An approved auditor is a person trained and approved by the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment under export legislation to carry out regulatory audits of export registered establishments engaged in the preparation, storage and/or loading of fish, egg, dairy and meat products for export as food. Approved auditors can be engaged by export registered establishments to conduct audits for compliance with legislative and importing country requirements and provide audit reports to the department. All approved auditors are subject to approval and on-going verification by the department.
What are the costs of applying to be an approved auditor?
Applicants will be charged a processing fee of $480.00 (based on the current fee-for-service charge for three hours, as per the schedule of charges for the Dairy, Egg and Fish Export program). This fee is non-refundable and is payable at the time of application.
Upfront costs—inclusions
Application fee
The processing fee for applications will include:
- assessing the application to ensure all required information has been provided
- contacting the applicant if additional information is required
- provision of access to the relevant eLearning modules
- assessment of the applicant by witness audit
- provision of a letter of approval and ID card to successful applicant
- listing of approved auditors in the approved auditor register
- provision of audit report templates and checklists.
Training costs
Applicants meeting minimum requirements will be provided access to self-paced on-line training in the applicable legislative requirements of the department. The cost of access to the eLearning modules is included in the application fee.
Assessment costs
On successful completion of the on-line training, applicants will be assessed through a 'witness audit'.
This assessment will assess the applicant’s skills and knowledge, understanding of the export legislation and will verify that the prospective approved auditor can appropriately interpret and apply the applicable export legislation.
The assessment will be undertaken during the routine audit of an export registered establishment engaged in operations applicable to the applicant’s commodity risk classification.
Where an applicant has applied for multiple commodities and/or high-risk classifications, more than one witness audit may be required.
The applicant is responsible for all of their own travel arrangements and costs with regards this assessment and, where applicable, any re-assessment that may be required.
Ongoing costs
Renewal
The duration of an approved auditor's approval with the department is for 12 months from the date of initial approval unless revoked. Approved auditors must undergo an annual renewal process to maintain their approved auditor status.
Applicants will be charged a $480.00 annual renewal fee. This fee may be reviewed in the future, subject to service demands.
Extension of scope
Approved auditors wishing to extend their scope of operations by varying their commodity risk classification/s are required to reapply to the department and provide all required supporting documentation. Applicants should note that, depending on the variation, an additional witness audit may be required.
While there is currently no fee applied for extension of scope, a fee may be applied in the future.
Costs associated with additional witness audits are the responsibility of the applicant.
Verification
Verification of approved auditors will occur via routine analysis of the Audit Management System (AMS) data. There will be no cost associated with this activity unless additional verification is required due to performance issues. This may be charged at the fee-for-service rate.
Further information
For further information please contact the department at Dairy Eggs Fish.