Our Webinar has concluded.

If you're interested in learning more about community benefits for renewable energy projects, you can watch the recording of the webinar:	To tell us what you want to see in the WA government’s new guidelines, share your concerns or ideas, you can still fill out our Community Benefits Survey:

Community benefits or ‘benefit-sharing’ are standard practice for renewable energy projects, and involve developers making financial or other contributions to host communities to compensate for any negative impacts and to make sure communities share in the financial rewards of the energy infrastructure they’re hosting in their place. 

WA hasn’t had a set of guidelines in place for community benefits, which has led to inconsistent practice across the state and risks further feeding community distrust and resentment. The state government recently released their Draft Guideline on Community Benefits for Renewable Energy Projects for consultation, which is a positive step towards creating clear expectations for developers and equipping communities and local government to secure good outcomes. 

However, without strong input from communities and the climate and environment movement, these guidelines won’t go far enough. Together, we need to make sure that when the final guidelines are released, they set a fair but ambitious bar for community benefits, include accountability mechanisms to ensure best practice, and empower local communities to determine the benefits they want to see. 

Guidelines like these will have a big impact on who benefits from the energy transition in WA, and we look forward to working with our allies and supporters to make a strong submission for a stronger policy. 

Stay tuned for more updates!