Engage Early and Often - Ensuring Real and Perceived Equitable Outcomes from Infrastructure Projects
Tracks
Plenary 1
| Wednesday, July 23, 2025 |
| 4:05 PM - 4:25 PM |
| Plenary One |
Overview
Maddison Clonan and Matt Punch, GHD Pty Ltd
Speaker
Matt Punch
Executive Advisor - Northern Territory
GHD Pty Ltd
Engage Early and Often - Ensuring Real and Perceived Equitable Outcomes from Infrastructure Projects
Presentation Overview
Why your project needs to engage early and often – ensuring real and perceived equitable outcomes from infrastructure projects
The failure to engage stakeholders at project inception continues to be a costly yet preventable mistake in project development across Northern Australia. Regardless of sector, late and inadequate engagement can disrupt projects of all sizes, resulting in loss of trust. Reactive approaches and a lack of transparency can even spread distrust beyond individual projects to entire organisations and degrade community support for other key functions, processes, or proposals in a region.
In this presentation, we invite attendees to experience the reality of being a disengaged stakeholder impacted by project outcomes. We will explore how good intentions often fail to translate into adequate engagement and the negative effects that can have on projects and their proponents.
Then, considering best practice and project assessment guidance available from Infrastructure Australia and the Queensland Government, we will articulate how early engagement can materially support a project’s business case when it comes time to evaluate the project from a public interest perspective. Additionally, we believe an early, consistent and transparent approach to project development that centres fit-for-purpose community engagement could reduce litigation, accelerate approvals, decrease project staff turnover, and enhance reputational value.
We conclude by exploring a future where Northern development is reimagined to prioritise engaging early and often.
The failure to engage stakeholders at project inception continues to be a costly yet preventable mistake in project development across Northern Australia. Regardless of sector, late and inadequate engagement can disrupt projects of all sizes, resulting in loss of trust. Reactive approaches and a lack of transparency can even spread distrust beyond individual projects to entire organisations and degrade community support for other key functions, processes, or proposals in a region.
In this presentation, we invite attendees to experience the reality of being a disengaged stakeholder impacted by project outcomes. We will explore how good intentions often fail to translate into adequate engagement and the negative effects that can have on projects and their proponents.
Then, considering best practice and project assessment guidance available from Infrastructure Australia and the Queensland Government, we will articulate how early engagement can materially support a project’s business case when it comes time to evaluate the project from a public interest perspective. Additionally, we believe an early, consistent and transparent approach to project development that centres fit-for-purpose community engagement could reduce litigation, accelerate approvals, decrease project staff turnover, and enhance reputational value.
We conclude by exploring a future where Northern development is reimagined to prioritise engaging early and often.
Biography
Matt has over 15 years’ experience working with communities in Northern Australia on infrastructure, energy and mining projects, regulation and policy. Matt understands the complex regulatory, technical, commercial and economic implications of project development, and has supported Government’s in the Northern Territory, Queensland and WA on evaluating project opportunities. Matt also co-teaches Energy & Resources Law, Public International Law and Environment & Planning Law at Charles Darwin University’s Asia Pacific College of Business and Law.
Maddison Clonan
Senior Consultant - Environment And Engagement
GHD Pty Ltd
Engage Early and Often - Ensuring Real and Perceived Equitable Outcomes from Infrastructure Projects
Presentation Overview
Why your project needs to engage early and often – ensuring real and perceived equitable outcomes from infrastructure projects
The failure to engage stakeholders at project inception continues to be a costly yet preventable mistake in project development across Northern Australia. Regardless of sector, late and inadequate engagement can disrupt projects of all sizes, resulting in loss of trust. Reactive approaches and a lack of transparency can even spread distrust beyond individual projects to entire organisations and degrade community support for other key functions, processes, or proposals in a region.
In this presentation, we invite attendees to experience the reality of being a disengaged stakeholder impacted by project outcomes. We will explore how good intentions often fail to translate into adequate engagement and the negative effects that can have on projects and their proponents.
Then, considering best practice and project assessment guidance available from Infrastructure Australia and the Queensland Government, we will articulate how early engagement can materially support a project’s business case when it comes time to evaluate the project from a public interest perspective. Additionally, we believe an early, consistent and transparent approach to project development that centres fit-for-purpose community engagement could reduce litigation, accelerate approvals, decrease project staff turnover, and enhance reputational value.
We conclude by exploring a future where Northern development is reimagined to prioritise engaging early and often.
The failure to engage stakeholders at project inception continues to be a costly yet preventable mistake in project development across Northern Australia. Regardless of sector, late and inadequate engagement can disrupt projects of all sizes, resulting in loss of trust. Reactive approaches and a lack of transparency can even spread distrust beyond individual projects to entire organisations and degrade community support for other key functions, processes, or proposals in a region.
In this presentation, we invite attendees to experience the reality of being a disengaged stakeholder impacted by project outcomes. We will explore how good intentions often fail to translate into adequate engagement and the negative effects that can have on projects and their proponents.
Then, considering best practice and project assessment guidance available from Infrastructure Australia and the Queensland Government, we will articulate how early engagement can materially support a project’s business case when it comes time to evaluate the project from a public interest perspective. Additionally, we believe an early, consistent and transparent approach to project development that centres fit-for-purpose community engagement could reduce litigation, accelerate approvals, decrease project staff turnover, and enhance reputational value.
We conclude by exploring a future where Northern development is reimagined to prioritise engaging early and often.
Biography
Maddison is a qualified research scientist with experience in project management, agricultural extension, and stakeholder engagement both nationally and internationally. With seven years in government roles before joining GHD as a Senior Consultant in 2023, she specializes in providing strategic advice and implementing engagement strategies in highly contentious and complex settings.
