South Australia is a global leader in renewable energy.

Driven by high quality wind resources and rooftop solar in a smaller electricity market, renewable energy supplies around 70% of SA's electricity consumption.

SA has one of the highest market shares for renewable energy in the world and has a target for 100% renewable energy by 2030. 

Thanks to Neoen for the image of the 150 MW Hornsdale Power Reserve

Despite significant energy justice issues, there is great opportunity for First Nations to play a leading role in the clean energy industry in Queensland, particularly given the scale of projects proposed.

Queensland has very strong solar resources, and also high quality and nationally competitive wind resources and there is clearly much potential for the development of clean energy projects on First Nations-titled lands. 

This policy overview was drafted with assistance from Elizabeth McDonald, Director at Chalk & Behrendt  and Taryn Lane, consultant and Manager of Hepburn Community Wind Farm. 

Thanks to Hoshi Moshi for the image!

Enabling and empowering First Nations to play a key and central role in Australia’s renewable energy transition goes beyond just social licence issues.

Governments in the United States and Canada have already realised that establishing the right partnerships with First Nations in the clean energy transition is an investment decision.

After two years of listening, the First Nations Clean Energy Network offers eight actions that will support Australian governments partner with First Nations in this fast and furious clean energy transition. 

Despite the potential benefits, getting rooftop solar projects up and running hasn't been easy.

In Australia, early pandemic safeguards against electricity disconnection were successful in temporarily protecting most people. However, their application was uneven. For remote-living Indigenous community residents, who are required by policy or elect to use prepay metering and are known to experience frequent ‘self-disconnection’, energy insecurity continued as the impacts of the pandemic accrued. The risks associated with the regular de-energization of prepay households have long been overlooked by government reporting and this contributed to a lack of visibility of energy insecurity and available protections for this group during the pandemic response. In contrast to the rest of Australia, energy insecurity in the form of disconnections remained unrelentingly high or worsened for prepay households during this time. COVID-19 magnifies pre-existing health and socio-economic inequities. There is a need to pay closer attention to the rationales and impacts of energy policy exceptionalism if we are to mitigate the potential for compounding impacts of energy insecurity among specific groups, such as Indigenous Australian prepay customers, including during times of crisis.

By Bradley Riley, Lee V. White, Sally Wilson, Michael Klerck, Vanessa Napaltjari-Davis, Simon Quilty, Thomas Longden, Norman Frank Jupurrurla, and Morgan Harrington.

The Northern Territory has some of the strongest solar radiation in the world and there is clearly much potential to develop clean energy projects on First Nations titled lands. 

This paper was prepared to support conversations at the Mparntwe (Alice Springs) roundtable for the First Nations Clean Energy Strategy.

The Northern Territory has some of the strongest solar radiation in the world and there is clearly much potential to develop clean energy projects on First Nations titled lands. 

Special thanks to Christian Bass for use of the photo.