Australia’s transition to clean energy “can and will” play a role in driving better outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen recently told the National Press Club.

First Nations participation in renewable energy projects “should be the norm, not the exception” he said, noting that in traditional energy generation, “First Nations people have had very little equity”.

Bowen said that First Nations engagement is one of the merit criteria under the Capacity Investment Scheme – a national framework to encourage new investment in renewable energy.

While this is a “good start” according to First Nations Clean Energy Network co-Chair Karrina Nolan, more needs to be done to ensure First Nations people are engaged in the transition.

The First Nations Clean Energy Network recently launched a report, ‘Powering First Nations Jobs in Clean Energy’, with 12 recommendations for governments and the renewable energy industry to support employment and training options for First Nations people in clean energy.

Speaking at the launch, Bowen said the report will help increase First Nations peoples’ participation in renewable energy, clean and energy jobs.

“We have a massive opportunity for renewable energy jobs over the next six years or so,” he said.

The potential to change the intergenerational wealth of First Peoples

The new report launched recently by the First Nations Clean Energy Network found there is significant potential through collective action to improve First Nations employment outcomes in Australia’s clean energy industry, right now.

The report addresses the lack of coordination across local, regional and federal levels to support First Nations access the education, apprenticeships, experiences and support required to take advantage of the many employment opportunities emerging in the energy transition.

Jobs are often top of mind for First Nations families and communities across Australia. But, without a pathway into a job, the cost of living is harder, and choices are limited.

According to Jobs and Skills Australia, 450,000 jobs need to be filled in the construction of projects and transmission infrastructure in Australia’s clean energy transition, which represents approximately one-third of all jobs growth in Australia by 2030.

We will need 32,000 additional electricians by 2030, and close to two million workers in building and engineering trades by 2050. Preliminary modelling by the Clean Energy Council suggests there will be significant skills shortages. The additional electricians needed for the clean energy transition, for example, exceeds the projected supply by 27 percent.

Closing the Gap targets

Currently, there are low numbers of First Nations people working in the clean energy sector. Employment rates for First Nations people are much lower than non-Indigenous Australians – just over half of First Nations are employed compared to the population-wide rate of 64.5 percent based on the 2021 census.

Across all sectors, First Nations make up 1.9 percent of the workforce – and 3.8 percent of the population.

The Productivity Commission finds progress is being made against most of the education and training Closing the Gap Targets such as the proportion of First Nations youth who are completing Year 12 (target 5) and at least a Certificate III qualification (target 6).

However, the recent Australian Government’s Employment White Paper noted: ‘…the employment rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people continues to significantly lag that of non-Indigenous people, and the gap has not closed notably over the past 30 years’.

Targeted employment

The First Nations Clean Energy Network engaged the Institute for Sustainable Futures (University of Technology Sydney), SGS Economics, Alinga Energy and Indigenous Energy Australia to examine the barriers, opportunities and solutions to increasing First Nations Australians’ employment in clean energy.

The report authors reviewed industry and government policy, programs and targets, and also examined Renewable Energy Zones (REZs) –geographically defined areas grouping new large-scale wind and solar power generation into locations where it can be efficiently stored and transmitted –  in Victoria, South Australia, New South Wales, and Queensland.

They found the First Nations population share in Renewable Energy Zones averages significantly higher than the national population share. First Nations residents in Renewable Energy Zones are also typically younger residents – just over half are 19 years or younger compared to approximately 25 percent of the Renewable Energy Zone population, providing a large pool of early career candidates.

Report co-author Dr Chris Briggs from University of Technology Sydney says despite current low expectations, First Nations employment targets of five to 10 percent appear very achievable across most Renewable Energy Zones over time.

He says that the report “findings show if the clean energy industry could attract and train even modest proportions of young First Nations people, this would make a large contribution to the achievement of First Nations targets in most Renewable Energy Zones.

“Equally, by using targeted pre-employment programs, jobs for the unemployed or those ‘not in the labour force’ can be created on solar farms with enormous social impacts in regional First Nations communities.”

Recommendations

The report has 12 recommendations and actions for government and the renewable energy industry to support.

They include incorporating First Nations employment and training targets into the Capacity Investment Scheme, the development of pre-employment programs to create pathways into entry-level jobs in solar farms, and building the capacity of First Nations organisations.

Networks and businesses to increase employment targets and the formation of First Nations small businesses and contracting firms are other recommendations.

Wiradjuri woman Tegan Miller, a First Nations Clean Energy Network PowerMaker alumni and employee of Powercor, says it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to change the intergenerational wealth of First Peoples through renewable energy projects and jobs.

“First Nations people are coming from a different starting point to the wider population due to colonisation and subsequent intergenerational trauma.

“That means training and employment programs need to embed additional support mechanisms to successfully recruit and retain First Nations people in the energy industry.

“Employment programs and opportunities change First Nations communities, build intergenerational wealth and economic prosperity, while also building great relationships with the community in which a company operates.”

Lawford Benning, Chair of MG Corporation which, with Kimberley Land Council, Balanggarra and Pollination, has a massive shared-equity clean energy project partnership in Western Australia, says job creation and economic development is at the forefront of what they want to achieve.

“We have to bring our young people along, get them involved and get them to start thinking about what this clean energy transition looks like.

“That includes what role they’re going to play and what sort of trend we want to set for them.

“To do that, it’s going to take all of us here in Australia.”

Incentivise and enable

One of the consistent messages is industry, government and community absolutely have to do this together, says First Nations Clean Energy Network co-Chair Karrina Nolan.

“That means government incentivising industry to do best practice with the community, community being invested in, and community actually becoming part of the industry as well.

“Everyone in the room has a role to play through incentives, resourcing, and targets – and the enabling of those targets.

“Government initiatives need to have specific First Nations components in them. Incorporating First Nations merit into the Future Made in Australia Act, and into the Capacity Investment Scheme, although requiring more ambition, is a good start.

“But there’s more to do. Procurement and investor guidelines need urgent review, and industry pathways for school leavers must be established and supported.

“The Australian Government knows it needs more people in energy-related jobs. Let’s invest in the economy of the future, set First Nations targets, deliver First Nations outcomes, and make the clean energy transition happen.”

Further reading

Read ‘Powering First Nations Jobs in Clean Energy’ report here.

Read the full speech by Bowen at the launch of the Clean Energy report here.

Read Bowen’s National Press Club address in full here.

This article was first published in Croakey.