The Net Zero Economy Authority Board held its second meeting in Collie, Western Australia on Thursday, 13 and Friday,14 February both in-person and virtually, including a presentation and tour of the region by the Collie Development Unit on their work to support a just transition.
The Board received a Welcome to Country by Local Elder Joe Northover.
The Board reviewed the declared interests of members and confirmed there are no conflicts with matters under consideration at the meeting.
The Board agreed to take a partnership approach to co-developing a First Nations Participation and Engagement Strategy with First Nations representatives, in alignment with commitments under the National Agreement on Closing the Gap and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples principles.
The Authority is working on place-based ways of working and discussed with the Board how best to work in partnership with communities. The Board agreed the importance of building trust and that the Authority’s approach would need to be tailored for each region, taking into account the pace of transition and the different needs of communities.
The Board agreed the Terms of Reference for its Stakeholder Panel (the Panel) and the organisations to be approached to participate, balancing the breadth of national organisations relevant to the work of the Authority with panel size to enable meaningful two-way engagement.
The Board also noted the Authority's plans for other communication with stakeholders ongoing. The Terms of Reference will be published on the Authority’s website and membership of the Stakeholder Panel will be announced publicly in due course.
The Panel will meet as soon as practicable to discuss its contribution to the Board’s work and the Authority’s priorities.
The Board considered the Audit and Risk Committee’s work plan and agreed an internal audit work plan for 2024-25.
The Board discussed the development of a performance framework for the Authority, which will be incorporated into the Authority’s first Corporate Plan, and reported against in the FY2024-25 Annual Report. The performance framework, and the Authority’s engagement strategy, will be discussed further at the April Board meeting.
While in Collie, the Board met with stakeholders from the Just Transition Working Group, members from the community and representatives of Collie’s industry, to discuss their role in the transition and the Vision for Collie and its workers.
The next Board meeting will be held in Sydney in early April.