Increasing demand, innovations in technology, and extensions to electricity grid infrastructure are likely to lead to a growth in renewable energy development on native title land and water.

The likelihood that native title holders and claimants will benefit from this development will depend in part upon the legal regime that governs native title.

The prevailing legal regime governing renewable energy development on native title land and water involves two principal alternatives to permitting development: voluntary land use agreements and compulsory government acquisition of native title.

While the procedures associated with these alternatives afford native title holders and claimants more procedural protection than some commentators have suggested, they fail to attain the standard of ‘free, prior, and informed consent’ prescribed by international best practice and the philosophical and moral arguments that underpin that standard.

To remedy this failure, the Native Title Act 1993 (Cwlth) should be amended to place less weight on economic and similar considerations when authorising the compulsory acquisition of native title for renewable energy development, or prohibit the compulsory acquisition of native title generally, except for in certain exceptional circumstances.

While this paper focuses on renewable energy in particular, a number of its conclusions could apply to issues that attenuate native title generally.

Author: Maynard, G. (2022), Renewable energy development and the Native Title Act 1993 (Cwlth): The fairness of validating future acts associated with renewable energy projects (Working Paper No. 143/2022), Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research, Australian National University

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Thanks for use of the photo by Angie Warren on Unsplash

Rio Tinto’s destruction of Juukan Gorge sent shock waves around the world. In the rush to develop clean energy projects we must not repeat similar mistakes, where the expansion of renewables becomes another action done “to” First Nations people rather than “with” them.

As heatwaves become more frequent and extreme due to climate change, the impact on Indigenous Australians struggling with energy poverty is potentially life threatening.

An Indigenous-led initiative, the First Nations Clean Energy Network, is being launched to ensure Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island communities are not left behind as the nation transitions to cheaper renewable energy.

For the full story from 16 November 2021 on RN Breakfast listen here. 

Reconciliation is about the genuine restructuring and transformation of the relationships between Indigenous and settler people.

Although renewable energy has not been inherently positive for Indigenous peoples, Indigenous communities in Canada have been participating in renewable energy production, which presents a potential pathway to reconciliation, climate change mitigation and a just energy transition.

This study explores whether and to what extent community energy—defined by deep engagement in process, as well as local and collective benefits—relates to elements of participation associated with reconciliation, both conceptually and empirically.

A conceptual framework based in community energy was developed to characterise and analyse 194 renewable energy projects associated with Indigenous communities. This framework considered ‘community’ as belonging to traditional land, places where Indigenous people live, and as local authority, such as the Indigenous political organisation of a settlement or reserve. Projects were examined by legal form, project location, and control.

The findings do not provide strong indications of reconciliation.

We suggest that one pathway to reconciliation is equity ownership, which has risen over time, although most projects located on traditional territories and Indigenous communities generally have minority or no ownership. There were no projects associated with Métis communities, and only 6 associated with Inuit communities.

Institutional change requires implementation of free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) and extensive policy supports.

Authors: Christina E. Hoicka, Katarina Savic, Alicia Campney, Reconciliation through renewable energy? A survey of Indigenous communities, involvement, and peoples in Canada, Energy Research & Social Science, Volume 74, 2021

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The prospect of large-scale renewable energy projects being developed on lands over which Traditional Owners hold rights and interests is likely to present risks in the distribution of socio-economic and environmental impacts, as well as opportunities for Aboriginal benefit, through partnerships, equity and ownership, employment, training, sustainable income generation, and potentially through improved access to affordable energy.

Modular in design, renewable energy technologies have a diverse range of possible applications, and the opportunities for Aboriginal leadership, participation and benefit are undoubtedly greater, more varied and across a wider number of scales than the limited number of case studies examined here.

Projects may be developed unilaterally by Aboriginal communities and PBCs for discrete aims of community development, household energy security and enterprise development; others may be undertaken in alliance with private sector developers or the state and progressed through agreement making processes.

This paper proposes that while the benefits and risks of specific projects are likely best assessed on a case-by case basis, a number of common themes- such as the efficacy of genuine FPIC processes- are of utility across scales of development, from small to large.

The extent to which Aboriginal decision-making is at the centre, rather than periphery, of renewable energy policy and project development remains the key to socially sustainable project development, as well as to any estimate of the success of the renewable energy transition currently underway in the North-West.

Author: Brad Riley in Nulungu Research Papers, The University of Notre Dame Australia (2021)

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Renewable energy developments on Aboriginal land in Australia’s Pilbara and Kimberley regions in the north-west of Australia have very high rates of Indigenous land tenure, and are attractive for both solar and wind power generation, particularly as developing technology makes it economically feasible to transport power over large distances.

They are also remote from Australia’s electricity networks and often rely on expensive fossil fuels for electricity generation. Resident Aboriginal communities are among the most income-poor in Australia yet live in regions rich in renewable energy.

Their ability to benefit from the opportunities offered by a transition to renewable sources of energy varies according to a number of factors.

This paper examines the conditions under which Indigenous capabilities may be enhanced or inhibited, through examining three scales of energy generation: large-scale developments for export; remote utility-owned networks; and small-scale standalone off-grid applications.

This paper will ask what capabilities can Indigenous people achieve from a just approach to a renewable energy transition in northern Australia, and what capabilities are required in order to gain maximum benefit from this current rapid energy transition?

Authors: Hunt, J., Riley, B., O’Neill, L., & Maynard, G. (2021). Transition to Renewable Energy and Indigenous People in Northern Australia: Enhancing or Inhibiting Capabilities? Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, 22(2), 360–378. https://doi.org/10.1080/19452829.2021.1901670

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Photo by Chris Stenger on Unsplash

Australia’s Pilbara and Kimberley regions have very high rates of Indigenous land tenure, whilst hosting some of world’s best co-located solar and wind energy resources. Simultaneously, technological advances in energy transmission and distribution raises the possibility of renewable energy export into Southeast Asia.

This paper builds upon previous work (O’Neill, L., Thorburn, K. and Hunt, J. (2019), Ensuring Indigenous benefit from large-scale renewable energy projects: Drawing on experience from extractive industry agreement making, Working Paper No. 127, Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research, Australian National University, Canberra) in considering the opportunities and risks of renewable energy developments for Indigenous communities in these regions. It considers renewable energy developments at two different scales – utility-scale and smaller dispersed models, finding that communities are more likely to obtain broader social and economic benefits from developments in which they have a significant financial stake and have power over aspects of development.

Proponents of utility-scale developments may negotiate agreements to offer Indigenous people access to energy, financial compensation for land use, or a stake in ownership. Yet, in considering research from the extractives industry in relation to agreement making we find that broader social and economic benefits for communities are often less than predicted.

Research from Canada that looks at the potential for Indigenous ownership of smaller scale renewable energy developments to address local need and benefit, highlights the importance of First Nations’ voices in discussions of regional economic development associated with the coming energy transition.

Authors: Thorburn K., O’Neill L., Hunt J., Riley B., (2019), Renewable energy projects on the Indigenous estate: Identifying risks and opportunities of utility-scale and dispersed models, Working Paper no. 130, Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research, Australian National University, Canberra.

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