With a growing awareness of and appreciation for sustainably sourced timber across the broader community, we wanted to take a moment to reintroduce ourselves, and the work we do.
Responsible Wood is Australia’s national forest certification scheme, providing assurance that forest and wood-based products are sourced from sustainably managed forests and responsibly managed supply chains. Through forest management and chain of custody certification, Responsible Wood supports responsible forestry practices, promotes transparency, and strengthens confidence in wood and fibre products across Australia, New Zealand and international markets.
As the Standards Development Organisation (SDO), Responsible Wood develops and maintains the standards through transparent, multi-stakeholder processes. However, Responsible Wood does not conduct audits, investigate non-conformances, or make certification decisions. These responsibilities rest solely with the independent certification bodies (auditors). This clear separation of roles ensures third-party independence and reinforces the credibility and impartiality of certification outcomes.
Forest Management Certification
Forest management certification verifies that forests are managed in accordance with rigorous environmental, social and economic standards. Certified forest managers must demonstrate sustainable harvesting practices, protection of biodiversity, conservation of soil and water values, respect for Indigenous rights and cultural heritage, worker health and safety, and long-term forest productivity. Certification requires alignment with internationally recognised criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management, ensuring that forest operations meet global benchmarks for responsible practice.
In Australia and New Zealand, certified forest managers operate within some of the most robust forest legislation and regulatory frameworks in the world. However, certification requires organisations to go beyond legislative compliance. Certified organisations must demonstrate continuous improvement, stakeholder engagement, transparent management systems, and independent verification of performance. This provides assurance that certified forest products are legally sourced, deforestation-free, and produced in a manner consistent with sustainable development principles.
Chain of Custody Certification
Chain of custody (CoC) certification extends this assurance throughout the supply chain. It tracks certified material from the forest through processing, manufacturing and distribution to the final product. This traceability ensures that claims made about certified products are credible, transparent and independently verified. CoC certification provides businesses and consumers with confidence that the wood and fibre they purchase originates from responsibly managed forests and ethical supply chains.
Certification bodies (auditing)
Auditing under the Responsible Wood scheme is undertaken by independent, accredited third-party certification bodies (auditors). These certification bodies conduct comprehensive audits of forest managers and supply chain organisations to assess conformance with Responsible Wood standards. Audits include document reviews, field inspections, stakeholder consultation, and ongoing surveillance assessments.
In Australia and New Zealand, certification bodies are accredited by the Joint Accreditation System of Australia and New Zealand (JASANZ), the government-appointed accreditation body. JASANZ ensures that certification bodies operate competently, consistently and impartially and in accordance with international accreditation requirements. This accreditation framework underpins the integrity and credibility of the Responsible Wood certification system in both Australia and New Zealand.
International Recognition and Sustainable Development
Responsible Wood is endorsed by PEFC (the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification), the world’s largest forest certification system. PEFC endorsement confirms that Responsible Wood standards are aligned with internationally recognised benchmarks for sustainable forest management and chain of custody certification, enabling mutual recognition in global markets.
Certified organisations are required to demonstrate alignment with international sustainability frameworks, including the internationally agreed criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Through responsible forest management, legal and deforestation-free sourcing, climate change mitigation, biodiversity protection, decent work, and support for regional communities, certification contributes to broader environmental and social outcomes.
The role of Responsible Wood in certification
What we do.
- Through Standards Australia accreditation we write, develop, update and maintain Australian and New Zealand Standards for sustainable forest management and chain of custody.
- We ensure that the PEFC requirements for auditing, accreditation of certification bodies, and the structure of the certification scheme is suitable for Australia and New Zealand
- We register certificates of conformity provided by independent accredited certification bodies in the PEFC database, ensuring PEFC recognition.
- We investigate complaints and feedback on the standards development processes and technical content of Australian Standards AS4707 and AS/NZS 4708.
- We will receive complaints on the activities and operations of certified organisations. We ensure that these are passed on to the independent certification body (auditor) and JAS-ANZ who have the responsibility to investigate complaints regarding operational aspects of the certification program. We will ensure that the complainant is provided with a response from the certification body and JAS-ANZ upon conclusion of their investigation.
What we don’t do
- To ensure independence and impartiality, we do not have any operational role in the operation of the certification scheme.
- We do not carry out auditing. Audits are undertaken by independently accredited certification bodies.
- We do not accredit or endorse auditing companies. Certification bodies are independently accredited by the Joint Accreditation System of Australia and New Zealand.
- Certification decisions are made independently of Responsible Wood. We play no role in the decisions to grant, issue, suspend or terminate a certificate of conformity. These decisions sit with the certification body and JAS-ANZ.
- We have no power to suspend or revoke certification where there are allegations of non-conformances. These allegations are investigated by the certification body and JAS-ANZ who may restrict, revoke or terminate certification for serious non-conformance, under their own authority.
- We do not investigate complaints regarding the actions/activities of certified organisations. This responsibility sits with the certification body and JAS-ANZ.
Summary
Forest management and chain of custody certification play a critical role in providing independent, credible assurance that forest and wood-based products are responsibly sourced. Through independently accredited third-party certification bodies, robust standards, and international endorsement by PEFC, Responsible Wood delivers a trusted certification framework that goes beyond regulatory compliance. In doing so, it supports sustainable forest management, responsible supply chains, and the continued confidence of domestic and international markets in certified Australian and New Zealand forest products.
