Incorporating First Nations outcomes into the Guarantee of Origin scheme design is essential and necessary for the Australian Government to achieve a range of policy objectives - given the need that these legislative, policy, program and funding schemes establish to ensure that positive First Nations outcomes are tracked, verified and certified in a robust and certain fashion.

Read our submission here 

Robust reporting requirements for electricity licencees providing prepayment services, and stronger consumer protections are needed for community prepayment customers in Anangu Pitjantjatjara (APY) Lands and Yalata and Maralinga Tjarutja (Oak Valley) in South Australia.

Download our submission or read the copy below

Submission to the Essential Services Commission of South Australia on the Limited review of small-scale networks reporting requirements and community prepayment customer protections – Draft Decision

September 2024

Overview

The Essential Services Commission of South Australia (Commission) is currently reviewing the consumer protections for ‘community prepayment customers’ and regulatory reporting requirements for small-scale networks – Guideline No. 5 (Guideline 5). The Commission published its draft decision on 25 July 2024 (Draft Decision) and has invited stakeholder feedback on the matters addressed.

The First Nations Clean Energy Network welcomes the opportunity to make a submission on this consultation.

As part of the review, the Commission is proposing several changes to community prepayment customer consumer protections and reporting requirements.

Community prepayment customers are Aboriginal tenants of public housing in remote parts of the state namely the Anangu Pitjantjatjara (APY) Lands, Yalata and Maralinga Tjarutja (Oak Valley) who are mandated to prepay for electricity services by the South Australian Government. User pays policy based on mandatory prepayment was implemented by government regulation gazetted on 9 December 2021 and commenced incrementally across remote Aboriginal communities from July 2022.

Our focus in this submission is on matters affecting ‘community prepayment customers’.

Generally, the Network:

• Supports the inclusion of strengthened consumer protections for remote Aboriginal households who are mandated to use prepayment
• Encourages transparent and robust public reporting requirements for electricity licensees which provide electricity services by prepayment in remote Aboriginal communities and in other remote locations across the state – including reporting of metrics that align with national reporting standards. 

Mandatory prepayment in remote Aboriginal communities

The Network has been closely following the introduction of user pays policy for remote Aboriginal communities in South Australia based on mandatory prepayment. We observe that across Australia prepayment is generally targeted towards First Nations households, where its use is associated with known risks of disconnection from electricity supply with adverse impacts for social, health and wellbeing outcomes.

The Commission’s public reporting on the first year of mandatory prepayment use in remote Aboriginal communities in South Australia shows that households experienced an average of 13.1 prepayment meter self-disconnection events during 2022-23. This is concerning because any electricity disconnection disrupts the safe and healthy functioning of the household. The Commission’s reporting shows that approximately 32% of household disconnections lasted less than 1 hour while approximately 60% of household disconnections from electricity supply lasted between 3 – 24 hours. This is occurring in the context of households paying a reduced electricity tariff of 10 cents/kWh.

Improved consumer protections framework

In the Draft Decision, the Commission proposes to enhance consumer protections for mandatory prepayment households by the introduction of family violence protections, flexible payment arrangements for life support customers and additions to protected periods during which self-disconnection cannot occur. We support the strengthening of consumer protections for remote Aboriginal households using prepayment for electricity services.

In particular, the Network:

• Supports the addition of family violence protections and encourages the Commission to ensure that licensees comply with cultural safety training in the delivery of these protections while complementing the new framework with reporting requirements aligned to national standards
• Supports the inclusion of formalised flexible payments arrangements for life support customers whose meters are operating in post-payment mode, together with close monitoring of the situation where vulnerable customers are experiencing significant energy costs and debt – including through reporting requirements on flexible payment arrangements and debt levels
• Supports the expanded protected periods, noting they correspond with public holidays
• Encourages the Commission to implement extreme weather protections for prepayment customers, equivalent to the protections received by post-payment customers across South Australia
• Recommends that the Commission broaden the scope of the definition of life-support equipment to include medicine storage and other equipment certified by a registered medical professional.

Ensuring transparency of public reporting indicators for Aboriginal households using prepayment

The Commission is also proposing to make changes to the reporting requirements for licensees providing electricity services in remote Aboriginal communities based on mandatory prepayment. These reporting changes include:

● A new metric focused on household energy debt levels

● Amendments to existing metrics relating to prepayment meter self-disconnections and total electricity consumption

● Removal of existing friendly credit reporting requirements.

Generally, the Network supports robust reporting requirements to ensure transparency around the use of prepayment whether voluntary or mandatory.

In relation to the Commission’s proposals for mandatory prepayment customers, we recommend that any changes to reporting requirements should be additive, rather than replace or remove existing metrics—it is important to retain consistency in reporting metrics over time so that comparisons can be made.

Further, any changes to reporting should ensure the maximum possible comparability of metrics across South Australia and nationally because consistency in reporting across jurisdictions is important for understanding trends faced by prepayment customers. In relation to specific reporting changes, the Network:

• Encourages the Commission to include reporting requirements on average household energy debt levels for (1) prepayment customers and (2) life support customers alongside reporting across the proposed ranges – this should apply for mandatory and voluntary prepayment customers in small-scale networks across the state
• Supports reporting of total electricity consumption by meter, at the community level across ranges, while encouraging the Commission to maintain the reporting of total consumption data
• Supports existing reporting on the number and average duration of self-disconnections alongside the addition of more granular data collection relating to self-disconnections
• Observes that the different reasons for self-disconnections listed in the reporting proformas necessarily limits the lived experience of self-disconnection to those options – and that Original Power has been funded by Energy Consumers Australia to undertake 4 qualitative research about household experiences of prepayment across Australia that may provide better insights into the drivers of prepayment meter self-disconnections
• Encourages the Commission to maintain existing reporting requirements on the number of times that friendly credit was accessed for mandatory prepayment customers and extend this metric to voluntary prepayment customers
• Encourages the Commission to include reporting requirements for use of Centrepay, to improve transparency around how Centrepay is being used
• Supports the reporting of customer access to energy concessions across small-scale networks.

I really want to see us put renewables into remote community energy systems and reduce the amount of diesel that we’re burning. 

There is much to be done to support and enable First Nations take up employment opportunities in the clean energy sector, particularly as policy frameworks begin to emerge that seek to prioritise First Nations employment outcomes. First Nations are a ready-made workforce in regional and remote Australia where the majority of projects necessary for the energy transition will be placed.

Download our submission here or read it below

Submission: DCCEEW National Energy Workforce Strategy - Consultation Paper

August 2024

Introduction

The First Nations Clean Energy Network (the Network) thanks the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water for the opportunity to comment on the August 2024 “National Energy Workforce Strategy - Consultation Paper”.

Our recommendations

To shift the culture of industry and government towards a genuine commitment to enable First Nations people and communities to enter, partner and participate in the clean energy workforce, the Network recommends:

1. establishing formal partnerships and shared decision-making between governments and First Nations communities and First Nations community-led service providers to co-design all employment initiatives to realise First Nations outcomes in the clean energy workforce
   
2. incorporating First Nations employment and training targets into the Capacity Investment Scheme merit criteria (including the Australian Skills Guarantee) and ensuring compliance with those targets through appropriate enforcement measures 
   
3. clearly identifying clean energy career pathways for First Nations school students through by establishing First Nations-led outreach engagement via Regional University Study Hubs with First Nations students, and School to VET transitions: Traineeships and Apprenticeships
   
4. funding an industry support program to develop a First Nations cadetship program with energy industry and professional associations and coordinate in partnership with First Nations groups transition pathways into pre-apprenticeships, apprenticeships and ongoing jobs in the solar and wind sector
   
5. integrating First Nations employment and training targets and initiatives into housing retrofit, diesel replacement and microgrid programs 
   
6. supporting and building build the capacity of and appropriately fund First Nations organisations, networks, businesses, Group Training, and training providers to build awareness of and transition pathways into the clean energy sector including for existing workers shifting into renewable energy, school leavers, and those who are unemployed or not currently in the labour force entering the workforce.
   
7. building cultural competence into the renewable energy sector by enhancing Reconciliation Action Plans and industry agreements to focus on setting aspirational targets (e.g material impact within a specific community, embedding a commitment to support these First Nations outcomes)
   
   

About the First Nations Clean Energy Network

The First Nations Clean Energy Network (the Network) is made up of First Nations people, groups, community organisations, land councils, unions, academics, industry groups, technical advisors, legal experts, renewables companies and others - working in partnership to ensure that First Nations people, groups and communities are key participants in and share in the benefits of Australiaʼs rapid transition to clean energy. The Network is led by a 12-member Steering Group of First Nations leaders.

Australiaʼs rapid transition to a clean energy economy will require access to vast areas of land and waters, including for critical minerals mining and thousands of kilometres of new transmission infrastructure.

Enabling and empowering First Nations to play a key and central role in Australiaʼs energy transition goes beyond just social licence issues - it presents a unique opportunity for Australia to design an economic system around energy and clean energy infrastructure developments (and upstream and downstream supply chains, including employment outcomes) that is fair and just and which can also positively impact and result in a range of other social and economic benefits for First Nations.

The Network supports communities to address the barriers to clean, affordable and reliable power, securing good jobs and strong economies, so First Nations can have the choice to continue to live and work on Country.

As a national, First Nations-led coalition, the Network aims to enable and empower First Nations to participate in, benefit from, respond to, and shape an energy system in rapid transition as Australia rapidly transitions to renewable energy and seeks to meet legislated emissions reductions targets.

The Networkʼs approach is built on three pillars:

1. Community: The Network supports First Nations communities address issues of energy security and affordability, and to shape the design, development and implementation of clean energy projects at every scale.
   
2. Industry partnerships: The Network acts as an innovation hub, promoting best practice standards and principles that companies should adopt and investors should require before committing capital to a clean energy project.
   
3. Policy reform: The Network advocates to lift significant federal and state regulatory barriers and stoke government investment, removing regulatory barriers to energy security and clean energy generation.

Designing an energy system that is inclusive of First Nations rights, interests and responsibilities

There is a massive global and domestic renewables energy transition underway that is driving generational shifts in energy systems. First Nations people can, and should benefit from this revolution, whether from small community-based projects, to large scale, export-focused initiatives.

Many First Nations communities are at the forefront of the devastating impacts of climate change and struggling with unreliable and expensive power. At the same time, the road to net zero runs through First Nations land.

Coupled with First Nations’ substantial rights, interests and responsibilities (through traditional ownership, cultural heritage, native title and land rights schemes) across Australiaʼs land and seas, now is the time to position First Nations as co-designers and drivers of systems, policy, legislation, and projects needed to facilitate the transition.

Put simply, by including and embedding First Nations as partners in the transition, and the right to free, prior and informed consent in systems, planning processes, policy and legislation, the transition can be fair and just, avoid legal contestation, and occur at the pace necessary to will deliver mutual cultural, social, economic and sustainable benefits to people and country.

With the Federal Government committing to including substantial merit criteria preferencing First Nations in the Capacity Investment Scheme and highlighting First Nations benefits in the Future Made in Australia legislation, now more than ever is the right time to ensure First Nations play a central role in, and benefit from the opportunities that the transition will establish. 

Through the First Nations Clean Energy Network, we're excited to bring together First Nations people, industry and government leaders to help chart this way forward. We also appreciate there are real challenges to getting this right.

While there is broadly goodwill from the clean energy industry, we must translate this into action, working in a respectful partnership. 

Engaging early, and in a genuine manner, will be critical to ensure the sustainability of projects across the supply chain. That includes both participation and inclusion of First Nations from the get-go, from site placement respecting cultural heritage and First Nations rights and interests, through to employment and training programs and targets, project design and execution, equitable and mutually agreed benefit sharing arrangements, and ensuring an ongoing seat at the table.

First Nations are a ready made workforce in regional and remote Australia where the majority of projects necessary for the transition will be placed.

With government-funded First Nations native title representative bodies in those areas across Australia generally impoverished surviving on $50-$80,000 per annum used to meet corporate and legal requirements, we also need to make sure that First Nations groups are properly resourced and equipped to engage with the clean energy industry at the pace and scale required, and that planning and resourcing commences early to ensure First Nations have capacity to participate in and benefit from the clean energy transition, including through training, jobs and business opportunities on country.

Best Practice Principles to inform clean energy projects

The First Nations Clean Energy Network advocates for the development of a clean energy sector which supports the aspirations and objectives of First Nations people across Australia, and an active network of Traditional Owners and First Nations representative entities, businesses, employees, organisations and groups engaged in the clean energy sector.

To assist in the shaping of such a sector, the Network developed a set of Best Practice Principles for Clean Energy Projects (2). These Principles place First Nations people and their communities at the centre of the development, design, implementation and opportunities for economic benefit from clean energy projects.

The Network developed the Principles anticipating they will aid governments with the design of policy and regulatory frameworks, and also assist industry in its efforts to engage and partner with First Nations in the development of clean energy projects.

KPMG and the Clean Energy Council worked with the Network to operationalise the Best Practice Principles to further assist the clean energy industry set clear benchmarks in their engagement with First Nations. Amongst other leading practices principles, the new guide (3) identifies ‘employment and training leading practice’ for the clean energy industry as -

Establishing a local and culturally safe First Nations employment strategy (co-designed with local First Nations groups) that:

• Engages with the local community to identify which jobs fit the community’s economic, social and cultural needs
• Sets targets throughout the project lifecycle for First Nations employment, including in maintenance and operations as this provides longer-term employment outcomes
• Embeds targets in contracts with third-parties, EPCs and sub-contractors to ensure future owners/ operators are bound to existing agreements
• Assigns accountability for employment targets to senior HR personnel
• Regularly reports back to the local community on how targets are being met
• Undertakes skills analysis for the local community and broader region and provides training accordingly
• Provides pre-employment support and mentoring for First Nations job seekers
• Supports sustainable and future focused training and skills development, including high school initiatives and apprenticeships
• Funds First Nations scholarships for training courses, including through collaboration with other developers and proponents
• Focuses on upskilling and leadership opportunities to drive learning and career development and ensure First Nations people are not limited to entry-level roles
• Includes the development and implementation of a retention strategy, including monitoring and reporting to community and company governance
• Supports or establishes community education programs to increase knowledge of renewable energy.

Powering First Nations Jobs in Clean Energy

Building longer-term employment and skills development — focusing on 'careers not jobs’ — is a primary pathway to meeting the clean energy workforce needs of the clean energy transition while building generational wealth for First Nations Australians.

The Network spent the last two years researching appropriate and evidenced-based clean energy job pathways for First Nations because we know that along with transforming our energy system, we also need to transform Australia’s workforce to meet existing and new opportunities that will emerge in the years to come.

Our Clean Energy Job Pathways Initiative (4) aims to identify clear pathways for quality jobs and careers for First Nations Australians in the clean energy sector. We want First Nations to be supported to enter the clean energy sector workforce and be able to access quality job opportunities and career pathways as they emerge, in towns and cities, and on country where many projects are being located. 

Some jurisdictions are starting to put in place targets for First Nations employment, but without the necessary supports and measures to ensure those targets can be met, and without the necessary consultation and collaboration with First Nations Australians. 

With all this activity, we’re concerned there is little focus or coordination across local, regional and federal levels to support First Nations workers access the education, apprenticeships, experiences, knowledge and support required to take advantage of the opportunities emerging in the energy transition.   

We want to ensure that the range of current efforts in Australia, at regional, state/territory levels and by the Federal Government on developing the workforce for Australia’s transition to a clean energy economy includes: 

• a strong focus on supporting the aspirations of First Nations workers to access quality jobs 
• the right policy settings and proper funding for programs and services
• support for First Nations-controlled service providers
• clear pathways for quality jobs and careers for First Nations Australians into the clean energy sector.  

We want to highlight the approaches that work - particularly highlighting the success of First Nations community-controlled organisations and service delivery providers - and we want to see these services properly funded and supported so they can scale their impact. 

To that end, we organised for comprehensive research on the pathways for building First Nations jobs in the clean energy sector to be undertaken with a variety of partners including: the Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney, SGS Economics and Planning, Indigenous Energy Australia and Alinga Energy Consulting, guided by a Steering Group with representatives from: Mint Renewables, the First Nations Clean Energy Network, Electrical Trades Union, TAFE NSW, Powering Skills Organisation, and Beon Energy Solutions.

Our final report on that research, Powering First Nations Jobs in Clean Energy (5) was launched (6) in Parliament House in June 2024 by Federal Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen assisted by the Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney.

Powering First Nations Jobs in Clean Energy addresses a critical aspect of the Network’s mission: increasing access to training, creating employment, and building career paths in the clean energy sector for First Nations Australians. 

Our report authors reviewed industry and government policy, programs and targets across the nation to find out what is working and what isn’t, and found there is significant potential through collective action to improve First Nations employment outcomes.

The report offers 12 recommendations and actions (7) across climate, energy and industry policy that can be taken now by Federal and state/territory governments, industry, and training organisations. They are: 

1. Incorporate First Nations employment and training targets into the Capacity Investment Scheme
2. Set up a coordinated industry program for First Nations apprentices in wind farm maintenance
3. Integrate First Nations employment and training targets and initiatives into housing retrofit, diesel replacement and micro- grid programs
4. Develop ‘CareerTrackers for Clean Energy’: long-term Industry commitments to First Nations cadetships
5. Develop clean energy careers for First Nations school students
6. Establish School to VET transitions: Traineeships and Apprenticeships
7. Develop outreach engagement with First Nations students via Regional University Study Hubs
8. Develop pre-employment programs to create pathways into entry-level jobs in solar farms
9. Fund Group Training, focussing on the REZs and First Nations housing retrofits
10. Fund an industry support program to enable achievement of employment and training targets
11. Build the capacity and coordination of First Nations organisations, networks and businesses
12. Build cultural competence in the renewable energy sector.

While there are major structural barriers to increasing participation amongst First Nations people who are unemployed and not in the labour force, we found that to maximise the clean energy industry’s positive impact within the First Nations community, there should be a focus on employing school leavers and the unemployed, rather than competing for already skilled workers. If renewable energy could attract and train even modest proportions of First Nations youths, this would make a large contribution to the achievement of targets in most Renewable Energy Zones (REZs). Equally, the use of pre-employment programs and other initiatives to employ just 1–3% of the unemployed and those not in the labour force also appears attainable.

Many of the training and employment challenges faced by regional and remote First Nations communities are due to systemic, intergenerational disadvantage. Common barriers include lack of transportation, low literacy and numeracy skills, lack of access to computers, and work-welfare disincentives (the risk of loss of government assistance). Further, quality regionally based Registered Training Organisations are virtually non-existent and local TAFEs are severely under-resourced.

Cultural awareness, competitive salaries and established training pathways will be key aspects for the clean energy industry to compete with jobs in mining.

The government in partnership with the clean energy industry, employment and training providers, and First Nations groups will need to bring innovative solutions to the table to overcome barriers to setting and achieving First Nations employment targets.

Comments on the Consultation Paper

The First Nations Clean Energy Network welcomes the opportunity to provide comments on the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water’s (DCCEEW) “National Energy Workforce Strategy - Consultation Paper” (August 2024).

Our comments are made in the context of the Networkʼs activities seeking to ensure that First Nations participate in and benefit from Australiaʼs clean energy transition, and the following data points:

• As noted in the Australian Government’s Employment White Paper (2023)(8), ‘...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’. This stagnation in employment rates of First Nation reflects deep structural sources of disadvantage beyond and within the labour market.
  

• Jobs and Skills Australia’s 2023a report (9) noted employment rates for First Nations Australians are much lower than non-indigenous Australians. Across all sectors, First Nations make up 1.9% of the workforce (and 3.8% of the population), and the level of employment of First Nations people in occupations used by clean energy is low.
  

• The Clean Energy Council’s 2023 report (10) noted that only 0.8% of the clean energy workforce identify as First Nations, compared to First Nations comprising almost 4% of the Australia population.
  

• The First Nations Clean Energy Network’s Powering First Nations Jobs in Clean Energy report (2024)(11) found there is a significant opportunity to increase First Nations employment in Renewable Energy Zones (REZs). First Nations populations in REZs are higher than average – and very young, with employment targets of 5% to 10% appearing achievable over time.

There is much to be done to support and enable First Nations take up employment opportunities in the clean energy sector, particularly as policy frameworks begin to emerge that seek to prioritise First Nations employment outcomes.(12)

Unless there is a coordinated approach to jobs and skills in the clean energy sector developed in collaboration with government and industry and led by First Nations communities and organisations, the statistics highlighted by the Clean Energy Council will not likely improve.

The First Nations Clean Energy Strategy as a key government strategy

In August 2022, Energy Ministers agreed to work with First Nations Australians to co-design a First Nations Clean Energy Strategy (13) as a priority action under the National Energy Transformation Partnership (14). The First Nations Clean Energy Strategy was additionally listed in the Jobs and Skills Summit Outcomes document in September 2022.(15)

A First Nations Clean Energy Strategy will help ensure First Nations Australians have a greater say in the priorities for the National Energy Transformation Partnership, and participate in the design, development and implementation of clean energy policies and programs in the transition to net zero. 

The Strategy is an opportunity to review laws, regulation and policy, to lift barriers and implement regulatory reform, and to stoke government investment in innovation, technology and infrastructure, so that First Nations people can share in and benefit from the benefits of the clean energy revolution.

The Commonwealth committed $5.5 million to support the co-design process and Strategy development. This funding leverages and builds on the best practice work of jurisdictions, First Nations communities and organisations to shape the Strategy, including identifying priority reforms and investment needed to deliver whatʼs needed into the future.

Following numerous roundtable consultations with First Nations people across the country, the Strategy framework was endorsed by Energy Ministers in July 2024 with Energy Ministers (16) noting the Strategy continues to be a key priority. An implementation plan is being co-developed and will be presented for consideration at the Ministers December 2024 meeting. 

The outcome will be a First Nations co-designed strategy that will be a priority action in the National Energy Transformation Partnership.

In addition to the development of the Strategy, in October 2022, Energy Ministers agreed the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water would develop a National Energy Workforce Strategy, working with state and territory governments through the National Energy Transformation Partnership.

The government’s Clean Energy Capacity Study Discussion paper (17) lists government strategies including the National Energy Workforce Strategy, but does include the First Nations Clean Energy Strategy (which is, as outlined above, a priority action under the National Energy Transformation Partnership).

The Network considers that the First Nations Clean Energy Strategy should inform the National Energy Workforce Strategy and all other government strategies and frameworks, including that current and planned jobs and skills initiatives should align to produce improved First Nations outcomes, ultimately supporting the whole national energy transformation for all Australians.

First Nations - employment and training policies and programs

There have been many major studies and reviews in recent years into enabling First Nations employment and training programs and policies. 

In 2007, the House Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs tabled its report on the inquiry into First Nations employment.(18)

First Nations employment outcomes are measured and reported as part of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap.(19) 

The Productivity Commission (2020)(20) found 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 obtaining at least a Certificate III qualification (target 6).

In 2021, the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Indigenous Affairs tabled an inquiry into Pathways and Participation Opportunities for Indigenous Australians in Employment and Business.(21)

A major review of the Indigenous Employment Skills Program was also undertaken in 2021.(22)

Jobs and Skills Australia profiled the First Nations workforce (2022)(23) and the clean energy workforce (2023)(24).

The National Centre for Vocational Education Research profiled First Nations training participation (2023).

And the Productivity Commission continues to publish reviews into Closing the Gap targets (2023), and more recently, Reviewing the National Agreement on Closing the Gap (2024)(25) which found:

• commitment to shared decision-making is rarely achieved in practice
• current government practices do not reflect the value of the Aboriginal Controlled Community Organisation sector
• a lack of whole-of-government or organisational strategies for driving and delivering transformation in First Nations employment strategies
• governments are not enabling First Nations-led data
• and the approach to performance monitoring:
  • includes hundreds of indicators, but it is not clear how well they track change, and most do not actually have data yet
  • relies on the quality of governments’ implementation plans and annual reports
  • has yet to centre Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives.(26)

Despite the myriad of reports, analyses and recommendations, governments continue to flail and systemic and structural sources of disadvantage continue. First Nations Australians have lower rates of employment, qualifications, earnings, and quality of employment than the non-Indigenous population. 

The First Nations Clean Energy Network in its recent report Powering First Nations Jobs in Clean Energy(27) undertook demographic and labour market analysis across a selection of REZs in South Australia, Victoria, NSW and Queensland, while also synthesising learnings from past reports produced.

The report notes: One of the key learnings from past programs is that supply and demand measures need to be integrated wherever possible. Supply-side measures on their own can easily become ‘training for training sake’ – in our fieldwork we found a lot of cynicism amongst First Nations people about the commitment of industry to deliver jobs. Demand-side measures on their own risk ‘accounting’ exercises as the industry finds way to comply with targets without the people with the right skills to create real employment opportunities.

The report recommends four types of actions for increasing First Nations employment and training in clean energy:

1. ‘Demand-side’ measures to increase clean energy employment opportunities for First Nations (eg. employment and training targets in government-led schemes like the Capacity Investment Scheme, and industry training programs and firm commitments)
   
2. ‘Supply-side’ measures to increase the volume of First Nations with the right skills (eg. establishing pathways into the workforce from school to VET, and into university, and outreach and pre-employment programs)
   
3. ‘Enabling’ measures that connect industry, employment and training resources and First Nations people (eg. industry support programs and place-based collaborations between industry, First Nations organisations and training bodies)
   
4. ‘Cross-cutting’ measures to increase the capacity of First Nations organisations and change the culture of the clean energy industry (eg. funding and supporting capacity building programs supporting the creation and participation of First Nations in clean energy projects).

It notes integrating labour supply and demand-side and other supporting measures will be required to be successful, and all measures should be co-designed and co-led with First Nations.

At the same time, companies in the clean energy industry need to improve their cultural awareness and competency, through a greater take-up of Reconciliation Action Plans (RAPS) and equivalent commitments, with governments providing incentives, funding and tender requirements. Industry workforce strategies must also be reviewed to ensure meaningful inclusion of First Nations people, recognition of the significant barriers to participation, and the co-design of pathways and innovative solutions to address those barriers.

Our report notes, to shift the culture of industry and government towards a genuine commitment to materially enabling First Nations people and communities, a number of pathways should be considered:

• establish formal partnerships and shared decision-making between governments and First Nations communities 
• incentivise cultural responsiveness and competency for the clean energy organisations receiving government funding, through levers such as mandates and tender criteria
• enhance RAPs and industry agreements to focus on setting aspirational targets (e.g material impact within a specific community, embedding a commitment to support these First Nations outcomes).

Our report identified three labour supply focus areas for attracting and retaining a First Nations workforce: 

1. existing workers shifting into renewable energy
2. school leavers entering the workforce
3. those who are unemployed or not currently in the labour force entering the workforce.

In government climate and energy initiatives, there are opportunities to integrate employment and training targets in supply-side programs like First Nations clean energy programs, such as First Nations housing retrofits, First Nations microgrids, and future programs (e.g. diesel replacement with solar and battery). Building the capacity of First Nations businesses to lead such programs (and shift existing First Nations workers into renewable energy) is likely to lead to better program outcomes. The programs will also create the scale and funding leverage needed to create apprenticeship and employment opportunities for First Nations school leavers and those not currently in the workforce.

First Nations organisations including representative bodies, employment service providers and businesses generally suffer from a lack of resources and capacity. The Productivity Commission’s Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage review (2020, p. 129) finds that to increase employment, support must be provided to the development of First Nations businesses who employ more First Nations people than non-Indigenous businesses. Funding is required to increase the capacity of First Nations organisations to engage effectively with the clean energy sector, governments and other actors in the clean energy transition.

Funding First Nations employment service providers and/or engagement officers with links into communities will assist in developing a pipeline of applicants, while the use of Group Training Organisations and post-employment support can maximise the likelihood of further accredited training and employment.

Jobs Skills Australia (2023: 205) observed there are difficulties attracting students into the clean energy sector because there is often no clear pathway, and a lack of a standardised curriculum. There is also generally low awareness of the clean energy industry, the types of jobs available, and the economic opportunities available. 

Effective engagement with First Nations that increases school completions and transitions into structured training and employment is key. A greater focus on school careers and industry information programs for First Nations school students can increase awareness of the clean energy industry and support, connect and equip students with opportunities, including a focus in regional and remote areas where the infrastructure will be located. Supporting and expanding Regional University Study Hubs to play a role in promoting clean energy related study and career opportunities in another key initiative.

Highlighting cultural linkages to the clean energy industry is one of the change pathways identified in our report, vital to students’ perception of relevance to, the self-value they place on, and aspiration to be a part of, the industry. Structures to support First Nations students to “walk in two worlds” must be established - assisting students to aspire to and be given the appropriate support for educational and work success, as well as fulfilling cultural and communal duties. These support structures would need to exist inside and outside of the school gate.

Jobs Skills Australia (2023: 138) highlights the clean energy sector currently makes limited use of ‘supported entry pathways’, and there could be value in a program like CareerTrackers for VET pathways as well as university pathways. School apprenticeships, internships and trainee programs; ‘taste tester’ short courses; pre-apprenticeship programs; building on existing programs within electricity networks; and increasing First Nations representation among clean energy trainers / educators are all important linkages to improve transitions and completion of VET qualifications. 

There are supply shortages in a range of professional occupations in energy management and efficiency and renewable energy. Research shows First Nations cadetship programs have a ‘meaningful’ impact on the probability of university entrance, completion and employment.(28) Funding should be provided for a cadetship service provider initiative between universities, energy industry and professional associations and their members to increase the volume of First Nations students completing degrees in clean energy qualifications.

It will take time to develop a pipeline of First Nations students. Long-term commitments are required from government, energy organisations, and universities to make employment and training initiatives such as cadetship programs work. Stop-start funding erodes community trust. Leadership by the Federal Government is required to create a catalyst for change by coordinating the various stakeholders, and providing stable on-going funding for scholarships, service-providers and promotion of any program.

Disincentives to work due to interactions with other forms of income support (such as rental assistance) needs to be urgently addressed, particularly if work in the clean energy industry is not permanent. Concerns that clean energy employment might not be permanent may lead to reluctance to take on more employment if there is a loss of other income support.

Creating jobs for First Nations people has high social benefits in communities with multi-generational unemployment. A coordinated program alongside mandatory employment targets is required to make this a standard feature of clean energy construction. That includes having pre-employment training, support services to address barriers (e.g. licences, soft-skills, transport) and ‘wrap-around’ services that address circumstances that can prevent individuals getting and keeping jobs (eg. housing, family, transport etc). Coordination with training, employment service providers, and community is important to ensure clean energy employment is a bridge to further training or employment.

The Federal Government could provide funding for the development of an industry support program, including a network of specialist officers to be embedded in projects to support delivery of employment and training targets to First Nations. Our report notes the NSW Infrastructure Skills Legacy Program(29) is a good model of such a program that provides industry support alongside employment and training targets. It has become standard practice for major government infrastructure projects and is now mandatory. To date, projects have on average exceeded most targets including an average of 26% apprentices and 7% First Nations employees (Department of Education 2024). Some key elements includes:

• skills, training and diversity targets based on contract value (e.g. 20% of the trades workforce are required to be apprentices, 20% of workforce must be learning workers, 2% of the trades workforce must be women)
• mandatory application of the Aboriginal procurement policy which includes 1.5% First Nations business participation and employment
• embedding specialist officers within projects to facilitate recruitment, sourcing of training and other services towards achievement of diversity targets.

In identifying pathways forward in the National Energy Workforce Strategy, it is critical that First Nations Australians be equipped and enabled to lead the design of the workforce education and training system. Building First Nations capacity for realising clean energy partnerships and supply chain opportunities to enable First Nations employment and training outcomes can further assist in meeting Australia’s clean energy workforce development needs.

All of our recommendations for increasing First Nations employment outcomes in the clean energy sector can be found in a liftout version of our report to further guide and populate the National Energy Workforce Strategy in development.

Endnotes:

4 First Nations Clean Energy Network. Clean Energy Jobs Pathway Initiative.

5 First Nations Clean Energy Network (June 2024), Powering First Nations Jobs in Clean Energy.

6 First Nations Clean Energy Network (25 June 2024), Media Release, Ready-set-go: 12 actions to power First Nations jobs in clean energy 

7 First Nations Clean Energy Network (June 2024), Summary of Recommendations and Actions to Power First Nations Jobs in Clean Energy

8 Commonwealth of Australia (September 2023). Working Future: the Australian Government’s White Paper on Jobs and Opportunities.

9 Jobs and Skills Australia (2023). The Clean Energy Generation: Workforce needs for a Net Zero Economy.

10 Clean Energy Council (2023). Clean Energy Australia Report 2023.

11 First Nations Clean Energy Network (June 2024), Powering First Nations Jobs in Clean Energy. 

12 E.g. See for example the guidelines issued under section 4(1) of NSWʼs Electricity Infrastructure Act 2020 which are intended to provide for increased employment and income opportunities for local First Nations communities.

13 DCCEEW, First Nations Clean Energy Strategy.

14 DCCEEW, National Energy Transformation Partnership.

15 Australian Government Treasury (2022), Jobs and Skills Summit - Outcomes. 1-2 September.

16 Energy and Climate Change Ministerial Council, Meeting Communique, 19 July 2024.

17 Jobs and Skills Australia (April 2023), Australia’s Clean Energy Workforce Discussion Paper. P 17. 

18 House of Representatives, Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs (June 2007), Indigenous Australians at work - Successful Initiatives in Indigenous Employment.

19 Australian government, National Agreement on Closing the Gap. See Closing the Gap Information Repository.

20 Productivity Commission (2020), Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage: Key Indicators 2020.

21 House of Representatives Standing Committee on Indigenous Affairs (Aug 2021), Report on Indigenous Participation in Employment and Business.

22 Prepared by Inside Policy for the National Indigenous Australians Agency (Oct 2021), The Indigenous Skills & Employment Program Consultation Outcomes Report. 

23 Jobs and Skills Australia (2022), First Nations People Workforce Analysis.

24 Jobs and Skills Australia (2023), The Clean Energy Generation: workforce needs for a net zero economy.

25 Productivity Commission (Jan 2024), Review of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap.

26 Productivity Commission (Jan 2024), National Agreement on Closing the Gap - Approach to the Review.

27 First Nations Clean Energy Network (Jun 2024), Powering Jobs for First Nations in Clean Energy.

28 Inside Policy (June 2020). Evaluation of the Indigenous Cadetship Support (ICS) and Tailored Assistance Employment Grants (TAEG) Cadets Programs. Prepared for the National Indigenous Australians Agency.

29 NSW Government, Infrastructure Skills Legacy Program.

Repositioning Australia’s economy to remain globally competitive through the energy transition does not mean stripping out First Nations outcomes - in fact the opposite must be the case.

First Nations communities and the impacts on land, waters and culture and through supply chains must be considered in the design of these production tax incentives.

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Australia’s Future Made in Australia agenda - including through the Future Made in Australia Bill - provides an unmissable opportunity to embed First Nations outcomes.

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Since being launched in November 2021, the First Nations Clean Energy Network has advocated for an energy system that ensures First Nations participation and benefit.

The Network considers Ergon Energy’s waiver application should not be granted at this time by the Australian Energy Regulator, because the waiver fails to demonstrate how it could meaningfully and materially reduce current widespread experiences of energy insecurity for households and communities in the target region.

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Thanks for the photo by Jack T on Unsplash