Sustainable Resource Communities Policy: Social Impact Assessment in the mining and petroleum industries

The Government, in partnership with industry and local government, is committed to strengthening social impact assessment within existing Environmental Impact Statement processes. This will enable a coordinated response by the Government to mining and petroleum tenure applications, enhancing the Government’s decision making and better informing the Government’s planning for future mining and petroleum development.

This policy builds on the Sustainable Futures Framework for Queensland Mining Towns released by the State Government in June 2007. The initiatives contained in this policy reinforce the principles of leadership, collaboration, corporate responsibility, sustainability, communication and community engagement as outlined in the Framework.

Social impact assessments are undertaken by proponents of major new and expanded mining and petroleum developments as an integral element of the process and are required to secure government approval for a proposal. Examples of social impacts include: rapidly escalating housing prices due to the influx of resource workers; pressure on support services such as domestic violence due to the increased population; significant increases in heavy vehicle traffic affecting road safety; and changes to the community dynamic resulting from predominantly single men moving to the community for work reasons.