Working with Communities

Early, open and transparent engagement is central to our approach. Throughout construction of the North West Transmission Developments, we will provide ongoing opportunities for stakeholders and community members to stay informed, participate in engagement activities and provide feedback.

We have been working with landholders and communities located within the North West Transmission Developments project area since 2019 through individual meetings, community drop-in sessions and workshops, webinars, focus groups and surveys as well as through working with our Stakeholder Liaison Group.

Community Engagement Reports
To keep our community informed, NWTD publishes community engagement reports twice a year. These reports provide an overview of engagement activities and initiatives undertaken during the reporting period.
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Bright Futures Fund

Major projects, like the NWTD, deliver broad benefits to communities across a region, state or country, however, project impacts can be felt by the local communities surrounding the project. Developing a community benefits sharing program, now called the Bright Futures Fund, is part of TasNetworks’ commitment to ensuring an ongoing and sustainable positive legacy for communities in the NWTD project area.

Grant funding is available across different tiers to support community projects at all stages, from new concepts through to larger, established projects. An independent community assessment panel reviews all applications and helps to decide where the funding goes. An independent chair oversees the panel to ensure fairness, integrity and effectiveness.

TasNetworks manages the administration and governance of the fund, ensuring it is delivered with transparency, accountability and strong community alignment.

The Bright Futures Fund will be available while the NWTD is in construction, so through until 2030, or until all the funding has been distributed.

Learn more at www.tasnetworks.com.au/brightfuturesfund

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Stakeholder Liaison Group

The NWTD Stakeholder Liaison Group (SLG) is independently chaired with representation across key industry and peak bodies, education, skills and training sectors and state government organisations.

The SLG has been meeting between four and six times per year since 2021. The meetings provide an opportunity for TasNetworks to understand stakeholder perspectives and receive feedback on a range of matters related to the NWTD.

Meeting minutes, agenda and presentation materials are available at www.tasnetworks.com.au/nwtd-stakeholder-liaison-group

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Rural Alive and Well

Transmission infrastructure projects can impact on the wellbeing, mental health and relationships of landholders and community members. Tasmanian rural communities and landholders may already be hosting infrastructure such as transmission towers, irrigation or gas pipeline prior to being notified of a new development. It is recognised that these cumulative impacts can have negative mental health outcomes.

TasNetworks has an established partnership with Rural Alive and Well, a Tasmanian not for profit organisation that provides free counselling, support services and community connection opportunities to people in rural and remote regions.

This partnership will continue throughout construction and provides an independent service for impacted people to seek support.

Reach out to RAW

Reaching out isn’t always easy, but RAW has made it as easy as possible. Whether you want to call directly or request a call back, they’re there to help.

You can reach the RAW team at: 1800 729 827 www.ruralaliveandwell.com.au/callbackrequest

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Energy Charter

The Energy Charter is a unique coalition of like-minded energy organisations with a shared purpose to deliver better energy outcomes for customers and communities. TasNetworks is an active signatory to the Energy Charter, with a focus on publicly disclosing performance, lifting customer centric maturity, and collaborating across the Tasmanian energy sector.

As part of the Energy Charter, TasNetworks is involved in a range of initiatives, including:

Contributing to the Better Practice Social Licence Guideline

TasNetworks played a role in developing the Energy Charter’s 2023 Better Practice Social Licence Guideline, helping shape national expectations for how transmission businesses work respectfully and transparently with agricultural landholders. Its contribution supported a deeper understanding of the impacts of transmission infrastructure and identified practical opportunities to improve coexistence, communication, and outcomes for farming communities. TasNetworks participates in an independent accountability review every 18 months alongside other transmission signatories.

Participating in national #BetterTogether collaborations

TasNetworks works with other energy organisations, community groups, and customer advocates to co design solutions to shared challenges such as affordability, vulnerability support, and engagement during major infrastructure projects.

Strengthening our approach to engagement

Through annual disclosure reporting and maturity assessments, TasNetworks uses the Charter’s framework to test its performance, identify gaps, and lift capability across areas such as customer engagement, communication during outages, and support for vulnerable customers.

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