Can Australia's Clean Energy Transition also be a vehicle for social justice?

Australia is currently undergoing a renewable energy boom. The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) estimates that our country needs to triple current levels of utility-scale renewable energy by 2030, then double it again by 2040, and again by 2050 [1].

This transition will generate new jobs and industries and serve as the backbone of Australia’s efforts to address climate change through energy decarbonisation. These outcomes are worth celebrating. But they will not be without challenges. And like most things, there will undoubtedly be winners and losers from this transition. 

The construction of these projects and the transmission lines that link them to the electricity grid will transform vast tracts of land across Australia, mostly in rural and regional locations. In many cases, they will generate visual impacts, disrupt sense of place and First Nation’s connection to Country, and intrude on land traditionally used for grazing and agriculture. They will also distribute large temporary workforces throughout regions with limited access to housing and services.

The mining sector and infrastructure construction sector provide us with examples of how status quo approaches to workforce accommodation can play out, if not accompanied by housing strategies and interventions that emphasise community benefits and equity of access to important resources, opportunities and privileges.

Where workforces move into existing short-term accommodation, they run the risk of booking out hotels for years at a time and stifling tourism. Where workforces move into existing rental or purchased housing, they can drive dramatic price increases and displacement of lower income households [2]. The alternative has often been segregated worker camps that divert economic benefits away from existing communities and have been associated with antisocial behaviour [3].

An opportunity for transformation

But what if it didn’t have to be that way? What if we planned strategically to harness the green energy transition to also deliver genuinely socially just housing outcomes across Australia?

If we, as a society, prioritised the conscious creation of just cities and regions through a more equitable distribution of resources, opportunities and benefits, our energy transition could be accompanied by a social transformation that brought housing, employment and social services to some of the most under-served communities in our country. A just transition is one that applies place-based policies to the task of ensuring whole communities benefit from transitioning energy systems – and housing is a key component of that.

The following list includes seven provocations for how disturbing the status quo could in fact yield something wonderful and worthy of a ‘just transition’ label and the key actors central to the success of these initiatives.

1. Community Housing Providers as workforce housing providers

Community Housing Providers (CHPs) exist to generate housing and manage tenancies, usually for low income and vulnerable households on the social housing waiting list. These organisations are increasingly innovating to deliver a range of social, affordable and market-rate housing [4]. However, their growth is constrained by limited rent payments from low-income households.

Regional CHPs could sign a multi-year contract with government or renewable energy proponents, use that guaranteed cash flow to attract further debt or equity, and build accommodation to house a temporary workforce at market rates while there is demand. Once the construction boom ends, they can transition those dwellings to social housing.

Delivery teams already pay inflated hotel accommodation rates to house their workforce – why not redirect it to an organisation with tenancy management expertise and an organisational purpose to meet the needs of the most vulnerable people in impacted communities?

2. The Commonwealth Games/ Olympics model

International and national examples of athlete villages associated with the Olympics or Commonwealth Games also provide an ambitious idea of how we could tackle housing issues in areas with a temporary spike in specialised demand followed by sustained housing need.

Brisbane has just announced a plan to redevelop a waterfront site on land owned by Economic Development Queensland. Northshore Hamilton will accommodate over 10,000 athletes during the Olympics using innovative partitions and housing adaptations and will provide up to 2,000 permanent dwellings and a new hotel once it transitions to a mixture of Build-to-Rent, social housing, aged care, retirement living and market housing following the event [5].

Glasgow is another example of how a Commonwealth Games Village inspired innovation, diversity and experimentation in housing delivery. Following the Games in Glasgow, the athletes’ accommodation was adapted and expanded to form 700 new homes – 300 for sale and 400 for social and affordable rent [6]. The project was a collaborative effort between the Glasgow City Council, Scottish government, three Community Housing Providers and private developers. It displayed exemplary design and sustainability outcomes - exactly the kind of thing we should be emulating in our cities and regions. 

3. Transportable Units

There is an opportunity for government, social enterprise or private industry to develop transportable units that could be purchased or rented by local households or organisations in effected communities. Many properties have large backyards with the capacity to host an ancillary dwelling – why not champion a program that 1) generates income for the household through guaranteed rent, 2) houses temporary workforces and 3) allows for conversion to granny flats or teenage dens after the construction boom ends? Kids Under Cover is an example where the social housing sector is already managing small dwellings in backyards.

This idea also taps into inspiring things happening in the transportable unit dwelling space across Australia. In Victoria and Western Australia temporary land leases on government-owned land, coupled with architect-designed transportable homes, are housing people at risk of homelessness quickly, humanely and efficiently. The potential for transportable units to be implemented for workforces and then transitioned to local social enterprises is yet to be investigated but has great potential to generate social benefit across our regions. It’s particularly relevant in areas struggling to build housing in the context of supply chain issues, labour shortages and highly disruptive weather events.

4. Long-term or temporary building conversions

There are also some truly fascinating things happening in innovative building conversions. If a building has good bones and an appropriate location, why not tap into this resource? Across Australia there are disused and under-utilised buildings that could be re-purposed to generate short-term accommodation. Especially in places already struggling to meet demand from tourists and visitors, being able to address temporary workforce needs in this way would be hugely beneficial.

In Ivanhoe in NSW, a mining company has proposed repurposing a former jail to create workforce accommodation. In Melbourne, a vacant aged care facility awaiting master planning and redevelopment has been temporarily converted to housing for older women at risk of homelessness.

5. Socially just legacies for workforce campsites 

A key contribution infrastructure projects can make to towns and communities is funding the ‘enabling infrastructure’ to support future housing development. Proponents could consider funding the sewerage, water and power connections necessary to support future housing subdivisions. This approach is currently being considered in Gilgandra, NSW, where the Inland Rail project may locate a temporary workforce campsite on a parcel of land earmarked for future housing development, supporting workforce camps in the short-term before paving the way for long-term housing for locals [7].

Another inspiring model is the work of Ash Group Holdings, an Indigenous owned and operated business that designs, builds and manages workforce villages before managing the repurposing of accommodation into social and affordable housing to be used in local communities.

6. Targeted social housing grant rounds

In NSW and Victoria State Governments have identified Renewable Energy Zones (REZ). For example, Gippsland is about to host five huge Offshore Wind projects that will attract thousands of workers to already highly constrained housing markets. State and Federal Governments need to be proactively planning for this now if we are to avoid dramatic displacement and disadvantage for lower income households. Renewable Energy Zones should have dedicated funds attached to them to deliver affordable and social housing in the same way they will have dedicated funding to expand the physical infrastructure of roads and electricity. 

Homes Victoria is already overseeing competitive funding rounds designed to support housing delivery across the State. It would be great to see spatially targeted funding rounds that encouraged impacted local councils to partner with CHPs to identify land and apply for capital as part of renewable energy zone planning. These partnerships mean those most closely acquainted with housing needs and opportunities are bringing their ideas to the table.

We already know that regional Victoria is struggling with housing affordability and that influxes of population exacerbate housing stress in tight markets. We also know that many regional local councils have already identified this problem and identified potential parcels of land. What they are missing are the funds to make development stack up – why not preemptively cordon off funding to address one of the most significant negative impacts of our clean energy transition?

7. Community Benefit Funds

Projects are increasingly expected or required to provide Community Benefit Schemes to share the benefits of development with local communities. Some large projects will contribute over $30 million in funds over the course of a project life cycle. Proponents can partner with housing providers or homelessness support services to address housing concerns.

Tilt Renewables partnered with Women’s Housing and Emma House Domestic Violence Services to provide safe housing for women, donating $500,000 to the cause. There is great potential to do more of this, particularly if we set up mechanisms to combine funds from multiple projects to get more ‘bang for your buck’ from such projects. In Melbourne, local councils are developing housing trusts to combine contributions for bigger impact – a similar model could be applied elsewhere.

The renewable energy boom has well and truly arrived in Australia and our energy systems are already transitioning to more environmentally sustainable outcomes. But environmental sustainability without social justice only takes us part of the way to a just transition. The choice we have now is to challenge the status quo and ensure that transition is genuinely socially just.

As the examples provided show, this is not a transition that will be achieved by one sector acting alone. There is a governance and funding role for government, an innovation and delivery role for companies and social enterprises, an advocacy and innovation role for community members and a funding opportunity for philanthropy.

The housing sector is replete with excellent examples of how partnerships, business models, government funding and foresight can yield beneficial outcomes for communities – we just need the ambition, institutional arrangements and incentives to make them happen.