Regenstrategic kal 12

Social performance & impact assessment strengthening outcomes and delivering success

We identify and manage social impacts to secure regulatory approvals, community backing, and market confidence.

ReGen Strategic delivers social performance advice and social impact assessments for resource, energy, and infrastructure projects. Our job is to help you understand the social consequences of what you are proposing, design the controls and benefits that address them, and build the evidence that regulators, investors, and financiers now expect.

Our Social Impact Assessments (SIAs) are prepared to the EPA’s Social Surroundings guidance in WA, the International Association for Impact Assessment (IAIA) SIA Guidelines, and the IFC Performance Standards on Environmental and Social Sustainability. We strive to deliver reports that carry your project through assessment, financing, and commissioning.

Social performance goes beyond the SIA itself. We help clients set up social performance management systems, write social management plans, run monitoring programs, and close out commitments made during approvals. When incidents or disputes occur, we support investigations and corrective actions to regulator and lender standards.

Our team has led SIA, human rights due diligence, and social performance programs for mining, renewable energy, water, and transport projects across Australia. We work hand in hand with environmental and approvals teams so the social and the environmental work tell one story. We also bring long-standing relationships with EPA officers, DWER social surroundings specialists, and the federal DCCEEW social team, which means we can test our approach early rather than find gaps at assessment.

The work is scoped to where your project is at. That might be a standalone SIA, a refresh of your social management system, or ongoing social performance support across a portfolio.

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    Social

    performance, Human Rights (HRIA) and Social Impact Assessments (SIA) for reporting and approvals.

    Social performance

    We support project teams to embed proactive social performance across all stages – from planning to closure. Our technical services and advice help manage social risks, enhance community outcomes, and meet approvals and sustainability requirements.

    • Develop and implement Social Performance Frameworks 
    • Address social risks across a range of sectors including infrastructure, mining, and energy 
    • Monitor community sentiment and social licence indicators 
    • Align with lender, regulator, and stakeholder expectations

    Our SIAs meet state, federal, and international requirements, providing evidence-based outcomes to support decision-making, regulatory approvals, and sustainable project goals.

    • Prepare SIAs for major projects, including cumulative, and holistic impacts 
    • Design and implement community and stakeholder engagement plans 
    • Assess impacts on wellbeing, services, culture, and livelihoods 
    • Integrate SIA findings into environmental approvals

    We deliver rigorous HRIAs that identify, assess, and address actual and potential human rights impacts across operations and supply chains in line with global standards.

    • Conduct HRIAs aligned with UNGPs and OECD Guidelines 
    • Identify salient risks to workers, communities, and vulnerable groups 
    • Integrate findings into sustainability and ESG and modern slavery reporting 
    • Engage rights-holders and improve corporate accountability

    Our team brings deep expertise in social impact, sustainability and ESG, approvals, and assessment and evaluation – spanning sectors, jurisdictions, and project scales. We deliver independent, trusted advice that meets the highest standards.

    • Extensive experience in regulated and high-impact industries 
    • Trusted by government, industry, investors, and NGOs 
    • Recognised leaders in sustainability and ESG and social performance frameworks 
    • Evidence-based, participatory, and context-sensitive approach

    We support organisations to design inclusive systems and strategies that promote equity, remove barriers, and create meaningful opportunities for diverse communities.

    • Develop Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) strategies 
    • Conduct access and inclusion reviews 
    • Co-design culturally safe engagement with marginalised groups 
    • Measure inclusion outcomes and report on social value

Case Study

Northern Star

Social performance and community trust at a globally significant mining operation

The challenge

Northern Star operates the Super Pit in Kalgoorlie, a globally significant mining operation located near established communities and within an environmentally sensitive region. As the company evolved in ownership, scale and public profile, it sought support to clearly articulate its social purpose, community contribution and commitment to high environmental, social and governance standards.

Nothern Star

The pathway

Developed a consolidated communications and stakeholder engagement strategy informed by leadership and operational teams

Redesigned corporate branding, visual identity and style guide to better reflect organisational purpose and values

Led proactive engagement with political decision-makers, regulators, landowners and local community representatives

Delivered a social impact assessment to identify potential social impacts and opportunities for mitigation and benefit

Designed a stakeholder engagement strategy to support biodiversity restoration funding and offset requirements associated with current and future mining activity

The result

Northern Star commenced implementation of the consolidated communications and engagement strategy, achieving positive early engagement with priority stakeholders and the local community. The refreshed brand and clearer articulation of purpose improved recognition of the company’s role in supporting global decarbonisation while responsibly managing local environmental and social impacts. The work strengthened community confidence, improved alignment between commitments and delivery, and positioned Northern Star as a more transparent and responsive operator. ReGen continues to support the company as it embeds its social performance approach and progresses long-term community and environmental outcomes.

Case Study

Talison Lithium

Social performance and approvals support for a major lithium expansion

The challenge

Talison Lithium is progressing a major expansion of its Greenbushes Lithium Operation near established South West communities with strong connections to place, landscape and heritage. The scale and duration of the expansion required a robust, regulator-ready understanding of social impacts, cumulative change and community expectations to support environmental approvals and long-term social licence.

Talison page

The pathway

Defined primary and secondary social localities to reflect areas of direct and indirect impact

Developed a comprehensive social baseline using demographic, economic and community data

Delivered independent community and stakeholder consultation including landholders, community groups and Traditional Owners

Assessed direct, indirect and cumulative social impacts across way of life, community, access, culture, health, surroundings and livelihoods

Identified practical mitigation and enhancement measures to address medium to high significance impacts

Aligned the assessment with EPA Social Surroundings guidance and leading national social impact assessment practice

The result

The Social Impact Assessment provided Talison with a robust, evidence-based foundation to support its environmental approvals process. It identified key social risks and benefits associated with the expansion and set out practical, transparent mitigation and management measures. The work strengthened regulatory confidence, informed project design and enhanced Talison’s engagement with local communities. Importantly, the assessment supported clearer understanding of cumulative impacts and long-term change in the region. ReGen continues to support Talison in embedding social performance commitments as the expansion progresses.

Visit the Talison expansion project

Top

Stories

The case for proactive engagement

Proponents and their advisors will easily recognise examples of communities mobilising to make their influence felt. This is rarely due to bad faith actors, but rather driven by compressed timeframes and occurs when organisations underestimate the underlying community sentiment.  When consultation stops feeling genuine  The case for proactive community involvement rests on how

May 27, 2026
Rod Mapstone OLY | Community relations, Social performance, Stakeholder engagement

What people say about us

Steve booth

George Weston Foods

ReGen supported George Weston Foods in the identification of a site for our new animal feed processing plant in Western Australia. This involved engaging with the community and key stakeholders across multiple potential sites, then working on securing state and local government approvals for our chosen site in Kwinana.

Steve Booth | Head of Government Relations & External Affairs

Tanya steinbeck

Urban Development Institute of Australia (UDIA)

ReGen conducted a perception audit for UDIA that provided access to their deep and extensive list of government contacts, which provided a truly independent perspective on the quality of our stakeholder relationships. Through this report we have been ableTo maximise the effectiveness of our advocacy approach to deliver great places and more housing choice across the State.

Tanya Steinbeck | Chief Executive Officer

Jeremy kenna

Iluka

The ability of ReGen to articulate the incredibly complex nature of stakeholder expectations from an ESG perspective is invaluable. The approach taken by the team was to not simply provide a blanket solution, but to really drill down into the detail of what our challenges were and to tailor their support to fit our objectives.

Jeremy Kenna | Group Manager – Communities &Indigenous Affairs Australia

Isaac hinton

InterContinental Energy

ReGen’s breadth of skills and knowledge have been instrumental in helping us to connect with government and the local media. It is a pleasure working with an organisation that understands our positioning and is aligned with environmental sustainability.

Isaac Hinton | Head of Australia

Dr ray macdonald

Western Green Energy Hub

We are a small team covering the many aspects of strategic external engagement and communications required of a new, phased green energy project. With their broad suite of experience and skills, ReGen has added considerable value to our thinking and the way we engage.

Dr Ray Macdonald | Chief Executive Officer

Ryan watts

TransAlta

ReGen is our partner of choice for stakeholder engagement and strategic communication matters and has worked tirelessly to understand our business. Their pragmatic and client-focused solutions consistently exceed our expectations.

Ryan Watts | Business Development Manager

Darren munday

Consumers of Mental Health WA

ReGen were highly professional and approachable in helping us to learn more about what it feels like to be in front of a camera or microphone. The team were very well researched when it came time to be firing the questions. I would highly recommend ReGen for their media training.

Darren Munday | Chief Executive Officer

Golden sedayu

Golden Sedayu

ReGen’s work has been invaluable in ensuring we maintain a strong and trusted relationship with the WA Government. They are available whenever we need them and their knowledge of government policy is unparalleled. They have also exceeded all expectations in terms of media relations.

Andrew Sugiaputra | Managing Director

Captain michael edwards

Gascoyne Gateway

ReGen has helped us strategically plan and engage with key stakeholders, while managing our media relations and community engagement. They are now supporting us in our regenerative approach to sustainability, with the objective of delivering a climate positive, nature positive and people positive project.

Captain Michael Edwards | CEO

FAQ

Frequently 
asked questions

A Social Impact Assessment (SIA) is a structured look at the social consequences (positive and negative) likely to flow from a proposed project or policy decision. It identifies affected communities, sets out the baseline social conditions, predicts impacts, and proposes how to manage them. In WA, SIAs are a formal component of environmental approvals under the EPA’s Social Surroundings guidance. They are also commonly required by project lenders and by many state and Commonwealth planning processes.

In WA, an SIA or equivalent social surroundings assessment is required for most major projects assessed by the EPA under Part IV of the Environmental Protection Act, and for most Mining Act proposals with significant community interfaces. An SIA may also be required under the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act 2021, for projects seeking Commonwealth approval under the EPBC Act, and for projects seeking finance from IFC-aligned lenders. Our team has delivered SIAs across all of these pathways.

Social performance is the day-to-day work of managing social risks, impacts, and opportunities across the life of a mining operation. It covers community engagement, grievance management, human rights due diligence, Traditional Owner relationships, community investment, and closure planning. A well-run social performance function sits alongside environment, health and safety, and community relations as a core operational capability. We help clients set up social performance management systems and build the data, processes, and relationships needed to sustain them.

The EPA’s Environmental Factor Guideline for Social Surroundings is the WA guidance on assessing social impacts for proposals referred to the EPA under the Environmental Protection Act. It sets out the expected scope and method for social surroundings assessments. We prepare our SIAs to this guidance as a matter of course, and we regularly test our approach with DWER social surroundings officers early in the process.

Stakeholder engagement is the work of building and keeping relationships with the people interested in or affected by a project. Social impact assessment is a formal analytical exercise that predicts and manages the social consequences of a project. Engagement feeds SIA (you cannot assess impact without talking to people), but SIA goes further. It requires structured baseline data, impact prediction, mitigation planning, and monitoring. Most projects need both, designed and delivered as one program.

Yes. Our SIA method is built on the International Association for Impact Assessment (IAIA) Social Impact Assessment Guidelines, adapted for Australian and WA regulatory requirements and for the IFC Performance Standards where international finance is involved. The IAIA Guidelines are the global benchmark for SIA practice. Working to them gives our clients confidence the work will hold up under regulator, lender, and peer review.