In May 2025, the Queensland Government proposed significant reforms that will reshape the renewable energy landscape.
The proposed reforms fundamentally reimagine how wind farms and large-scale solar projects engage with the communities that host them.
The New Non-Negotiables
Here’s what’s changing the game: Every wind farm and large-scale solar project must now complete two critical requirements before lodging a Development Application:
- A comprehensive Social Impact Assessment (SIA) – rigorous identification and assessment of social impacts
- A binding Community Benefit Agreement (CBA) – concrete commitments to local value creation
A Comprehensive Regulatory Overhaul
To operationalise this new approach, the Queensland Government has outlined a suite of proposed amendments, including updates to the Planning Act 2016 and Planning Regulation 2017, alongside updates to Development Assessment rules.
A new SIA Guideline and a dedicated solar farm code within the State Development Assessment Provisions are also being introduced. Together, these changes will shape how projects are assessed and approved, ensuring that community engagement, social impact management, and benefit-sharing become fundamental requirements rather than optional considerations.
Queensland’s SIA Evolution
Queensland has played a key role in the development of statutory SIA policy in Australia:
2008: Launched the Sustainable Resource Communities Policy, positioning Queensland as one of the leaders in formally addressing the social impacts of resource development.
2010: Released the Guideline to Preparing a Social Impact Management Plan (SIMP), establishing a formal process for resource proponents to manage, monitor, and mitigate social impacts.
2018: Published the SIA Guideline, setting statutory requirements for large resource projects and providing non-statutory guidance for non-resource projects undergoing an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process.
2025: Proposed reforms to extend statutory SIA requirements under the Planning Act 2016, introducing consistent, state-wide standards for all developments with significant community impacts, including renewable energy projects.
This trajectory marks a steady evolution from resource-specific guidance to a comprehensive, state-wide SIA framework that places community outcomes at the centre of planning and development.
Unifying the SIA and community benefit sharing landscape
The social impacts of development refer to how people, communities, and local institutions are affected - positively or negatively - across a project’s lifecycle. SIA provides a structured process to identify, evaluate, and respond to these impacts, ensuring they are integrated into planning and decision-making. Typically, the SIA process includes four phases: scoping, baseline analysis, impact assessment, and the design of mitigation and benefit measures - each grounded in meaningful community engagement.
Historically, for projects undergoing an EIS, social impact management measures have been implemented through a SIMP. Under the proposed planning reforms, however, renewable energy projects - such as wind and large-scale solar farms – will instead use the outcomes of the SIA process, including identified management and benefit measures, to inform a new requirement: the CBA.
CBAs are legally binding agreements that outline how projects will deliver tangible benefits to local communities - whether through financial contributions, infrastructure, or support for local programs. Under the proposed framework, CBAs will be required for renewable energy developments and are expected to be negotiated primarily between proponents and Local Governments. Once finalised, the CBA enables the project to proceed to development application, assessed under relevant State Codes.
What this means for developers and communities
For developers, renewable energy projects must demonstrate genuine community value from conception, not as a post-approval add-on. This frontloaded approach actually reduces project risk by building authentic local support before major capital deployment.
For communities, these reforms represent empowerment in the energy transition. CBAs aren’t just consultation exercises – they’re legally binding commitments that ensure renewable projects contribute meaningfully to local prosperity and address legitimate community concerns.
Social Performance as Strategic Advantage
Queensland’s proposed planning reforms represent more than a shift in regulatory process – they mark a redefinition of what constitutes good project planning and delivery. By embedding SIA and CBAs into the statutory framework, the reforms raise the bar for how projects must engage with and respond to communities.
As Queensland moves toward a net-zero future, its social performance will increasingly hinge on a project’s ability to deliver not just clean energy, but also positive and lasting social outcomes.
_______________________________________