Reconciliation Is a Practice
National Reconciliation Week is a timely reminder that reconciliation is not a message, a week or a morning tea.
It is a practice.
National Reconciliation Week runs from 27 May to 3 June each year. The 2026 theme, All In, calls on Australians to commit wholeheartedly to reconciliation every day and step away from the sidelines into action.
For engagement professionals working across the energy transition, that call has real project implications.
Energy Projects Are Often Located on Country
Renewable energy, transmission and storage projects are often located on Country and connected to places of cultural, environmental and community significance.
That means Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander engagement cannot sit at the edge of the project plan.
It needs to be early, respectful, properly resourced and ongoing.
First Nations Participation Is Now a National Clean Energy Priority
The Australian Government’s First Nations Clean Energy Strategy 2024–2030 was released on 6 December 2024 following public consultation and stakeholder engagement. The strategy’s vision is a sustainable clean energy future for all Australians, with Country and Culture at the heart.
The strategy is built around three goals: empowering First Nations communities with clean energy, achieving economic benefits with First Nations peoples, and enabling equitable partnerships.
For engagement practitioners, this is a clear signal: First Nations engagement is not peripheral to the energy transition. It is central to how projects are planned, governed, delivered and sustained.
Industry Guidance Is Getting Clearer
There is also practical guidance for proponents and project teams.
The Clean Energy Council and KPMG’s Leading Practice Principles: First Nations And Renewable Energy Projects sets expectations for engagement across each stage of a project lifecycle. The guide focuses on meaningful engagement, consent, participation and benefit-sharing with First Nations people on renewable energy projects.
The First Nations Clean Energy Network’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Best Practice Principles for Clean Energy Projects also places First Nations people and communities at the centre of the development, design, implementation and benefit-sharing of medium to large-scale clean energy projects.
Together, these resources point to a simple but powerful shift: engagement must move from informing communities about project decisions to supporting First Nations influence, participation and shared value from the start.
Engagement Institute Guidelines Bring This Into Practice
Engagement Institute’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Engagement Guidelines provide a practical framework for culturally safe, community-led engagement across Australia.
Launched in March 2026, the Guidelines outline nine core principles, including Respect, Cultural Safety, Data Sovereignty and Community-Led Engagement. They are structured across the full engagement lifecycle — pre-engagement, during engagement and post-engagement — and provide practical guidance on informed consent, trauma-informed facilitation, fair remuneration, iterative engagement and long-term relationship building.
For energy practitioners, this is where the national strategy and industry guidance become practical. The Guidelines offer a way to move from intention to action — helping teams design engagement that is culturally grounded, relationship-based and clear about influence from the beginning.
They also reinforce a critical point for renewable energy, transmission and storage projects: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander engagement is not a compliance checklist. It is a capability-building foundation for stronger decisions, safer processes and more respectful relationships with communities.
Good Intent Is Not Enough
For practitioners, the message is clear: good intent is not enough.
Project teams need to understand cultural authority, local governance, connection to Country and the difference between consultation and relationship-building.
They need to create culturally safe processes, allow time for decision-making and be honest about what can still be influenced.
They also need to recognise that engagement with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is not simply a risk control or compliance task.
The Energy Transition Will Be Judged By Relationships
Done well, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander engagement can strengthen project design, build long-term relationships and support more equitable outcomes from the energy transition.
As National Reconciliation Week approaches, being All In means moving beyond acknowledgement and into practice.
Because the energy transition will not only be judged by what gets built.
It will also be judged by how relationships are built along the way.
Power Up Your Practice
Engagement Institute’s upcoming Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Engagement course will support practitioners to build the awareness, confidence and practical skills needed to engage respectfully and meaningfully with First Nations peoples and communities.
