Expressions of Interest to attend this year’s PowerMakers close this week.

If you or someone in your community is interested in attending, now’s the time to apply.

Have you submitted your application to attend PowerMakers? Expressions of Interest to attend our clean energy capacity building program close on 18 September 2026.

A final report from the First Nations Clean Energy Symposium, capturing key takeaways from each session, presentations, and some of the shared moments from our two days together, is now available.

We're excited to announce that expressions of interest are now open for our fourth First Nations PowerMakers program taking place 27–29 October 2026 in Mulubinba (Newcastle, NSW).

We're excited to announce that expressions of interest are now open for our fourth First Nations PowerMakers program, taking place 27–29 October 2026 in Mulubinba (Newcastle, NSW).

Since launching in 2023, PowerMakers has become Australia's leading First Nations clean energy leadership program, with almost 100 First Nations leaders completing the program and joining a growing national network of individuals working to improve the outcomes for our communities.

Watch the PowerMakers 2025 Highlight video here

PowerMakers is designed by and for First Nations people. It's a hands-on program that builds the knowledge, skills and confidence to help communities lead, participate in and benefit from clean energy projects on Country.

You'll learn from First Nations leaders and industry experts from Australia and Canada while connecting with other emerging leaders from across the country.

Whether you're interested in community energy, renewable energy development, advocacy, negotiations or creating economic opportunities for your community, PowerMakers will give you the practical tools and connections to help make it happen.

Apply Here - Expression of Interest Form

During PowerMakers you'll learn about:

• Clean energy and how projects are developed
• Community energy planning
• Business and economic opportunities
• Project financing and ownership models
• Negotiation and advocacy skills
• Cultural governance and First Nations leadership

As a PowerMaker you'll:

• Build your knowledge of clean energy
• Develop practical leadership skills
• Learn how to negotiate and create stronger outcomes for your community
• Connect with First Nations leaders and industry experts
• Join a national network of almost 100 PowerMakers alumni

Apply Here - Expression of Interest Form

Expressions of Interest close 18 September 2026.

We encourage you to apply and share this opportunity with mob who may be interested.

PowerMakers is open to First Nations members of the First Nations Clean Energy Network. If you're not yet a member, you can join for free here.

Please note your application does not guarantee participation in PowerMakers. 

Previous PowerMakers participants are not eligible to apply, as we want to provide this opportunity to as many First Nations community leaders as possible.

If you have any questions, please reach out to [email protected]

We’ll share knowledge about First Nations designing, participating and leading clean energy development in Australia and globally – with Indigenous leaders joining us from the United States, Canada and New Zealand. 

As the Symposium edges closer and speakers lock in, there are still a few registration tickets available. Get in quick!

Over $8 million in Federal government funding is available now for First Nations communities, groups and organisations seeking advice and engagement on planning, pursuing, negotiating or learning about clean energy opportunities.

The First Nations Clean Energy Network is hosting an energy gathering for First Nations community members living in Victoria on Tuesday 31 March 2026.

The legislative intent is very clear.

Support under the Future Made in Australia (FMIA) Act is conditional on delivering Community Benefit Principles (CBPs), and decision-makers must be equipped with clear, enforceable rules to assess whether outcomes for First Nations communities and Traditional Owners are genuinely achieved.

Read our submission

The Network strongly supports the intent of the Community Benefit Principles as a core accountability mechanism to ensure that significant public investment under the Future Made in Australia framework delivers genuine, measurable and durable benefits to communities. 

However, intent alone is insufficient.

For the Community Benefit Principles to give effect to Parliament’s intent, they must be operationalised through clear, enforceable and outcome‑focused rules and requirements that shape project behaviour and capital allocation decisions. 

Framing First Nations participation as an investor and commercial benefit - evidence snapshot

Evidence compiled by EY and the First Nations Clean Energy Network demonstrates that projects with meaningful First Nations equity or revenue participation: 

• experience materially lower social and regulatory risk profiles 
• benefit from faster and more predictable development timelines 
• attract a broader pool of patient and values-aligned capital, and 
• show stronger long-term operational performance. 

From an investor perspective, First Nations participation is best understood as a value creation and risk mitigation mechanism, not a cost. 

The Community Benefit Principles are a critical lever to embed this value proposition into Australia’s industrial and clean energy policy architecture. 

Principles to anchor the rules

The Network strongly recommends that rules made under the FMIA Act be anchored in a clear set of principles that decision-makers must apply when assessing eligibility for, and compliance with Community Benefit Principles.

They include:

• Principle 1: Rights and Free, Prior and Informed Consent 
• Principle 2: First Nations priorities 
• Principle 3: Best-practice participation and benefit-sharing 
• Principle 4: Monitoring, reporting and influence 
• Principle 5: Enduring partnerships
• Principle 6: Cultural competency and organisational capability 

These principles reflect the intent of the FMIA Act, international best practice, and the Network’s prior advice to the Commonwealth on a range of matters.

They are essential to ensuring that First Nations participation and benefit is real, measurable and enduring, rather than procedural or symbolic.

These principles should be embedded directly in the Ministerial rules and reflected in eligibility criteria, FMIA Plan requirements, monitoring frameworks and enforcement mechanisms. 

Making Community Benefit Principles more effective going forward

Community Benefit Principle 4 - First Nations and Traditional Owner participation and benefit

Community Benefit Principle 4 is the primary mechanism through which the FMIA framework must give effect to the statutory requirement to support First Nations communities and Traditional Owners to participate in, and share in the benefits of, the transition to net zero.

The Network is concerned that the minimum requirements proposed for Community Benefit Principle 4 in Appendix A of the draft guidance are framed almost exclusively through a narrow employment lens. In particular, the sole minimum requirement for Community Benefit Principle 4 is a target for First Nations employment.

The Network strongly recommends that the minimum requirements for Community Benefit Principle 4 be expanded beyond employment to reflect its full economic scope.

Community Benefit Principle 4 is distinct from, but complementary to Community Benefit Principle 3

Community Benefit Principle 3 focuses on how proponents engage with communities, including the quality, timing and resourcing of engagement and benefit-sharing processes. Community Benefit Principle 4, by contrast, is concerned with what communities ultimately receive in economic terms.

In practical terms:

• Community Benefit Principle 3 should ensure that engagement is early, continuous, culturally informed and capable of influencing project design and commercial decisions, and
• Community Benefit Principle 4 should ensure that this engagement translates into material economic outcomes for First Nations communities and Traditional Owners.

Conflating Community Benefit Principle 4 with Community Benefit Principle 3 risks reducing First Nations outcomes to process measures rather than economic results. 

Material economic participation 

To give effect to Community Benefit Principle 4, FMIA rules must require proponents to demonstrate pathways for First Nations communities and Traditional Owners to participate economically in FMIA-supported projects, in forms determined by those communities and Traditional Owner groups.

This should include, where sought by communities:

• equity or ownership interests, providing long-term revenue streams, governance influence and intergenerational benefit
• revenue-sharing arrangements, including fixed or variable payments linked to project performance
• hybrid models that combine early revenue with longer-term equity pathways
• governance rights, including decision-making authority over defined aspects of the project, and
• local economic development opportunities, including procurement, business development and investment pathways.

These mechanisms are central to First Nations self-determination, enabling First Nations communities and Traditional Owners to set their own priorities and determine how economic benefits are used over time.

Minimum floors and tiered expectations under Community Benefit Principle 4

The Network emphasises that the proposed minimum and tiered participation levels are deliberately calibrated to be both credible and aspirational.

International experience demonstrates that significantly higher levels of First Nations equity participation — including minimum minority interests of 25 per cent or more — are achievable and financeable when supported by clear policy signals and appropriate financing mechanisms.

The tiered approach proposed here is intended as a foundation that can scale over time, not as a ceiling on ambition.

At a minimum, proponents should be required to demonstrate outcomes for affected First Nations communities and Traditional Owners, including:

• verified and demonstrable processes enabling Free, Prior and Informed Consent and self-determination
• compliance with cultural heritage, land rights and anti-discrimination laws (NB. additionally and as noted above, the Network considers that any evidence of prior non-compliance with cultural heritage, land rights, native title or anti-discrimination laws must render a proponent ineligible for any FMIA support)
• respect for First Nations data sovereignty, and
• a minimum 5% equity or equivalent revenue-sharing interest for Traditional Owners and/or relevant First Nations communities, structured in a way that reflects the preferences of the relevant Traditional Owner groups and communities (including gifted, financed, phased or hybrid models).

Proposals that deliver stronger outcomes should be explicitly recognised and preferred.

This includes:

• 5–10% equity or revenue participation, accompanied by defined governance rights over specified project elements; and
• greater than 10% equity or revenue participation, supported by co-governance arrangements such as board representation or equivalent mechanisms providing meaningful influence over project strategy and operations.

It is critical that the minimum participation requirement is framed as a floor rather than a ceiling.

FMIA rules and guidance should be designed to avoid market clustering at the minimum and to reward proponents that support deeper, community-led economic participation where this is sought by Traditional Owners and First Nations communities.

Where proponents propose alternatives to equity or revenue sharing, they should be required to demonstrate — with evidence — that the proposed arrangements deliver equivalent or superior long-term economic outcomes, consistent with community priorities and aspirations.

Read our submission