Community Benefits

The Blue Mackerel Offshore Wind Project wants to make sure local communities share in the opportunities this project can bring. If the project progresses to construction, we will deliver a Community Benefits Program. It will be designed with the community, for community.

We’re currently reviewing your feedback as one of the inputs for our Community Benefits Program. We have gathered feedback using a range of methods, including survey submissions, completed Conversation Toolkits, and semi-structured interviews.

Three people assembling a heart-shaped puzzle with four pieces

Community Benefits: A Conversation Toolkit

You can download our Conversation Toolkit using the link below.

Community Benefits Toolkit

What’s the Blue Mackerel project all about? Head over to our project information page for everything you need to know.

Have questions about the Toolkit or our Community Benefits Program? For further support please email info@bluemackerel.com.au or call +61 390210602

Find out more about Community Benefits

What are community benefits?

They are a way for the project to give back to local communities, especially those living closest to the project who may be most affected. The Clean Energy Council defines community benefit sharing as:

“Sharing the rewards of renewable energy development with local communities. It aims to integrate a development in the local community by contributing to the future vitality and success of the region. It is based on a desire to establish and maintain positive long-term connections to the area and to be a good neighbour”.

Benefits can include things like creating local jobs and supporting local services. The Community Benefits Program goes beyond this. The Program will be developed with your ideas and feedback, reflecting what’s important to your community.

What are examples of community benefits?

Community benefits can take many forms, and new ideas may emerge on what matters most to your community.

  • Funding and financial support (Grants to local clubs/events, small business support, local infrastructure)

  • Community partnerships (Collaboration with schools, sports clubs, health services, festivals)

  • Infrastructure, education and tourism (School programs or training, local tourism initiatives, local infrastructure upgrades)

  • Innovative financial options (Community co-investment, energy bill relief)

  • Local energy solutions (e.g. Solar panels for community buildings, EV chargers, clean energy trials)

What's Blue Mackerel doing?

We’re engaging with local communities to help shape our benefits program. We want to explore what makes your community unique, understand your values, and gather your ideas. This will help us design a program that best supports your needs.

How do Community Benefits Programs work?

  • A Community Benefits Program sets out the plan for how the project will deliver real benefits to the local community.

  • Establishing the Program is a part of the project’s planning and approval process.

  • Engaging with community is an important step to build a Community Benefits Program.

  • Every Community Benefits Program is different. It’s built around the needs, strengths, and ideas of the local community.