Gippsland Offshore Wind Energy Community Assembly
Gippsland Coastal Assembly
Empowering Communities for a Sustainable Future
Coastal communities are at the forefront of Gippsland’s transition to offshore wind. Change of this scale needs more than just policy frameworks and investment – it requires trust, transparency, and genuine engagement with the communities who will be most affected. GCCN partnered with DemocracyCo to support and host a citizens assembly to discuss and develop a set of recommendations around how these communities envision offshore wind delivering genuine benefits to their families, communities and coastal environment. You can read a summary of our engagement roadmap here.
Assembly Update
At the Gippsland New Energy Conference in Traralgon, September 2025, delegates from the Gippsland Offshore Wind Community Assembly presented their landmark report, responding to the question: “How can coastal Gippsland’s role in offshore wind benefit us all — our families, our communities, and our coastline?”
GCCN is now working to turn the priorities from the report into action, beginning with the formation of a permanent Gippsland Coastal Assembly to ensure the community continues to have an informed and independent voice as offshore wind progresses.
Gippsland Coastal Assembly – Call for Members
We are excited to announce the formation of the Gippsland Coastal Assembly – a permanent forum for our coastal communities to share information, discuss renewable energy developments, and advocate for the needs of our region.
The Assembly builds on the work of the Gippsland Offshore Wind Community Assembly and will ensure that local voices remain central to decision-making about offshore wind and other energy projects.
Members will work together to:
• Represent the collective interests of communities along our coast.
• Consider and advocate for fair and equitable community benefits.
• Provide input to industry and government.
• Support each other through the transition to a renewable future.
If you live in a Gippsland coastal community and want to be part of this important dialogue, we welcome you to join and commit to the Assembly’s principles of fairness, respectful dialogue, and openness.
For more information and to join the group please reach out to enquiries@gccn.org.au
The Reports 2025
The Assembly wrote their own report which reflects their agreed priorities for community involvement and the important benefits they wanted to see realised for their communities.
Participant Report: The Gippsland Offshore Wind Community Assembly July 2025
In addition, DemocracyCo compiled an Impact Report detailing the pre and post polling results. Link to DemocracyCo Impact Report web version
Impact Report: The Gippsland Offshore Wind Community Assembly July 2025
The Process
Gippsland households in postcodes from Inverloch to Loch Sport (over 10,000) were sent a postal invitation to register their interest to participate in the Assembly. We also reached out to small but important community groups in the region to participate.
The invitations and democratic lottery process was run by the Sortition Foundation,a global leader in sortition services. Of those who registered, around 50 people were independently selected by lottery to broadly represent their communities.
The assembly discussion was is aimed at informing a set of recommendations around how these communities envision offshore wind delivering genuine benefits to their families, communities and coastal environment, and has be put forward to relevant industry and government bodies for response.
The wider Gippsland community were invited to add their voice and either prepare submissions for the Assembly members to consider or add their thoughts and reflections to a My Priories online virtual wall.
GCCN also acknowledges that there are some East Gippsland towns who are interested in how Gippsland’s off shore wind energy will be developed and who were not included in the cohort invitations. While it was not possible within this initiative’s scope to expand the assembly membership, guest speakers from these areas were however invited to provide assembly members with technical and local perspectives, and it is GCCN’s hope that a similar deliberative process be supported in East Gippsland to address their specific local needs and perspectives in the near future.
What is the Assembly focusing on and how is it connected to other activities:
“Community Benefit” – Community led
Refers to opportunities and positive outcomes for individuals, communities and the local environment which would leave local people and places ‘better off’. *NOTE: some people refer to this as ‘social value’.
It encompasses strengthening community voice, identifying key local priorities and shaping a collective idea around what coastal communities would like to see in their future. It is also about finding ways communities, service providers, government agencies and industry representatives can best work together to achieve shared goals.
The Coastal Assembly is intended to be a community strengthening process – enabling the community to develop a united voice as a platform for advocacy to government and industry/ wind farms.
“Community Benefit Sharing” – Industry/ Wind farm led
Involves the distribution of funds and resources for social and economic opportunities from a specific project or developer to a defined community or area affected directly or indirectly by their activities. It encompasses things such as financial benefits (co-ownership opportunities, grants, bill subsidies) or non-financial benefits (such as improved infrastructure, educational support or job creation). The goal is to maintain positive relationships between companies and communities to ensure a specific project’s success and also contribute to the region’s legacy.
The Coastal Assembly will not define benefit sharing for specific wind farm projects, but the Assembly’s recommendations aim to influence what may be supported in the future.
“Community Benefit Models or Frameworks” – Government led
Refers to strategies and mechanisms set by government agencies such as Offshore Wind Energy Victoria (OWEV) and VicGrid to align government policy, industry and community priorities, to thereby define what benefit sharing looks like at a high level for the region.
It encompasses area definition, engagement processes, compensation, and the management of the community benefits sharing processes, among other things, which the wind farms will be expected to support. The outcome of the Coastal Assembly may influence some aspects of these models.
The Sessions
Assembly – Session ONE, June 1st (online)
The first session of the Gippsland Coastal Community Assembly was a successful and engaging online gathering, bringing together 44 participants selected through a democratic lottery process run by the Sortition Foundation. Participants represent a broad cross-section of the Gippsland coastal region, with diversity in age, gender, location (from Inverloch to Loch Sport), education, employment, and residency status.
The session focused on establishing context for the group’s upcoming deliberations on the question:
“Offshore wind energy is a defining part of Gippsland’s energy future and a key contributor to Australia’s renewable transition that will help power the nation. How can the change benefit us all – our families, communities, and our coastline?”
Highlights of the session included:
- Context-setting presentations from Bodye Darville from Offshore Wind Victoria (DEECA), including an overview of the Renewable Energy Zone (REZ) and insights into offshore wind infrastructure.
- A practical presentation by Ravi Kaskana from Corio Generation around how turbines are built and operate.
- Time was allocated for participants to reflect and start identifying key questions they want to explore further.
Assembly – Session TWO, June 15th (online)
In the second session participants were divided into three groups and rotated through a series of engaging presentations by speakers focused on the themes of People, Place, and Productivity.
These sessions provided valuable context for participants to reflect on what matters most to their region, and to consider the opportunities and challenges that may lie ahead.
What stood out most was not only the deep pride people feel in their communities and the shared commitment to protecting their way of life, but also the way the group is building connections among themselves. This is helping to shape a clearer, more unified vision for the future of the region.
The session also reaffirmed that meaningful community consultation is not about division but about strengthening relationships and embracing different viewpoints. The contributions from younger participants were especially inspiring, bringing fresh perspectives and optimism to the conversation.
The Assembly plans to reconvene in person in Port Albert later in June to develop their collective recommendations. Formal written submissions and thoughts collected from the wider community via the ‘My Priorities’ online tool will also be considered by assembly members.
Assembly – Session THREE and FOUR, June 28-29th (in person)
The final weekend of the Assembly culminated with everyone coming together in person for two full days at Port Albert. Through facilitated discussions the Assembly explored what would make their community better off, and looked at the coastal and regional strengths and what needs to be preserved. They considered what benefits flowing from offshore wind would have the greatest impact, and began to document who and what might be impacted and effected. Feedback provided by the general community to added to their deliberations
And after a very busy but productive two days, participants presented their report and the key recommendations to the CEO of the Climate Change Network and to the Chair of the Gippsland Offshore Wind Alliance.
Their report reflects their agreed priorities for community involvement and the benefits they want to see for their communities.
The Partnership
GCCN partnered with DemocracyCo to support and host a large-scale deliberation. DemocracyCo’s many years of national and international experience in deliberative democracy on complex issues, our award-winning team has earned a global reputation for tackling some of today’s toughest questions. They create the conditions for meaningful dialogue and foster the type of understanding and collaboration that creates powerful, lasting change.
GCCN has an independent voice and has been working towards delivering climate-positive initiatives in Gippsland since 2007. GCCN can help to facilitate a process where people are not just informed about but actively involved in shaping Gippsland’s energy future. By partnering together on this deliberative democracy initiative, both GCCN and DemocracyCo are reinforcing their commitment to empowering local communities.
Project Advisory Group
The Project Advisory Group is a coalition of key stakeholders and partners who are committed to supporting the deliberative engagement process and provides guidance and advice to achieve it success. It provides strategic oversight, ensuring that the deliberative engagement process remains credible, transparent, and aligned with project objectives. Members provide a range of local, regional and statewide representation relevant to the Gippsland Offshore Wind Zone as well as its geographical boundary to ensure inclusion and direct involvement of its impacted neighbours, nearby and adjacent communities, First Nations, and regional community.
Membership includes representatives from:
- Gippsland Climate Change Network
- Offshore Wind Victoria
- Gippsland Offshore Wind Alliance
- Regional Engagement Exchange
- Local government – South Gippsland
- Local Government – Wellington Shire
- Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action
- Golden Paradise Beach Community Development Fund
- Yarram Progress Association
- Southerly 10 Community Reference Group
- Sandy Point Community Energy Group
- Australian Centre for Offshore Wind
You can also visit the DemocracyCo Gippsland Coastal Assembly Project Page for more details.
Follow GCCN on Facebook and LinkedIn to stay up to date.
Photos: Various activities over the two day in person weekend at Port Albert where the assembly members developed their report in response to the deliberative question asked as part of this initiative.