Wimmera Southern Mallee Development (WSMD) is a regional development body supporting economic and social growth across 6 local governments in Western Victoria, a region at the frontline of Australia's energy transformation. WSMD's purpose is to shape the region's economic, cultural, social and environmental opportunities to enable growth, remove barriers and build resilience and sustainability. As the Wimmera Southern Mallee (WSM) region is undergoing significant land coexistence and integration challenges, WSMD has spearheaded a collaborative approach to ensure energy developments align with community interests, understand and respect agriculture and deliver tangible benefits.
In November 2023, WSMD partnered with The Energy Charter to initiate an industry collaboration process, bringing together representatives from renewable energy, transmission and distribution companies to explore ways to work together to ensure the region genuinely benefits from the transition to renewable energy. This led to a 6 month process to co-design a partnership, funded by the 10 participating renewable energy and transition companies. The co-design process resulted in a commitment from the companies involved, known as Foundation Energy Partners (Partners), for an initial partnership period of 3 years. The partnership, known as the WSM Renewable Energy Collaboration, has 3 core activities:
- Regional Partners Forum: The forum is a network that supports coordination between energy businesses, community leaders, representatives and organisations. The forum is coordinated by WSMD and consists of quarterly meetings, liaison and coordination support and information sharing.
- Collective Action Projects: The Partners have committed to work together in a coordinated way to deliver projects that achieve positive community outcomes. Through the collaboration process, the Partners and community have identified several possible action areas, with 3 priority projects to be selected and delivered over the next 3 years. These projects will be funded by the Partners.
- Better Business: The Better Business initiative recognises some activities may be more suited to action by individual businesses and not suitable or ready for a collaborative approach. Areas identified include best practice landholder compensation, cultural safety practices and innovative benefits approaches. This initiative encourages transparency, accountability and continuous improvement for energy businesses, providing a framework for individual businesses to measure their impact and showcase their achievements.
To deliver the WSM Renewable Energy Collaboration, Partners are also resourcing WSMD to provide coordination, administration, communication and reporting; project management support and seed funding for collaborative projects; coordination of the Regional Partners Forum; access to professional development, research, training and events; and subject-matter expert support, speaker and community participation fees.
The WSM Renewable Energy Collaboration is one of the first regionally coordinated, industry-funded models that aims to reduce duplication, build trust, and shift the dynamic from fragmented consultation to long-term partnership. It reflects an understanding that a new model of energy development, characterised by multiple proponents working in a single location, requires a new way of working to avoid consultation fatigue for the community. The model recognises time is needed to establish trust between community and project proponents—and provides a practical, scalable pathway for energy organisations to work together more effectively during the clean energy transition. The project is in its early stages and, importantly, has identified a staged pathway that reflects the current level of trust and builds collaboration and momentum for joint approaches over time.
Based on the experience in WSM, The Energy Charter—a cross-sector initiative with national reach—has now co-designed a Regional Energy Collaboration Framework for potential application across Australia. A second pilot site is currently being explored with RDA Orana in NSW's Central-West Orana Renewable Energy Zone.
The WSM example shows how regions can lead—and how structured collaboration can shift outcomes. It's not just a model for energy coordination; it's a way to ensure regional communities shape transition on their terms.
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Image: A canola field in full bloom in Victoria's Wimmera Southern Mallee region.
Note: Case study current as at 22 October 2025.