Since the middle of 2025, a wind, solar or large battery project in Queensland cannot lodge a properly made development application without two documents that did not exist a year earlier: a social impact assessment and a community benefit agreement. For proponents, the community benefit agreement is the one that commits real money and obligations to the local community, and it must be settled with the local council before the application goes in. This update explains what a community benefit agreement is, when it is required, and what goes into one.
What a community benefit agreement is
A community benefit agreement, or CBA, is a binding agreement between a renewable energy proponent and the local government under which the proponent provides benefits to the community that hosts the project. It is now a creature of the Planning Act 2016, which defines a community benefit agreement at section 106Y. The benefits can be financial, or works, or a combination of both, and they are intended to bear a relationship to the social impacts the project will have on the area.
When a CBA is now required
The requirement comes from the Planning (Social Impact and Community Benefit) and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2025 (Qld), which inserted the community benefit system into the Planning Act 2016. The key provisions commenced on 18 July 2025. For a captured development, a social impact assessment report and a community benefit agreement must be given with the development application for it to be properly made, and the CBA must be entered into with the local government, as a minimum, before the application is lodged.
Wind farms and large-scale solar were the first developments captured. Battery storage was brought in shortly afterwards by the Planning (Battery Storage Facilities) and Other Legislation Amendment Regulation 2025 (Qld), which commenced on 12 December 2025. Larger battery facilities are now assessable development, assessed by the State through the State Assessment and Referral Agency against State Code 27. The practical effect is that a battery project of any real scale now sits inside the same community benefit system as wind and solar.
Who you negotiate with, and when
The counterparty is the local government where the land sits. If the project’s social impacts reach into a neighbouring council area, that council may need to be a party as well, and the framework also contemplates other public sector entities. The timing is the part proponents most often underestimate. Because the CBA has to be in place before an application is properly made, it cannot be left until conditions are being negotiated after lodgement. It has to be built into the pre-lodgement program, alongside the social impact assessment that informs it. A mediation process is available under the framework to support the negotiation where the parties cannot reach agreement.
What goes into a CBA
Most Queensland agreements follow a two-limb structure. The first limb is a community benefit contribution, a financial payment to the council. The second is a set of binding commitments, being the non-financial obligations and works the proponent will deliver, such as a community grants program, support for local services, and local employment and procurement targets. Some councils administer the money through a dedicated community fund, with an application process and eligibility criteria for local recipients. Others direct it across defined streams, such as council infrastructure, community projects and sponsorships.
How the contribution is set
The financial contribution is usually set by a rate applied to the capacity of the project, indexed each year. Generation is charged per megawatt of installed or nameplate capacity, and storage is charged per megawatt hour. Published council rates give a sense of the range. One central Queensland council’s policy, for example, sets minimum rates of $150 per megawatt hour for battery storage, $850 per megawatt for solar, and $1,050 per megawatt for wind, indexed to the Brisbane consumer price index. Rates and the unit of capacity differ between councils, and where a council has no published the rate is a matter for negotiation. Agreements commonly discount the contribution during construction, allow a rebate where the proponent delivers agreed commitments, and require security, often a bank guarantee equal to a period of the contribution, before construction begins.
The link to the social impact assessment
The contribution and the commitments are not meant to be chosen at random. They are expected to connect to the social impacts identified in the social impact assessment, which is prepared in accordance with the State’s Social Impact Assessment Guideline. That is why the two documents are prepared together: the assessment identifies the impacts and the benefits, and the agreement secures the response. A council must also be able to show a connection between how it spends the money and the purpose for which it was received.
Practical points for developers and landowners
- Build the community benefit agreement and the social impact assessment into your pre-lodgement program, not your conditions strategy. Both must be in place before the application is properly made.
- Engage the council early. The rate, the fund model and the commitments are negotiated, and many regional councils are still developing their policies.
- Check how your project is captured. The capacity thresholds, and the way they are measured, decide whether you are in the system at all, and that turns on the current Planning Regulation 2017
- Watch the security and indexation. A bank guarantee and annual indexation can add materially to the cost of a project over its life.
- Do not simply reuse another project’s agreement. Each council’s policy and each project’s social impacts are different, and a copied agreement can commit you to the wrong things.
A note on this update
Milne Legal advises renewable energy proponents, landowners and councils on planning approvals in Queensland, including social impact assessments and community benefit agreements. If you have a wind, solar or battery project in prospect and want to understand what the community benefit system means for it, we would be glad to help. Call us on (07) 3210 0943.
This publication is general in nature. Its content is current at the date of publication. It does not constitute legal advice and you should always seek legal advice based on your particular circumstances prior to making any decisions relating to matters covered by this publication. Certain details may have been sourced from external references, and we cannot assure the accuracy or timeliness of such information.