Follow the money · Sourcing protocol
Follow the money behind the places.
For every company, PLOT asks the same 11 questions: who owns and funds it, what it must report, what its accounts set aside, what it has promised and what public records show. No scores, just the record side by side.
In 30 seconds
Four promises about how we look
Same questions for every company
Listed or private, large or small, PLOT asks the same 11 questions, written down before looking.
Audited beats said
Every company figure shows how well it was checked: audited, limited assurance, not externally checked, or a regulator's record.
No scores
No ratings or rankings. What a company promised sits beside what public records show.
A right of reply first
Before any account of a company is published, it's offered 15 business days to correct or respond.
How it works
From a question to a claim
Every claim on a PLOT page went through these steps. You can follow any claim back through them with “How we found this”.
Where we look
5 channels
A channel is a kind of place to look. Each question names the channels it uses and the order to try them in.
The order is a search plan, not a ranking of truth: a source found later can still be the better one.
Structured datasets
Government, regulator and science datasets with an API, download or map service.
Usually looked at first, because they come with methods, dates and boundaries.
Used in 4 questions · first in 2
Official documents
Council and agency strategies, state of environment reports, annual reports, budgets, minutes.
Shown as what the public body reports, not as an independent measurement.
Used in 3 questions · first in 1
The questions
11 questions we ask about every company
Grouped into four themes and mapped to the eight fixed sections of a company account. Each says where to look, in what order, and when to stop.
11 of 11 questions shown
C01 · Who it is
Which legal entity is this, who ultimately owns it, and is it listed?
Who the company is
- Look, in order
- 1Structured datasets
- 2Company reports
A search plan, not a ranking of who's right.
- Stop when
- Stop when its ABN, its company register record and (if listed) its stock exchange code are recorded, and the ultimate parent is named from its own filing.
- Out of date after
- 1 year
- Helps track
- Businesses assess and disclose their impacts (global biodiversity target 15)
C02 · Who it is
Which facilities does it run in Australia, and which are in places on PLOT?
Where it operates
- Look, in order
- 1Structured datasets
- 2Regulatory records
- 3Company reports
A search plan, not a ranking of who's right.
- Stop when
- Stop when regulator facility lists (greenhouse, pollutant and environment licence registers) have been searched by ABN, and compared with the company's own list of sites. Differences are shown, not resolved by guessing.
- Out of date after
- 1 year
- Helps track
- Businesses assess and disclose their impacts (global biodiversity target 15)
C03 · What it reports
Which mandatory reports must it publish, and from when?
What it must report, and when
- Look, in order
- 1Company reports
- 2Regulatory records
A search plan, not a ranking of who's right.
- Stop when
- Stop when its reporting group under Australia's mandatory sustainability reporting has been worked out by code from that year's revenue, assets and staff, and its greenhouse reporting status checked. Marked as PLOT's estimate; the company's own statement wins.
- Out of date after
- 1 year
- Helps track
- Businesses assess and disclose their impacts (global biodiversity target 15)
C04 · What it reports
What does its mandatory sustainability report say about places, physical risk, transition plans and carbon credits?
What its climate report says
- Look, in order
- 1Company reports
A search plan, not a ranking of who's right.
- Stop when
- Stop when its latest mandatory sustainability report has been read for named locations, assets exposed to physical risk, transition plans and carbon-credit use. Before its first required year, recorded as 'not yet required'.
- Out of date after
- 1 year
- Helps track
- Businesses assess and disclose their impacts (global biodiversity target 15)
C05 · What it reports
Does it report on nature (TNFD, GRI 101, ISSB nature guidance, CDP, EU standards), and which places does it name as priorities?
What it reports about nature
- Look, in order
- 1Company reports
- 2Structured datasets
A search plan, not a ranking of who's right.
- Stop when
- Stop when the TNFD adopter list and its latest annual and sustainability reports have been searched. Any priority locations it names are recorded and matched to PLOT places by a person.
- Out of date after
- 1 year
- Helps track
- Businesses assess and disclose their impacts (global biodiversity target 15)
C06 · What it reports
What nature loss and gain does it report for itself, before any netting?
Nature lost and gained, as reported
- Look, in order
- 1Company reports
- 2Regulatory records
A search plan, not a ranking of who's right.
- Stop when
- Stop when every figure it reports has been recorded with its boundary and period, losses first. PLOT never nets losses against gains or carbon.
- Out of date after
- 1 year
- Helps track
- Plan all land and sea with biodiversity in mind (global biodiversity target 1)
- Businesses assess and disclose their impacts (global biodiversity target 15)
C07 · Follow the money
What environmental provisions, contingent liabilities and write-downs are in its audited accounts?
Liabilities on its books
- Look, in order
- 1Company reports
A search plan, not a ranking of who's right.
- Stop when
- Stop when its latest audited financial statements have been searched for rehabilitation, remediation and environmental provisions, contingent liabilities and impairments. Split by site where it gives one.
- Out of date after
- 1 year
- Helps track
- Businesses assess and disclose their impacts (global biodiversity target 15)
C08 · Follow the money
What penalties, court cases or regulator actions has it faced across its sites, including over misleading environmental claims?
Penalties and court cases
- Look, in order
- 1Regulatory records
- 2Official documents
- 3Leads (news, web)
A search plan, not a ranking of who's right.
- Stop when
- Stop when environment-regulator, corporate-regulator and court records have been searched by entity name for the last 10 years. Allegations, findings and penalties are kept apart.
- Out of date after
- 6 months
- Helps track
- Build biodiversity into decisions (global biodiversity target 14)
- Businesses assess and disclose their impacts (global biodiversity target 15)
C09 · Who it is
Who are its major owners, and how is it financed, including green or sustainability-linked bonds and loans?
Who owns and funds it
- Look, in order
- 1Company reports
- 2Structured datasets
A search plan, not a ranking of who's right.
- Stop when
- Stop when substantial-holder notices from the last 12 months have been recorded, and any green or sustainability-linked bond or loan has its framework and latest allocation or target report recorded.
- Out of date after
- 1 year
- Helps track
- More money for biodiversity (global biodiversity target 19)
C10 · Follow the money
What public money does it receive: federal and state grants and contracts?
Public money
- Look, in order
- 1Official documents
- 2Regulatory records
A search plan, not a ranking of who's right.
- Stop when
- Stop when the federal grant and tender registers, and state equivalents, have been searched by name and ABN for the last 5 years. Awarded and paid are kept apart. PLOT never infers motive or effect.
- Out of date after
- 1 year
- Helps track
- Build biodiversity into decisions (global biodiversity target 14)
- Find and reform subsidies and incentives that harm nature (global biodiversity target 18)
C11 · Promises and records
What nature and climate promises has it made, and what do public records show about delivery?
What it promised, and what records show
- Look, in order
- 1Company reports
- 2Regulatory records
- 3Official documents
A search plan, not a ranking of who's right.
- Stop when
- Stop when every dated public promise has been recorded with its scope, each placed next to matching register evidence or marked 'no matching record found'. Never scored.
- Out of date after
- 1 year
- Helps track
- Businesses assess and disclose their impacts (global biodiversity target 15)
Money
Money is never one number
Every amount says what kind of money it is and how well it was checked. Kinds are never added together, netted against each other, or drawn on one chart without labels. A company total is never divided across its sites.
Kinds of money, kept apart
- Announced
- A company or government said it will spend this. Nothing has moved yet.
- Committed
- Contracted, approved or set aside, e.g. a grant awarded or a contract signed.
- Paid
- Money actually moved, shown in a ledger, acquittal or audited statement.
- Set aside for future costs
- An accounting estimate of a future cost, such as rehabilitation. It can change, and it isn't money spent.
- Held as a guarantee
- A bond or guarantee held by a regulator in case the operator doesn't pay. Not spent unless called on.
- Penalty
- A fine or court-ordered payment. Imposed and paid are separate records: an imposed penalty isn't money paid.
- Credits bought or retired
- Offset or carbon credits. Buying a credit is a transaction, not proof that nature recovered.
- Political donation
- As disclosed to the electoral commission. Recorded as fact; PLOT never infers motive or effect. Not yet collected: donations and lobbying are deferred to the next version of these protocols.
When we stop
Look in order, stop on purpose
Who does what
AI drafts. People decide.
- Pin down the place: code
- Pull the datasets: code
- Search: code and AI
- Read and extract: AI and code
- A person checks: a person
- Local and Traditional Owner knowledge: a person
- Fill gaps on the ground: a person
Before anything is published
Four rules before an account goes public
Right of reply
Before the first account of a company or facility is published, the company gets a written offer to correct facts or respond, with 15 business days to do it. The offer, its date and the response (or 'no response') stay on the record. If PLOT's owner ever publishes sooner, the reason is recorded too.
A person checks
A person checks every claim against its source before it's published, as for places.
No scores
No ranking, rating or score of any company or facility, and no total across kinds of money. Records sit side by side.
Conflicts declared(stated, not yet enforced)
Anyone with a financial or employment link to the company says so and doesn't review its claims. Stated now; enforced once PLOT has reviewers besides its owner.
Starting sources
Where PLOT looks first
The main sources PLOT checks first for a company. Claims can also come from other records, each linked on the claim it supports.
Today: 17 sources: 7 government agencies, 3 statutory bodies, 1 market operator, 2 independent bodies, 4 company publications. Most are still candidates: PLOT knows they exist, but hasn't yet confirmed access, licence and coverage for each.
Showing 17 of 17.
Candidate: PLOT knows of it; access, licence and coverage not yet confirmed · Checked: access, licence and coverage confirmed by a person · Connected: PLOT pulls from it automatically
- ABN Lookup (on abr.business.gov.au)link checked 22 Oct 2026Australian Business Register
- Type
- Government agency
- Where
- National
- Gets it by
- API
- Status
- Candidate
- Licence
- Not yet checked
- ACCU Scheme project and contract register (on cer.gov.au)link checked 22 Oct 2026Clean Energy Regulator
- Type
- Government agency
- Where
- National
- Gets it by
- Web portal
- Status
- Candidate
- Licence
- Not yet checked
- ASIC company register and enforcement outcomes (on asic.gov.au)link checked 22 Oct 2026ASIC
- Type
- Statutory body
- Where
- National
- Gets it by
- Web portal
- Status
- Candidate
- Licence
- Not yet checked
- ASX company announcements (incl. substantial holder notices) link not yet recordedASX
- Type
- Market operator
- Where
- National
- Gets it by
- Web portal
- Status
- Candidate
- Licence
- Not yet checked
- AusTender (federal contracts) (on tenders.gov.au)link checked 22 Oct 2026Australian Government Department of Finance
- Type
- Government agency
- Where
- National
- Gets it by
- Web portal
- Status
- Candidate
- Licence
- Not yet checked
- Company annual reports and audited financial statements link not yet recordedThe company (audited by its external auditor)
- Type
- Company
- Where
- National
- Gets it by
- Document
- Status
- Candidate
- Licence
- Not yet checked
- Mandatory sustainability reports (AASB S2) link not yet recordedThe company (assurance phasing in)
- Type
- Company
- Where
- National
- Gets it by
- Document
- Status
- Candidate
- Licence
- Not yet checked
- Voluntary sustainability, TNFD, GRI and CDP reports link not yet recordedThe company
- Type
- Company
- Where
- National
- Gets it by
- Document
- Status
- Candidate
- Licence
- Not yet checked
- Court and tribunal decisions (e.g. AustLII) link not yet recordedCourts; AustLII
- Type
- Independent body
- Where
- National
- Gets it by
- Web portal
- Status
- Candidate
- Licence
- Not yet checked
- EPA Victoria licence locations (polygons and points) (on metashare.maps.vic.gov.au)link checked 22 Oct 2026EPA Victoria
- Type
- Statutory body
- Where
- Victoria
- Gets it by
- Map service
- Status
- Checked
- Licence
- CC BY 4.0 (metadata record; signed off by the owner 22 Oct 2026)
- EPA Victoria public registers (permissions, performance reports, compliance and enforcement, audits) (on epa.vic.gov.au)link checked 22 Oct 2026EPA Victoria
- Type
- Statutory body
- Where
- Victoria
- Gets it by
- Web portal
- Status
- Candidate
- Licence
- Not yet checked
- EPBC Act Public Portal (referrals, notices, decisions) (on epbcpublicportal.environment.gov.au)link checked 22 Oct 2026Australian Government DCCEEW
- Type
- Government agency
- Where
- National
- Gets it by
- Web portal
- Status
- Candidate
- Licence
- Not yet checked
- GrantConnect (federal grants awarded) (on grants.gov.au)link checked 22 Oct 2026Australian Government Department of Finance
- Type
- Government agency
- Where
- National
- Gets it by
- Web portal
- Status
- Candidate
- Licence
- Not yet checked
- Green, social and sustainability-linked bond and loan frameworks and reports link not yet recordedThe issuer
- Type
- Company
- Where
- National
- Gets it by
- Document
- Status
- Candidate
- Licence
- Not yet checked
- National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting (NGER) published data (on cer.gov.au)link checked 22 Oct 2026Clean Energy Regulator
- Type
- Government agency
- Where
- National
- Gets it by
- Download
- Status
- Candidate
- Licence
- Not yet checked
- National Pollutant Inventory (on data.gov.au)link checked 22 Oct 2026Australian Government DCCEEW
- Type
- Government agency
- Where
- National
- Gets it by
- Download
- Status
- Candidate
- Licence
- Not yet checked
- TNFD adopters list (on tnfd.global)link checked 22 Oct 2026Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures
- Type
- Independent body
- Where
- International
- Gets it by
- Web portal
- Status
- Candidate
- Licence
- Not yet checked
Honest limits
What this version can't do yet
- Every question and its wording is a draft, written with AI help and not yet reviewed by anyone outside PLOT.
- Political donations and lobbying are left out of this version, until there's a way to show them side by side without implying a link.
- The reporting group is PLOT's estimate from the company's own figures. The company's own statement prevails.
- A private company's audited accounts are lodged with ASIC as a paid extract; PLOT records what it has read and where.
- Cost estimates are guesses until several companies have been run.
Change it
Think we're looking in the wrong place?
Suggest a source (coming)
A dataset, report or group we should be looking at.
Challenge a decision (coming)
Something left out that should be in, or the reverse.
Challenge a rule (coming)
A question, an order or a stopping rule you'd change.
Cite and reuse
Use this protocol
Cite as: PLOT sourcing protocol company-core@0.1.0 (draft; content ed6d1c8d9094), as of 2026-10-21
Content hash (SHA-256): ed6d1c8d909495eb3a62c74fe5bbc2f897d5193eec1ee2f7fa6cbed626326635