RE-Alliance and Community Power Agency welcome the opportunity to contribute to the Electricity Contract Co-Design consultation. We recognise the importance of the proposed Electricity Services Entry Mechanism in supporting investment in the electricity infrastructure needed for Australia’s energy transition. Its success will depend on securing investment and delivering projects that build trust, respect First Nations rights, and provide lasting benefits for host communities and regions.
We ask the Working Group to:
- Ensure the proposed financial contract structures allow for the inclusion or enforcement of non-financial obligations in ESEM related agreements (such as community engagement, benefit sharing, First Nations provisions and workforce development).
- Identify any contract design features that could impede those arrangements and recommend how they should be addressed.
- Explicitly recognise this requirement in its final report and refer to the detailed design of social conditions to the NEM Review Implementation Taskforce.
- Ensure the contract drafting team works in active partnership with a resourced stakeholder group including First Nations, community organisations, unions, government and industry to develop the non-financial criteria and contractual obligations.
Read more in our full submission.
