Landholder Engagement Training

Australia is embarking on energy infrastructure projects the scale of which have not been seen in most people’s lifetimes. With this, a growing number of agricultural landholders are being approached to host electricity transmission and other energy infrastructure on their land.

These transmission development projects, as well as the maintenance of existing infrastructure, can impact the agricultural operations, and lives and livelihoods of landholders and their communities.

Together, we have a responsibility to recognise and minimise these impacts and work towards shared value outcomes for everyone.

The Landholder Engagement Training in October 2023

The face-to-face training sessions were held on Tuesday 3 October – Wednesday 4 October 2023, with the purpose of supporting those responsible for working directly with impacted landholders to help them do their job well, while keeping themselves and the landholders physically and emotionally safe.

Hosted by AusNet Services, the training brought Land Agents and Landholder Engagement teams from Transgrid, Powerlink Queensland, Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) and VicGrid together, building on the work led by TasNetworks and Andrew Dyer, Australian Energy Infrastructure Comissioner earlier in the year.

“The worst response to a complex problem is thinking that there is a simple solution”

Kate Burke

Ag Specialist

Landholder Engagement Training outcomes

Over the two-day training course, participants shared insights with peers as well as heard from a range of subject matter experts and landholders with a focus on four key areas including:

WHO: Understanding landholders and regional communities
WHY: Building and maintaining social licence
WHAT: The role and opportunities for better practice
HOW: Communication, empathy and psychological safety

Topics covered

Key Area	Session
WHO	Landholder insights – Breakfast fireside chat
WHO	Farmers + engagement
WHY	What’s better practice social licence
HOW	Walking in the landholder shoes and thriving through the journey
WHAT	Panel Q&A - Environment, planning and heritage approvals
WHAT	Access agreement “Choose Your Own Adventure” role play
WHAT	Land and easement valuations for transmission projects
WHAT	Understanding the legal process through the eyes the landowner
WHAT	Construction – Understanding and identifying key impacts
WHAT	What can we do better workshop?
HOW	Creating psychological safety for teams
HOW	Empathy in practice
HOW	Creating a peer support Action Plan

Next steps

The next Landholder Engagement Training will be hosted by Powerlink Queensland in early 2024. Stay tuned!