Our submission to the 2026-27 Australian Government budget process focuses on three key areas where we believe additional investment by the Australian Government will address one of the biggest barriers to achieving our renewable energy targets: social licence.
As we outlined in a joint submission to the Inquiry into the prevalence and impacts of misinformation and disinformation which relates to climate change and energy:
“Australia requires rapid deployment of renewable energy projects, including 5,000km of new transmission infrastructure this decade, to meet our 2030 target of 82% renewable energy and to reach net-zero by 2050. However, the rise of mis- and dis-information about renewable energy and transmission projects is undermining public confidence, risking the pace and scale of the renewable energy build-out required to meet Australia’s growing energy needs.”
There is an urgent need to address the key barriers to informed community engagement in the shift to renewable energy – both through the provision of trusted, locally relevant and independent information and through the support of institutions that can assist communities to engage. There is also a need for governments to demonstrate that solutions to the legitimate concerns held by communities either exist or are under development. The three areas for action by the Australian Government identified in this submission aim to address what we consider to be key gaps in the Government’s response to these issues.
Establish Local Energy Hubs
Local Energy Hubs will accelerate the rollout and help meet renewable energy targets by addressing cost of living and local challenges in the energy shift, building trust and social licence. The Australian Government should fund a network of 50 independent outreach centres in regional areas, to act as trusted, locally based information hubs, streamlining consultation and empowering communities to participate in and benefit from renewable energy projects.
Support local government to play their role in the shift to renewables
When local governments have the capacity to lead local energy transitions, we see stronger social licence and better renewable energy projects. This means that local government plays a vital role in achieving the national renewable energy targets and the goal of net zero emissions, and should be given additional resources to better support them.
Ensure we are ready for renewables retirement
As outlined in our recent report Retirement Age Renewables, with early renewable energy projects starting to reach the end of their operational life, attention is now turning to how to sustainably retire wind, solar and battery storage assets at scale. Investing now in the development of appropriate decommissioning facilities and markets for materials that can be reused and recycled will help to build social licence around decommissioning.