Regional Energy Accord

The Regional Energy Accord is a new national effort to ensure that regional voices shape how the transition unfolds and share in the benefits.

The Regional Energy Accord is not another consultation. It’s a shared agreement that will built from the ground up, with regional voices leading the way. It will set out clear principles for how energy organisations, governments and regional communities can work together.

It’s voluntary, place-based and will be driven by the regions that are already doing the heavy-lifting work of the transition.

This isn’t about more consultation. It’s about building shared commitments, local leadership and a way to do things differently and better together.

 FAQs

  • Regional Australia is carrying the nation’s energy transition, hosting transmission and renewables infrastructure, navigating impacts and doing the groundwork for the nation's energy transition. This work has the potential to unlock opportunities: to strengthen local economies, create new industries and build community resilience.

    Unfortunately, projects often happen to local communities, not with them.

    We hope the Accord changes that. It starts with listening, not answers and it’s about putting local people at the centre of shaping how change happens.

    Together, we hope to build thriving, resilient regional communities through Australia’s renewable energy transition. With an estimated $1.9 billion in benefits by 2050:Billions in the Bush Report, the Accord may offer a clear pathway to foster partnership, prosperity, innovation and pride in regional Australia through collaborative commitments. 

  • The Regional Energy Accord is likely to be business as usual and not just focused on the immediate here and now. It’s a new way of working, shaped by and for regional Australia.

    It starts local, led by trusted regional voices and builds on what’s already happening, not duplicating or overriding it. It recognises the diversity of communities, rejecting one-size-fits-all approaches in favour of locally grounded solutions. It asks everyone involved to respond to what is happening locally, but to take a bigger systems view of the future.

    This is about shared vision and shared responsibility. A real opportunity to align, act and build trust, together, with outcomes that can guide the energy transition nationally, from the ground up.

  • We’re beginning in Gippsland, the Wimmera Southern Mallee and North East Victoria, regions with lived experience, practical insights and a desire to lead.

    Each roundtable is shaped with and by locals, grounded in the region’s realities and built to reflect the hard-won lessons and shared aspirations. These are not talkfests. They’re working sessions where people walk away knowing they’ve contributed to something that will be used and felt.

  • If you're collaborating in a roundtable: you’ll be in a room with respected leaders from across your region, government and energy industry and more….

    • You’ll help identify what matters most for your community, what’s working and and what needs to change

    • Your voice will shape the first version of the Regional Energy Accord, which is being built to reflect your lived experience, your region and your priorities

    • You’ll be part of something bigger, a national shift toward doing energy transition differently.

Who is behind it?

The Energy Charter is supporting this initiative. It’s a CEO-led collaboration of energy companies across Australia: from generation to transmission, distribution to retail. It’s purpose is clear: better outcomes for consumers and communities. The Accord is how they’re showing up differently: by listening, aligning, and acting on what regional Australia says matters most.

To manage the initiative at a national level, The Energy Charter have established a number of key governance mechanisms: 

  • Community Outcomes Group includes trusted national, regional and local leaders who stay involved beyond roundtables to turn words into action.

  • Industry Impact Group brings energy sector leaders to the table to align strategy, investment and delivery with what communities say matters.

  • CEO Council ensures the energy sector’s top decision-makers listen to regional voices and lead internal change.

All of this is backed by independent facilitation, ensuring the process builds trust and genuine collaboration.