As Australia accelerates toward a cleaner, more resilient energy future, one thing is becoming clearer each year: the transition is not only a technical challenge, but a social one.
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. With 54 signatories in 2025 and more than 40 organisations reporting against the Charter’s 10 commitments, the latest update shows a sector maturing in transparency, community partnership and long-term thinking.
For engagement practitioners working in energy across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, the report surfaces several practical insights with direct relevance to on-the-ground work. Here are five key trends.
1. Engagement Is Starting Earlier — and Is More Relational
Developers are increasingly engaging long before project details are finalised, in some cases up to 24 months before formal approvals. Early conversations with landholders and councils are becoming the norm, rather than the exception.
Face-to-face engagement is still the anchor: drop-in sessions, kitchen table meetings, school visits, reference groups and roundtables. Many projects report tangible design changes driven directly by local feedback — such as adjusted access roads, revised buffer zones or modified visual screening.
The message for practitioners: early, relationship-based engagement isn’t just “good practice”; it’s now a core risk and trust strategy.
2. Co-Design and Long-Term Presence Are on the Rise
The Charter data shows projects shifting from “inform” to place-based co-design, particularly where communities can see that their input leads to visible changes.
A growing number of developers are also maintaining a long-term presence in communities — keeping shopfronts or site offices open well beyond construction so people know where to go with questions or concerns.
For engagement teams, this raises the bar. Communities increasingly expect:
-
clear avenues to shape decisions, not just comment on them
-
continuity of relationships across the life of the project
-
engagement roles that stay visible and accessible over time
3. Digital Tools Are Complementing (Not Replacing) Local Connections
While in-person engagement remains central, developers are now blending it with digital channels to reach more people, particularly in dispersed regional communities.
The report highlights tools such as:
-
interactive maps
-
VR visualisations
-
online engagement hubs and live chat
These don’t replace being on the ground, but they extend reach, increase transparency and allow people to engage in their own time. For practitioners, the emerging best practice is clearly hybrid: deeply local, but digitally supported.
4. Social Value and Benefit Sharing Are Becoming Core Outcomes
One of the strongest themes in the 2025 report is the growth of structured, long-term benefit sharing and a clearer focus on social value.
Programs highlighted in the Charter include:
-
community benefit funds linked to project capacity
-
neighbour agreements providing direct payments or in-kind support
-
reduced energy bills delivered through varied mechanisms
-
local training and employment pathways
-
targeted initiatives in mental health, housing, sport, education and community infrastructure
In some cases, projects are even co-investing in regional assets like wastewater infrastructure or crisis support hubs.
This is a notable shift from one-off sponsorships toward place-based, co-designed social impact frameworks. Engagement practitioners are increasingly working alongside social performance, impact and community development teams — not in parallel.
5. First Nations Partnerships Are Deepening Across the Lifecycle
The report shows a significant uplift in both the breadth and depth of First Nations engagement.
Examples include:
-
early and repeated engagement during site selection and feasibility
-
walk-on-Country visits, cultural heritage work and archaeological surveys in partnership with Traditional Owners
-
Indigenous Land Use Agreements and shared benefit agreements
-
procurement from First Nations-owned businesses
-
employment and training pathways, including innovative programs for incarcerated and at-risk community members
-
governance roles for Traditional Owners in benefit fund allocation
-
support for cultural revitalisation, language projects and ranger programs
In some projects, Traditional Owners are co-designing biodiversity management plans and shaping broader project decisions, not just providing input on heritage.
For practitioners, this reinforces a crucial point: First Nations engagement is not a single stage of work, but a long-term, relationship-based partnership grounded in respect, consent, shared value and cultural recognition.
A Sector Growing in Maturity — and Responsibility
Taken together, the 2025 Charter submissions show a sector that is moving from compliance to commitment. Engagement is increasingly embedded across project lifecycles and framed around values like deeper listening, transparency and long-term legacy.
The report sums it up powerfully: the clean energy transition is not just about infrastructure — it is about relationships with land, Culture and community.
For engagement professionals working in energy, this is both validation and a challenge. The bar is rising. Communities are clearer than ever in their expectations: genuine early engagement, visible influence, fair sharing of benefits and enduring partnerships.
Explore the Best Practice Charter
You can read more about the Clean Energy Council’s Best Practice Charter and access the full summary report here.
