Our Director

Sonja Duncan

Primary areas of expertise include:

• Compliance and Management System Auditing
• Environmental Management Plans and EMS Development
• Training Course Development
• Environmental Management and Sustainability Training
• Staff and Stakeholder Engagement
• Sustainability Assessments
• Carbon Accounting
• Forest Stewardship Council Chain of Custody Auditing

Sonja has extensive environmental consulting experience with a strong knowledge of relevant Australian legislation, especially for New South Wales.

EHS Compliance and Management System Auditing

Sonja has conducted environmental compliance, EMS and waste management audits for a range of industry sectors including the manufacturing, health care, engineering, automotive, mining and agricultural sectors across Australia and internationally. Sonja has conducted environmental and social audits for mining companies in the Philippines, Laos, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.

Sonja has conducted compliance and systems audits for a number of local councils throughout New South Wales and has also worked with companies to establish environmental management programs and implementation schedules based on audit results. She is currently working with a number of small to medium-sized companies to undertake environmental risk assessments and integrate environmental risk management with OH&S systems, as well as train staff in hazard identification and risk assessment and management.

Sonja has conducted compliance audits (to NSW OHS legislation) and established safety management systems according to AS/NZS 4804:2001 for a number of small to medium businesses (across a diverse range of industry sectors) in NSW. She is also involved in ongoing EMS and Safety System mentoring for various clients.

Environmental Management Plans and Environmental Management System Development

As an experienced project manager and communicator, Sonja has successfully managed numerous environmental programs for government and private sector clients. Sonja worked closely with Newcastle City Council in New South Wales to help develop a systems-based environmental management plan for the city. The plan establishes an integrated framework for environmental management, which promotes cross-disciplinary decision-making and more sustainable outcomes for the city.

Sonja has worked with numerous businesses to identify environmental risks and develop integrated environmental and safety management systems using ISO 14001 as a framework. She has assisted companies in developing EMS procedures and processes to conform to ISO 14001 and has been actively involved in developing and updating aspects and impacts registers and undertaking environmental risk assessments across a range of industry sectors.

As a certified EMS auditor, Sonja has reviewed numerous Environmental Management Systems and prepared gap analysis reports for clients wishing to align existing systems to the ISO 14001 standard. Sonja is familiar with the Quality Standard AS 9001 and AS/NZS 4804 for Occupational Health and Safety Management and promotes an integrated management system approach for her clients where possible.Sonja also conducts Level 3 Sustainable Green Print audits on behalf of the Printing Industries Association of Australia.

Sustainability Assessments

Sonja is experienced at undertaking sustainability assessments for large and small organisations and has conducted energy, waste, water and consumable assessments for a range of businesses. She works closely with business staff and management to assess electricity and gas use, identify areas of energy and water wastage and set targets for reduction in energy use and associated CO2 emissions. Sonja has completed an accredited course in Carbon Accounting through Swinburne University and undertakes carbon assessments across a range of business sectors.

Training and Capacity Building

Sonja has obtained Certificate IV in Workplace Training and Assessment and is an experienced and sought-after trainer. She has trained over 800 local council operational, compliance and education staff across NSW on environmental awareness, waste and stormwater management issues, as well as environmental legislation and the responsibilities of Authorised Officers. Sonja has also delivered extensive in-house training across a range of industry and business sectors and develops client-specific training to reflect specific environmental training needs.

Sonja delivers a five-day accredited Environmental Auditor Certification Workshop on behalf of Graham A Brown & Associates and Thomson Reuters. The competency-based course is accredited by RABQSA and is a requirement towards achieving certification as an environmental auditor in Australia. For DECCW NSW, Sonja has developed a 4-day training course for Local Government Authorised Officers, covering environmental legislation, responsibilities and powers under the POEO Act 1997, investigations, sampling and court procedures. She currently delivers this course four times per year to local government officers across NSW.

Other courses developed for DECCW NSW include:

• Environmental Risk and Responsibility
• Staff Engagement in Sustainability
• Stakeholder Engagement in Sustainability
• Tenant Engagement in Sustainability
• 1-day Authorised Officer Course
• Beachwatch - Assessment and Management of Microbial Risks in Recreational Waters
• Authorised Fisheries Officer Training course
• Hazardous, Industrial and Group A Waste Management
• Constructed Wetlands Maintenance

Sonja has also developed (and is currently delivering) a four-module ISO 14001 Environmental Management System training course for the Printing Industries Association of Australia as part of the Sustainable Green Print Initiative.

Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and PEFC Chain of Custody Auditing

Sonja conducts Forest Stewardship Council Chain of Custody Auditing throughout Australia on behalf of Scientific Certification Systems, USA. She is currently assessing a number of small and medium sized printing companies in Australia against the FSC Chain of Custody Standard and the Australian Forestry Standard (PEFC), as well as assisting companies to update their existing procedures to meet the requirements of these standards.