Community wellbeing and attitudes to the energy transition in the North Perth Basin

The extent of ongoing local community support for conventional gas developments, large-scale renewable projects and other associated energy infrastructure in the North Perth Basin region is not clearly understood. However, evidence from previous projects across Australia has demonstrated that any opportunity for such projects will be impacted by the level of acceptance and support they receive from local communities.

This project aims to provide an in-depth understanding of how such projects would affect the functioning and well-being of all local communities. Online surveys of identified communities will provide a snapshot of the communities’ well-being and issues pertaining to trust, and distributional and procedural fairness.

Face-to-face interviews with community groups and individuals will also be used to identify the extent of knowledge communities hold in relation to the perceived risks and benefits of such projects, and identify any concerns they may have in relation to local developments. This may include local community groups, associations, agriculture, industry members and alliances.

In recognising the role of First Nations People as rights holders across the region, we also propose to hold yarns with representatives from the Amangu people of the Yamatji/Marlpa Nation to better understand what is important to them and how such projects might benefit Traditional Owner Communities within the region.

Survey design and implementation steps: