Transforming energy projects through meaningful engagement

OPEN CONSULTATIONS

• Domestic manufacturing of wind and transmission infrastructure – Closes Friday, 6 March 2026.

Featured insights and articles

• Why the renewables sector says the old ways of community consultation are dead — Explore how forward-thinking engagement is reshaping the energy transition.

• Community benefits in renewable energy: maximising impact where it matters — Practical guidance on delivering value to local communities.

• Engagement: The Missing Infrastructure in Australia’s Clean Energy Transition — The Engagement Institute has made a formal submission to the Productivity Commission’s Interim Report on Investing in Cheaper, Cleaner Energy and the Net Zero Transformation.
• Regional Energy Collaboration Framework: A New Approach to Building Trust in Regional Communities — The Regional Energy Collaboration Framework is designed to strengthen relationships between the energy sector and regional communities.
• Why Engagement Skills Matter for the Energy Sector — Technical know-how isn’t enough. Equipping people with engagement skills is what keeps projects on track and communities on side.
• Working With Heat: Four Moves That Make Energy Engagement Work — Practical strategies for handling tough conversations in energy projects, from transmission corridors to urban upgrades.
• Indigenous Businesses and Culture: Unlocking Australia’s Clean Energy Opportunity — How the First Nations Clean Energy Strategy is reshaping engagement, procurement, and community partnerships.
• Bridging the Gap: Skills, Training and Capability for the Energy Transition — Why workforce capability and engagement literacy are critical infrastructure for Australia’s clean-energy future.
• Transmission Projects Must Engage Better: New National Guidelines Raise the Bar — The new federal standards every practitioner should know—early engagement, co-designed benefits and transparent delivery.
• New Framework Turns Regional Communities from Hosts to Partners in the Energy Transition — How the Regional Energy Collaboration Framework is redefining regional trust and participation in the energy build-out.
• Community Benefits Take Centre Stage in Renewable Projects — Conference insights on new state toolkits, binding commitments and the evolving practice of benefit-sharing.
• Building Confidence from the Inside Out: Alinta Energy’s Engagement Journey —  Inside Alinta Energy’s shift from “supporting role” to engagement-led delivery—and what changed when the whole business got behind it.
• Helen Haines Reframes the Energy Transition as a ‘Gold Rush’ for Regional Australia — In a recent parliamentary speech, Independent MP and long-time friend of the Engagement Institute Dr Helen Haines offered a compelling reframing of Australia’s energy transition.
• Five Emerging Trends Shaping Best Practice in Australia’s Clean Energy Transition — The Clean Energy Council’s Best Practice Charter for Renewable Energy Projects and its 2025 Summary Report provide one of the clearest snapshots of how clean energy organisations are lifting their social performance and evolving their engagement practices. 
• How AGL Strengthened Its Community and First Nations Partnerships in FY25: What it Signals for the Year Ahead — AGL’s FY25 Signatory Annual Report demonstrates clear, measurable progress in embedding best practice engagement across its renewable energy portfolio.
• Ausgrid Wins the 2025 Energy Networks Consumer Engagement Award — Ausgrid has been announced as the winner of the 2025 Consumer Engagement Award, presented annually by Energy Networks Australia in partnership with Energy Consumers Australia.
• New Handbook Supports Communities in Navigating the Energy Transition — Collaborating for a Fair Energy Shift: A Handbook for Communities, produced by the Community Power Agency.
• Energy Predictions for 2026: What It Means for Australia & NZ — A US energy report points to resilience as the defining issue for 2026. Here’s what those insights mean for you.
• AEMO’s Draft 2026 Integrated System Plan Brings Social Licence Into National Energy Planning — Australia’s national energy planner, Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), has released its Draft 2026 Integrated System Plan (ISP).
• Who Is Most at Risk in Australia’s Energy Transition? — A 2025 report by the Australian Council of Learned Academies (ACOLA), authored by Sarah Bice and Dr Richard Parsons, examines vulnerability in Australia’s energy transition.
• Five Energy Engagement Takeaways You Can Use This Year — Five practical engagement insights to help energy practitioners understand risk, community impacts and trust as the energy transition accelerates.
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Engagement Principles and Guidelines Launched — A structured framework designed to strengthen culturally safe, community-led engagement practice across Australia.
• The Consultation Fatigue Taking Regional Communities — Across parts of regional Australia, communities are being asked to engage with several major energy projects at the same time.
• Transmission Is Becoming the Real Bottleneck of the Energy Transition — Australia’s energy transition requires massive new infrastructure.
• Five Forces Quietly Reshaping Energy Engagement — The energy transition is accelerating. But the way communities experience that transition is changing just as quickly.
• Poll: Trust Will Be the Biggest Energy Engagement Challenge in 2026 — In a recent Engagement Institute poll, practitioners were asked what will matter most for energy engagement in 2026.
• What the Victorian Inquiry Means for Energy Projects — The Victorian Inquiry into Community Consultation Practices is not just a policy moment — it’s a signal to the energy sector.
• New Resource Explores Community Co-Ownership in Renewable Energy — Community Power Agency has released a new resource, Power in Partnership: A guide to developing a community stake in renewable energy.
• Tasmania Transmission Project Advances as Energy Transition Accelerates — A major transmission development in Tasmania has moved closer to delivery.
• Fast Approvals, Slow Trust: Why Energy Engagement Needs to Move Earlier — As renewable energy approvals accelerate across Australia, early community engagement is becoming critical to project delivery, trust and social licence.
• “All In” Means Early, Respectful and Ongoing: First Nations Engagement in Energy Projects — National Reconciliation Week is a timely reminder that First Nations engagement in renewable energy projects must start early, respect cultural authority and support genuine influence.
• Engagement Institute to Exhibit at Australian Energy Producers 2026 — Engagement Institute is pleased to be exhibiting at the Australian Energy Producers Conference & Exhibition, taking place in Adelaide from 18–21 May 2026.