracking, and whether the records would stand up if the administering authority asked for them. Findings are ranked by risk, with what to do and by when, and close-out is verified on evidence.

SCG is accredited by NATA as a Type C inspection body to ISO/IEC 17020, Accreditation No. 20913, with site inspection, pollution control, waste handling and water quality inside the scope. Accreditation means a third party has assessed our competence, independence and methods, and continues to assess them. For a compliance inspection that has a practical consequence: the finding carries a documented basis when it is read by the administering authority, an insurer, an acquirer or a board. Management system work against ISO 14001 is advisory and sits outside that accredited scope, and we identify which is which on the report.

Where we work

Sectors

We work with clients in Brisbane, on the Gold Coast and across southeast Queensland and Australia, and travel to remote sites and to projects in the Asia-Pacific.

Reclaimed effluent signage at an on-site wastewater treatment compound.

Government and defenceConstruction and infrastructureTransport and logisticsAviation and airline operationsOil and gas, and resourcesManufacturing and heavy industryRetail and large-format commercial operations

Particular expertise is applied in licence-regulated, multi-site and contractor-intensive environments, where governance interfaces, control ownership and operational discipline require structured verification to confirm that environmental controls are functioning as intended.

Outputs you receive

What you receive

Environmental audit and inspection reports with traceable evidence and prioritised findings
Licence-condition and regulatory compliance reviews
ISO 14001 gap analysis, internal audit and certification-readiness reports
Aspect and impact registers, environmental risk assessments and control verification reports
Corrective action plans, improvement registers and post-incident assurance outputs
Advisory reports suitable for regulator engagement, procurement due diligence and executive decision-making

Where inspection activities fall within SCG’s accredited scope, reports may be issued in accordance with ISO/IEC 17020 requirements.

Why SCG

How we work

Our Director, John Smale, is an Exemplar Global certified lead auditor, as are several of our consultants. A contract certification auditor for PwC Certification and a former State Government Senior Environmental Health Officer, he has carried out extensive internal audits, second-party audits, assurance engagements and conformance assessments, alongside regulatory and enforcement work in pollution control, waste handling and water quality. He delivers Exemplar Global-certified Integrated Management Systems Lead Auditor courses, public and in-house, for Risk Training Professionals. Auditor certification, advisory and training are individual credentials and advisory services, and sit outside our ISO/IEC 17020 accredited inspection scope.

Independent of your certification body. SCG provides environmental inspection and verification, with no commercial relationship to the body that certifies your systems
NATA-accredited inspection body (ISO/IEC 17020) within defined scope
Specialist experience in licence-regulated and high-consequence environmental operations
Integrated capability across environmental, WHS, quality and food safety obligations
Environmental reports structured for licence-condition defence, regulator engagement and board assurance — with evidence chains a regulator or legal team can follow
Direct access to senior practitioners, with no handoff layers

Combined ilac-MRA and NATA accreditation mark

Accredited for compliance with ISO/IEC 17020. Smale Consulting Group’s detailed scope of accreditation is available here. Accreditation No. 20913. More about our accreditations.

Related services

Explore more

All services →WHS, ISO 45001 and Occupational Hygiene →Food Safety Audits and HACCP Verification →Drinking Water Quality and ADWG Support →Quality Management and ISO 9001 Support →Accreditations and Independent Inspections →

In their words

What clients say

“SCG supported the review and improvement of our quality and environmental management systems, contributing to strong audit outcomes and more practical system implementation, with ongoing support for internal auditor capability development.”

Director, Quality, Environment & VPS – Volvo Truck Manufacturing

“SCG provided pragmatic and responsive support in scoping and delivering environmental and operational risk assessments, with outputs informed by broad cross-industry experience and aligned to operational requirements.”

HSQ Manager – Waste and Environmental Management Organisation

More clients and testimonials →

Related work

See this work in practice

De-identified examples of SCG’s environmental engagements, each describing the sector, the scope and what was delivered.

Our work: Environmental case studies →

Standards and accreditation

ISO 14001 · NATA · Global ACI

FAQ

Common questions

What is included in an independent environmental compliance audit?

An independent environmental compliance audit typically includes a defined scope and criteria (legislation, licence conditions, codes of practice, internal requirements and, where relevant, ISO 14001), review of objective evidence, site verification through sampling, observation and interviews, and a report with risk-prioritised findings. Evidence traceability is provided where due diligence or regulator engagement requires it.

How is an aspect and impact register different from an environmental risk assessment?

An aspect and impact register identifies how the organisation’s activities interact with the environment and the potential impacts arising from those interactions. An environmental risk assessment evaluates the likelihood and consequence of those impacts and how effectively existing controls reduce them. Many organisations use both: the register to establish scope and significance, and the risk assessment to drive control prioritisation and verification.

How does SCG avoid “paper safe” outcomes in ISO 14001 and environmental compliance work?

SCG focuses on evidence of how environmental controls operate in practice, including field verification, monitoring quality, calibration, inspection findings and corrective action closure, rather than documentation volume alone. Where systems are overly complex, requirements are simplified so that critical environmental controls are clearer, easier to apply and easier to verify.

When should an ISO 14001 development, implementation, gap analysis or internal audit be considered?

Common triggers include the development or redesign of an environmental management system, preparation for certification, integration of new sites or contractors, changes to licence conditions, response to repeated findings, or assurance results suggesting that controls are not operating consistently. SCG focuses on practical system design and targeted uplift so that the management system improves how environmental risk is controlled, not merely how compliance is documented.

Are SCG environmental reports suitable for regulatory use?

Reports are structured to be evidence-based and suitable for regulatory engagement, subject to scope and client requirements. Where activities fall within SCG’s accredited scope, reports may be issued in accordance with ISO/IEC 17020 requirements.

Not sure where to start? Let’s talk.

Send a scope, or book a short call. We will tell you plainly what an engagement would involve and what it would cost.

Book a free scoping call Talk to an environmental specialist