Social impact assessment process

Under the Planning Act 2016, proponents are required to undertake a SIA for a wind farm or solar farm above 1MW in accordance with the SIA Guideline.

The Social Impact Assessment (SIA) Guideline ( 458.3 KB) provides the process for the proponent in undertaking a SIA, which will generally include:

• identifying, analysing and assessing the social impacts of the development across key focus areas
• developing management measures to avoid or mitigate potential negative impacts and enhance positive impacts
• recommending strategies to monitor, review and update those measures throughout the project lifecycle, where relevant, and
• documenting findings in a comprehensive SIA Report.

The SIA Guideline details what must be included in a SIA and covers the identification and assessment of social impacts, as well as their management and monitoring.

Supplementary material ( 1007.1 KB) has been developed to provide additional detail and guidance to assist in the preparation of the SIA. The document is designed for proponents and practitioners, however, can assist local governments and communities to understand the process and expectations of a SIA.

In preparing the SIA, the proponent is required to undertake community and stakeholder engagement across all matters to:

• understand who is likely to be impacted and how
• understand the affected communities
• identify and assess potential social impacts
• develop management measures to mitigate adverse impacts and enhance benefits, and
• support monitoring and reporting.

The outcomes of the SIA are to be documented in a SIA report. The resulting SIA report is used to inform negotiations of a CBA with the relevant Local Government and is required to be lodged with the development application for planning approval.