Transmission Projects Must Engage Better: New National Guidelines Raise the Bar

As Australia ramps up its electricity transmission build-out to connect wind, solar and storage projects, the focus on community and landholder engagement is becoming sharper. The National Guidelines on Community Engagement & Benefits for Electricity Transmission Projects set a nationally consistent benchmark for how developers must engage with affected communities.

Key elements:

• The guidelines emphasise early engagement, before design decisions are locked in –DCCEEW.

• They require clear articulation of benefits for communities hosting transmission infrastructure — not just compensation for impacts.

• They align with a broader independent review of community engagement in renewable infrastructure, which made nine recommendations addressing trust, transparency and community benefits.

What this means for engagement practitioners:

• Engagement plans for transmission must reflect the standards. Projects that fall short risk delays, reputational harm and community opposition.

• Landholder and community concerns around visual impacts, property values, farming operations and cumulative footprint must be managed proactively. The guidelines from Planning NSW reinforce this.

• The concept of benefit-sharing is elevated — developers must co-design outcomes with communities, not merely present compensation packages after the fact.

• Monitoring, accountability and transparent tracking of commitments will be expected. Projects should embed these practices early.

In short: Transmission engagement is no longer the same as before. New rules mean higher expectations — and practitioners need to refresh their frameworks accordingly.

Read more:

• Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW), “Community engagement for transmission projects”.
• Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW), “New guidelines for community engagement and benefits for transmission projects”.