Definition: Stakeholder consultation is the structured process by which a project proponent, government agency, or regulator seeks input, feedback, and engagement from individuals, organisations, and communities who have an interest in — or may be affected by — a proposed project, policy, or regulatory decision. In the context of major energy infrastructure projects in Australia, stakeholder consultation is not merely a best practice courtesy — it is a legal requirement embedded throughout the environmental approvals, planning, and regulatory investment frameworks that govern how projects are assessed and approved.
Why Does Stakeholder Consultation Matter?
Stakeholder consultation exists because major energy infrastructure projects — transmission lines, wind farms, solar farms, substations, and pipelines — do not occur in a vacuum. They affect landowners, communities, ecosystems, industries, and markets. Without a structured process for hearing and responding to those affected, the risk of poor decision-making, community opposition, legal challenge, and project delay increases significantly.
Effective stakeholder consultation serves multiple purposes:
- Improves decision quality — local knowledge, technical expertise, and lived experience from stakeholders often identifies issues that proponents and regulators would otherwise miss
- Builds community trust — transparent, early, and genuine engagement demonstrates respect for affected communities and builds the social licence necessary for project success
- Reduces approval risk — projects that have engaged meaningfully with stakeholders are less likely to face objections, legal challenges, or conditions of approval that were not anticipated
- Satisfies legal requirements — consultation is mandated at multiple stages of both the environmental approvals process (EIS, TOR) and the economic regulatory process (RIT-T)
- Supports better project design — feedback from stakeholders can lead to route changes, design modifications, and mitigation measures that reduce impacts and improve outcomes for all parties
Stakeholder Consultation Across the Approvals Framework
For a major energy infrastructure project in Australia, stakeholder consultation is required at multiple distinct stages across both the environmental and economic regulatory frameworks:
Environmental Approvals Process (Queensland)
- Draft Terms of Reference (TOR) — public consultation on the scope of the EIS, typically for around 20 business days
- Draft EIS — public consultation on the proponent’s full environmental assessment, typically for around 30 business days, during which any person can lodge a submission
- Revised Draft EIS — in some cases, a further consultation period on a revised version of the EIS
- Coordinator-General’s Evaluation Report — while not a formal consultation period, the report responds to all properly made submissions received during the EIS process
Federal EPBC Act Process
- Referral — a brief public comment period when a referral is first lodged with DCCEEW
- Assessment documentation — where a public environment report or EIS is required, a formal public comment period applies
Regulatory Investment Test for Transmission (RIT-T)
- Project Specification Consultation Report (PSCR) — consultation on the identified network need and credible options, before cost-benefit modelling is completed
- Project Assessment Draft Report (PADR) — consultation on the completed cost-benefit analysis and preferred option, before the FPAR is finalised
Types of Stakeholders
Stakeholders in major energy projects are diverse and their interests often differ significantly. Key stakeholder groups typically include:
- Landowners and occupiers — particularly those whose land lies within or adjacent to the project corridor or site, who may face impacts on their property, livelihood, and amenity
- Traditional Owners and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities — who have cultural, spiritual, and legal rights in relation to Country that must be respected and protected throughout the project lifecycle
- Local governments — councils whose areas are affected by the project, with responsibilities for community wellbeing, land use planning, and local infrastructure
- State and federal government agencies — including environment, resources, transport, and heritage agencies whose regulatory responsibilities intersect with the project
- Industry and business groups — including mining companies, agricultural businesses, and energy market participants with economic interests in the project
- Environmental and conservation organisations — advocating for the protection of ecological values, threatened species, and natural landscapes
- Community groups and residents — people living near the project who may be affected by construction noise, visual amenity, electromagnetic fields, or changes to local character
- Unions and workforce representatives — with interests in employment conditions, safety, and local content
- Investors and financiers — whose confidence in the project depends in part on the quality and outcomes of the consultation process
Principles of Effective Stakeholder Consultation
Not all consultation is equal. The quality of stakeholder engagement varies enormously across projects, and poorly conducted consultation can be worse than no consultation at all — generating cynicism, distrust, and opposition rather than goodwill and constructive input.
Effective stakeholder consultation is typically characterised by:
- Early engagement — starting consultation before decisions are locked in, when stakeholder input can still meaningfully influence project design and assessment
- Transparency — being open about the project’s nature, its likely impacts, and the limitations of what consultation can achieve
- Accessibility — making information available in plain language, in accessible formats, and through channels that reach all affected communities — including those in remote areas or with limited digital access
- Two-way dialogue — genuinely listening to and responding to stakeholder concerns, not simply broadcasting information
- Cultural sensitivity — adapting engagement approaches to respect the cultural protocols, languages, and decision-making processes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities
- Continuity — maintaining ongoing engagement throughout the project lifecycle, not just at mandated consultation milestones
- Feedback loops — telling stakeholders how their input has been considered and what has changed as a result
Stakeholder Consultation and Social Licence to Operate
Beyond its legal requirements, stakeholder consultation is central to a project’s social licence to operate — the informal, community-based acceptance or approval of a project that exists independently of formal regulatory approvals. A project can have every legal approval in place and still face significant community opposition, protest, or obstruction if it has failed to build genuine social licence through its consultation process.
For energy infrastructure projects in regional and remote Australia — where projects like CopperString 2032 traverse vast areas of pastoral land and cross the Country of multiple Traditional Owner groups — social licence is not a nice-to-have. It is a fundamental determinant of whether a project can be built and operated successfully.
Real-World Example: CopperString 2032
The CopperString 2032 Project involved extensive stakeholder consultation across multiple regulatory processes and spanning more than six years:
- Draft TOR consultation (July–August 2019) — inviting public submissions on the scope of the EIS across seven local government areas
- Draft EIS public consultation (December 2020 – February 2021) — a formal submission period during which community members, landowners, councils, agencies, and environmental groups could respond to Powerlink’s environmental assessment
- Additional information process (June 2021) — the Coordinator-General requested further information, reflecting in part the issues raised during public consultation
- Revised Draft EIS (October 2021 and January 2022) — two rounds of revision in response to consultation outcomes and agency requests
- Traditional Owner engagement — ongoing consultation with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups whose Country the transmission corridor traverses, including cultural heritage surveys and Indigenous Land Use Agreement negotiations
- Landholder engagement — direct engagement with hundreds of pastoral and agricultural landholders along the corridor regarding easement arrangements, construction impacts, and compensation
This sustained, multi-layered consultation process was a central feature of one of Queensland’s most complex coordinated project assessments.
Key Takeaway
Stakeholder consultation is the connective tissue of Australia’s energy project approvals framework — the mechanism through which communities, agencies, landowners, and market participants have their say on projects that will shape the energy landscape for decades. For proponents, getting consultation right is not just a legal obligation — it is a strategic investment in the social licence, project design quality, and regulatory certainty that determine whether a major energy project ultimately succeeds.
Published on energyplanning.com.au | Energy Planning Glossary
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