Sheridan Coakes

Putting the social in strategic assessment

Sheridan Coakes
Director Coakes Consulting, WA and Daniel Marsh, Coakes Consulting

Integrating social impact assessment within environmental impact assessment is hard enough to achieve at a project level and consequently, the application of social assessment within a more strategic framework brings added challenges. Despite more frequent use of the term social impact within impact assessment programs and approval processes; the true practice and application of Social impact assessment (SIA) in resource and development planning, is still piecemeal. With no sound legislative drivers or explicit requirements for SIA practice at Commonwealth or State levels, the impetus for SIA remains largely in the hands of industry proponents, driven by their commitment to their respective CSR agendas.

Where resource development and change is occurring in Australia across a range of sectors e.g. mining, oil and gas, forestry; there is however a growing recognition that strategic social assessment may offer considerable advantages for government, but also industry proponents alike.

As a result, this brief paper outlines some of the fundamentals of how integration of the social in strategic assessment can contribute to more effective resource planning and development, particularly at a regional and state level.

Utilising case studies from other sectors and States within Australia e.g. NSW, Victoria, WA, the types of issues that can be addressed through a strategic social assessment are explored; tools that may facilitate the strategic assessment process from a social and economic perspective are discussed; as is the value of involving communities in a dialogue around their aspirations for a socially sustainable future.