The Wimmera Southern Mallee (WSM) region in Western Victoria faces significant renewable energy investment in the coming decades. This includes transmission infrastructure, wind and solar generation, and the potential for critical mineral sands mining.
The cumulative impact of multiple proposed developments, along with a perceived lack of information from developers and concerns about negative impacts, has led to heightened anxiety among local communities and raised serious social licence concerns (WSM 2024). The community has identified concerns about:
- Low levels of trust between the community and energy companies.
- Lack of genuine engagement and communication
- Negative impacts of renewable infrastructure development
- The need for benefits to be shared with landholders and communities (WSM 2024).
Wimmera Southern Mallee Development is a regional development association funded by five local governments in western Victoria. The organisation’s purpose is to shape the region’s economic, cultural, social and environmental opportunities by working collaboratively to enable growth, remove barriers and build resilience and sustainability across the Wimmera Southern Mallee region. In November 2023, Wimmera Southern Mallee Development initiated an industry collaboration process, bringing together representatives from renewable energy and transmission companies to explore ways to work together to ensure the region genuinely benefits from the transition to renewable energy.
Mapping the journey
The process began with a workshop in Horsham in November 2023. Representatives from all renewable and transmission companies working in the region were invited along with observers from government, non-government organisations, First Nations groups and Regional Development Victoria. Guest speakers shared their knowledge, insights and ideas to achieve positive community outcomes. Speakers included social and energy policy academics, The Energy Charter, and representation from the First Nations, farming, skills and training, local business, local government, settlement services, youth, housing, mining and regional development sectors.
Energy companies made a commitment to explore options to work together to build genuine benefits in the region, supported by The Energy Charter.
A vision for success
Over a six-month period, the energy partners developed a vision, purpose statement and values, facilitated by The Energy Charter and a local facilitator. The group formalised their relationship as the Wimmera Southern Mallee Renewable Energy Collaboration, consisting of key members from 12 renewable energy and transmission development companies. The group committed to:
- Collaboration to minimise negative impacts from energy development on Wimmera Southern Mallee communities.
- Better engagement, information and insight sharing between energy businesses and Wimmera Southern Mallee communities.
- Alignment and coordinated investment in projects that deliver tangible and lasting community benefit.
- Continuous improvement, transparency and accountability for energy businesses operating in the Wimmera Southern Mallee.
This was formalised through the development of a Collaboration Framework. The first stage partnership has three core activities:
- Regional Partners Forum: The forum is a network group that supports coordination between energy businesses, community leaders, representatives and organisations. The forum is coordinated by WSM Development and consists of quarterly meetings, liaison and coordination support and information sharing.
- Collective Action Partnerships: The energy partners have committed to work together in a coordinated way to deliver projects that achieve positive community outcomes. Through the collaboration process, the energy partners and community have identified several possible action areas, with three priority projects to be selected and delivered over the next three years.
- Better Business: The Better Business initiative encourages transparency, accountability and continuous improvement for energy businesses. Areas identified include best practice landholder compensation, cultural safety practices and innovative benefits approaches. The initiative provides a framework for individual businesses to measure their impact and showcase their achievements to model best practice, innovation and knowledge sharing with the other partners. This stream has the potential to expand into full collaboration over time.
The commitment
Foundation Energy Partners have committed to an initial partnership period of three years. The participation investment paid by Energy Partners provides:
- Resourcing for coordination, administration, communication and reporting
- Project management support and seed funding for collaborative projects
- Coordination of the Regional Partners Forum
- Access to professional development, research, training and events
- SME support, speaker and community participation fees
- Through the collaboration, energy developers have committed to work together and with the Wimmera Southern Mallee community, to create partnerships that ensure that the region can genuinely benefit from the transition.
The WSM Renewable Energy Collaboration seeks to build a new way of working together for industry. The model recognises that time is needed to establish trust and build new ways of working together. The project is in its early stages and, importantly, has identified a staged pathway that reflects the current level of trust and builds momentum for joint action over time. In a region where the community is divided, this collaboration reflects the concept of ‘starting where you’re at’ and exploring new ways of working together.
This pioneering project has led to the development of the Regional Energy Collaboration Framework by The Energy Charter for national application. This allows other regional communities to adopt a similar approach to co-designing collaboration across energy companies for the benefit of their communities.
Recommendation
Timely, inclusive and appropriate community engagement should be mandated through policy, regulation and funding schemes.
Governments and coordinating agencies should ensure that quality community engagement is mandated in policy and guidelines. National standards would promote consistency across jurisdictions. The requirement to demonstrate quality engagement should be included in selection criteria for project tenders and funding schemes as per the Australian Government’s Capacity Investment Scheme. Once tenders are awarded, engagement obligations should be included as contractual requirements in funding agreements.
Government agencies and developers should locate staff in regions with significant planned renewable energy development. Coordinating agencies and major developers should locate key engagement staff in regional centres in Renewable Energy Zones and other regions experiencing significant renewable energy development. This will assist with building relationships and trust with communities and increase responsiveness and accountability.
Governments and developers should provide transparent, timely and accessible information about planned developments, impacts and benefits to regional communities. The renewable energy transition is visible and immediate for regional communities. Communities experiencing renewables investment need specific, detailed and localised information from trusted channels to resource them to participate in engagement processes in their communities.
Government agencies and developers should pursue a coordinated approach to engagement. Coordinating agencies and project proponents should coordinate engagement activities wherever possible to minimise duplication of effort and consultation fatigue in regions (Dyer 2024). Partnership models such as the WSM Energy Partnership can facilitate better regional collaboration and streamline community experience.
Find out more in the full “Towards Net Zero: Building a Legacy” Report.
The REAL Deal: RAI’s Framework for Regional Energy Transition
As the renewable energy transition gathers pace, the Regional Australia Institute’s REAL Deal (Regional Energy and Legacy Deal) offers a new national framework to help regions build a lasting legacy.
What is the REAL Deal?
- The REAL Deal brings together government, industry and regional communities to align investment with local priorities and needs.
- Regional plans, funded by the Australian and state governments, identify local aspirations for REAL Deal investments.
- Local Legacy Funds pool mandatory developer contributions, enabling communities to invest at scale in infrastructure, services, jobs, skills development, education, housing, environmental initiatives or financial investments.
- Federal, state and local governments contribute funding from existing budgets, supporting local investments.
- Local decision-making determines how REAL Deal investments are allocated and prioritised, with governance models collaboratively designed with regional communities. First Nations and community representatives are integral to the process.
Why does it matter?
The REAL Deal positions regional communities as equal partners in planning and investment, ensuring the energy transition delivers social, economic and environmental value tailored to each region’s needs. By fostering collaboration and pooling resources, the REAL Deal framework empowers regions to achieve long-term aspirations and build a sustainable legacy.
Acknowledgment of Funding
The research presented in this report was funded by the RAI’s Intergovernmental Shared Inquiry Program. The program delivers an annual public interest research agenda focusing on topics of strategic importance to regional Australia through a partnership with federal, state and territory governments.
The RAI acknowledges our funding partners: Australian Government Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sports and the Arts; New South Wales Government Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development; Queensland Government Department of Natural Resources, Mines, Manufacturing, Regional and Rural Development; South Australian Government Department of Primary Industries and Regions; Victorian Government Department of Jobs, Skills, Industries and Regions; and Western Australian Government Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development.
The views expressed in this report are those of the Regional Australia Institute and are not necessarily those of the Australian Government or the Department.