Importance of Social Licence to Operate in Regional Communities
4 September 2024
The shift to clean energy is accelerating, with renewable energy developers seeking to rapidly establish generation and transmission infrastructure in regional communities. This extra capacity is needed to achieve the Queensland renewable energy targets of 50% of Queensland’s electricity generation sourced from renewables by 2030, 70% by 2032 and 80% by 2035 and ensure a reliable supply of electricity to homes and businesses.
Just last week the Australian Energy Market Operator’s 2024 Electricity Statement of Opportunities report highlighted that maintaining a reliable supply of electricity to homes and businesses will be dependant on these investments being delivered on time and in full.
Approximately 95% of Queensland’s renewable energy projects will be based in regional communities. That puts regional Queensland communities at the frontline of the energy transition. While these projects are expected to drive infrastructure development and create local jobs, they also bring environmental, social and economic impacts.
The scale and speed of the renewable energy infrastructure that needs to be delivered to meet energy targets will be new to many regional communities. So, balancing regional concerns and industry need for timely approvals to deliver infrastructure on time is going to be a critical challenge, one that will be even more challenging without establishing social licence to operate in the impacted communities.
Social Licence
Social licence is a proven approach that refers to the acceptance and approval of an organisation’s operations by its stakeholders, including the community, employees, customers, shareholders, and regulators. It is based on four key factors:
- Economic legitimacy – Does the organisation provide an economic benefit to the community, such as providing jobs, local investment, and local sourcing?
- Socio-political legitimacy – Does the organisation improve quality of life for the community, such as improving safety or relieve cost of living pressures?
- Institutional trust – Does the community trust the organisation to operate in a way that is respectful to the community?
- Interactional trust – Has the community had positive or negative experiences engaging with the organisation?
At Phillips Group our methodology has two key components:
- Measuring Social Licence to Operate (SLO) to establish a baseline and provide insights for planning, using our proprietary model based on the best-practice model developed by Robert Boutilier.
- Establishing and maintaining Social Licence to Operate (SLO) through trust building and genuine engagement.
Genuine engagement is critical to building community trust, and that means transparent communication, active listening, a commitment to addressing community concerns, and contributing positively to the community’s social, economic and environmental well-being.
Through our experience in SLO we know that achieving it isn’t without its challenges. It often requires navigating complex political and social dynamics, addressing the expectations and needs of diverse stakeholders, and the ability to adapt to the changing needs of a community.
But we also believe those challenges present opportunities for innovation, leadership, and best practice and through genuine community engagement organisations can build trusted relationships with regional communities that benefit them and the community. And when it comes to meeting Queensland’s renewable energy targets trusted relationships are going to be critical.
Let us deliver for you
Phillips Group is a leading and trusted advisor in government and infrastructure. Communication and engagement are not just a bolt-on to our core business, and we have more than 35 years of unparalleled experience and reputation. We are considered an expert in social licence and social impact awareness and have contributed to the development of the social impact evaluation guide as part of the Queensland Government Business Case Development Framework (BCDF).