Submission to the Senate Standing Committees on Environment and Communications Inquiry into the Offshore Wind Industry Consultation Process

This submission has been prepared by members of the social and economic research network established as part of the Australian Centre for Offshore Wind Energy (ACOWE) and affiliated universities. The undersigned members of this group are embedded in the regions in which offshore wind is proposed, with representatives from universities located adjacent to the declared or identified Offshore Energy Infrastructure Zones (OEIZs). They include research teams from: • Deakin University, • Federation University, • University of Melbourne, • University of Newcastle, • University of Western Australia, • University of Wollongong, and • Australian National University. Together we represent a diverse range of social science and policy expertise from across Australia. We collectively work across a range of social science research disciplines including ethnography, anthropology, marketing, economics, psychology, geography, law and political sciences. Between us we employ diverse qualitative and quantitative methods to explore energy transitions, marine and ocean governance and regional development. Many of us are already actively engaged in relevant research on offshore wind or energy transitions more broadly and we all have strong established research networks both within our own communities as well as with national and international research entities working in similar areas. We are therefore well placed to comment on the issues currently under consideration as part of the Senate Inquiry into the offshore wind industry consultation process. This letter summarises our overarching feedback and recommendations for the Government’s consideration against each of the Terms of Reference (TOR).