- Crisafulli Government delivers practical resources for councils to navigate renewable energy projects and support the next generation of town planners.
- Social Licence in Renewable Energy Toolkit includes tools, templates and checklists to help councils engage with renewable energy developers and deliver lasting benefits for regional host communities.
- New funding commitment to update course materials for the Diploma of Local Government (Planning) and better equip future town planners and ensure better planning outcomes for local communities.
- Crisafulli Government is delivering on its election commitment to empower communities on local renewable energy projects.
The Crisafulli Government is better equipping Queensland councils and their communities to navigate nation-leading renewable energy planning reforms with the launch of a new Social Licence in Renewable Energy Toolkit.
The toolkit will empower local governments to navigate the renewable energy sector by providing guidance on managing social impacts and securing long-term benefits, with tools, templates and checklists to support planning, approvals, community engagement and benefit-sharing.
As part of its commitment to building stronger, more responsive councils, the Deputy Premier also announced $80,000 in funding to modernise and update course materials for the Diploma of Local Government (Planning), helping to prepare the next generation of planners with better skills and knowledge.
Labor's reckless rush to renewables and short-term political point scoring meant that communities, councils and stakeholders were previously shut out of approval processes.
The Crisafulli Government is backing regional Queensland with nation-leading legislation that delivers on its election commitment to empower communities on renewable energy projects in their own backyards.
The landmark Planning (Social Impact and Community Benefit) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2025, which was backed by regional Queensland, leveled the playing field for renewable energy projects.
The new approvals system introduced significant reforms that strengthen social licence requirements for renewable energy projects and deliver consistent development assessment rules across Queensland to ensure long-lasting legacy and community benefits are locked in during approval processes.
Developed in consultation with the Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ), councils and other stakeholders, the toolkit responds to calls from councils for support to navigate Queensland's approvals process.
Deputy Premier and Minister for State Development, Infrastructure and Planning, Jarrod Bleijie, said the measures were part of the Crisafulli Government's commitment to empowering councils and ensuring communities were at the centre of planning decisions, after a decade of being ridden roughshod by Labor.
"We're committed to empowering councils with the resources and support they need to deliver for their communities and respond to the challenges that major new projects bring," Deputy Premier Bleijie said.
"The social licence toolkit gives councils the tools they need to navigate renewables projects, engage confidently with industry and ensure real and lasting benefits stay in their regions.
"This is what real consultation looks like – not the tick-box approach Queenslanders were subject to during Labor's decade of decline.
"Additionally, our funding towards planning education ensures tomorrow's planners are trained with the tools and knowledge they need to make great decisions for their communities today and into the future."
LGAQ chief executive officer Alison Smith said host communities deserved to benefit from all major projects, not simply endure them.
"Councils have long argued social licence needed to be locked in ahead of major projects arriving if the communities hosting them were to benefit from the economic boost rather than suffer from their roads being damaged, their housing being bought up for workers and for little benefit," Ms Smith said.
"Giving councils the support they need to plan for major projects is the way forward for the benefit of their communities.
"We all know planners in local government are in a critical short supply so providing funding to enable the LGAQ to restart the Diploma of Local Government, which provides a Cert 4 Planning qualification is critical to helping address challenges such as the housing crisis, to plan for opportunities such as the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and to help us deal with having the country's highest interstate migration rate."
