New Community Benefit System means additional challenges for Queensland renewable energy projects

What you need to know

• Queensland changed its planning rules for renewable energy projects in July 2025.
• Proponents of certain wind, solar and battery developments must now complete social impact assessments and reach community benefit agreements with local councils before they can make a development application for their project.
• These amendments are intended to front-load requirements for renewables proponents to engage with the local community and obtain their social licence to construct and operate.

What you need to do

• Understand that these amendments are likely to increase upfront costs and lead times for renewables projects.
• When considering the financial viability of new renewable energy projects, proponents will need to factor in not only the costs of the social impact assessment and community benefit agreement process, but also the potential financial contributions to be made under a community benefit agreement.
• Proponents and investors should continue to monitor the Government's continuing policy developments in its retreat from new renewables development.

New requirements for renewables development applications in Queensland

Since the 2024 Queensland election, the new Government has focused on Queensland's energy mix and its role in the energy transition. One concern, as noted in our 19 February 2025 alert, "Coexistence between renewable and resource projects in Queensland remains a key issue", was the relationship between renewables proponents and local communities. Many people within these communities oppose renewable developments near their homes and businesses. This created conflict at local council level. Councils struggled to balance their constituents' interests with the broader public interest in renewables.

In response to these concerns, the Government passed the Planning (Social Impact and Community Benefit) and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2025 (Qld) in June 2025. This Act amended the Planning Act 2016 (Qld) to require proponents for prescribed developments to conduct a Social Impact Assessment (SIA) and enter into a Community Benefit Agreement (CBA) with the relevant local council before they lodge their development application.

Subsequent amendments to the Planning Regulation 2017 (Qld) confirmed which developments must undertake the SIA/CBA process. Three types of renewable energy projects must comply:

• solar farms that have a maximum instantaneous electricity output of 1 MW or more;
• wind farms; and
• battery storage facilities that have a maximum instantaneous electricity output of 50 MW or more.

Social Impact Assessment process requires proponents to investigate social impact upfront

Proponents must prepare a report on the development's potential impact on the social environment of a community in the locality of the development. Section 106R of the Planning Act defines this to include impacts on the:

• physical or mental wellbeing of members of the community;
• livelihood of members of the community;
• values of the community; and
• provision of services to the community, including education, emergency and health services.

Impacts need not be negative. Section 106S states that impacts may be positive or negative, direct or indirect and include the cumulative impact of the development and other uses.

The Government has published a statutory guideline with mandatory requirements for the SIA process. It has also published non-statutory supplementary material with additional guidance.

Proponents must enter community benefit agreements before lodging development applications

Section 51(4) of the Planning Act states that proponents who are required to complete an SIA must also enter into CBAs with relevant local governments before they apply for development approval or must obtain a notice from the chief executive stating that a CBA is not required.

CBAs must provide benefits to the community in the locality of the development. The Planning Act does not prescribe what benefits a CBA must contain. However, it provides the following examples:

• providing or contributing towards infrastructure or another thing for the community, such as building sporting facilities or community libraries, or providing training programs; and
• making direct financial contributions to the community.

If the parties are unable to reach agreement, they can jointly ask the chief executive to refer them to mediation under section 106ZB of the Planning Act.

The Government has published guidance on preparing community benefit agreements.

Some local governments have also begun to publish policies setting out their positions on community benefit agreements – see, for example, policies from Isaac Regional Council, Gladstone Regional Council, Southern Downs Regional Council and Western Downs Regional Council. These policies tend to prescribe minimum financial contributions for each type of project based on the installed capacity of the projects:

• $850 per megawatt per annum for solar farm developments;
• $1,050 per megawatt per annum for wind farm developments;
• $150 per megawatt hour per annum for standalone battery storage facilities; and
• $850 per megawatt hour per annum for other energy storage facilities (such as hydroelectricity).

For the most part, these rates match the rates given in the NSW Department of Planning's Benefit-Sharing Guideline.

In certain cases, compliance with a CBA can be included as a condition on a development approval under section 65AA of the Planning Act.

Additional changes increase public scrutiny on renewables developments

The Government has amended the Planning Regulation to make solar farms, wind farms and battery storage facilities (even ones which do not meet the above criteria) impact assessable, with the chief executive acting as the assessment manager. Impact assessable development, among other things, is required to go through the public notification process allowing members of the community to make submissions on the proposed development.

The Government has also made amendments to the Development Assessment Rules under the Planning Act to specify additional requirements for publicly notifying developments requiring SIA.

Together, these amendments increase the likelihood of members of the community making submissions on development applications for these renewables projects.

Key takeaways

These amendments are intended to front-load requirements for renewables proponents to engage with the local community and obtain their social licence to construct and operate.

However, these amendments are likely to increase upfront costs and lead times for renewables projects. When considering the financial viability of new renewable energy projects, proponents will need to factor in not only the costs of the SIA/CBA process, but also the potential financial contributions to be made under a CBA.

On a broader level, these amendments form part of the Government's general policy retreat from new renewables development, evidenced in its Queensland Energy Roadmap 2025. One recent example was the Deputy Premier's May 2025 decision to exercise his ministerial call-in powers under the Planning Act to refuse the development application for the Moonlight Range Wind Farm. Proponents and investors should continue to monitor the Government's continuing policy development on this issue.

Want to know more?

• Coexistence between renewable and resource projects in Queensland remains a key issue, 19 February 2025

• Queensland land access and resource approvals year in review 2023, 18 December 2023
• Key trends in land access negotiations 2022, 20 December 2022
• Key trends in land access negotiations 2021, 27 September 2021

Other authors: Martin Doyle and Cooper Jones