All Energy Australia 2026 

Presentation by The Hon. Jaclyn Symes

Hear from Victoria’s Minister for Energy and Resources, Jaclyn Symes MP, on Victoria’s clean energy transition, the opportunities ahead and the role of government and industry in shaping the state’s energy future. 

Speaker: Ms Jaclyn Symes MP, Minister for Energy and Resources, Victorian Government

Plenary Hall 3

Victorian Election Preview: Victoria’s Energy Future

With one month until the Victorian election the energy landscape has come into focus as energy, transmission and cost of living come into play. Hailed as the most significant elections in a generation, this session will take a broad look at what's on the table in the energy landscape and what could be in store for 2027.

Speakers: 
• Katie Connolly, Chief Communications Officer, Clean Energy Council
• Oliver Nunn, Managing Director, Endgame Analytics
• Andrew Killer, Executive Director Energy & Power, Jacobs

• Simon Welsh, Director, Redbridge Group

• William Churchill, Chief Policy and Impact Officer, Clean Energy Council

Plenary Hall 3

Room 219/220

Delivering REZs: Supporting workforces and creating regional value

Australia's first REZ is currently under construction with almost a dozen more planned across New South Wales and Victoria. The employment and economic opportunities for regional Australia have never been greater and the skilled workforces supported as part of these mega-projects are also supporting the broader engineering workforce. This session will look at the economic and regional development gains that come from a successful rollout of our Renewable Energy Zones.

Speakers:
• Sonja Malcolm, Workforce Development and Training Manager, ACEREZ
• Jan Smith, Chair, Girgarre Development Group
• Dr Jess Jennings, Executive Officer, Association of Mining & Energy Related Councils

• Anthea Middleton, CEO, Powering Skills Organisation

• Greg Rafferty, Head of Social Impact, DT Infrastructure 

Room 219/220

Room 219/220

Australia's energy transition is increasingly being driven by distributed energy resources including rooftop solar, batteries, electric vehicles and smart energy devices. As governments progress reforms to establish a National Technical Regulator and nationally consistent technical standards, what will this mean in practice for industry and consumers? This plenary will explore the implications for the distributed energy sector, examining how regulation can support innovation, consumer confidence and system security while enabling a more connected, consumer-led energy future.

Speakers:
• Fiona Schutt, COO, Clean Energy Council

• Emily Gadaleta, Residential Energy Policy Lead, ANZ, Tesla

• Carl Binning, Executive General Manager – Scheme Operations, Clean Energy Regulator  

• Lotte Wolff, Executive Manager Advocacy and Policy, Energy Consumers Australia
• Louisa Kinnear, CEO, Australian Energy Council 

Plenary Hall 3

The renewable energy sector is operating in an information environment it didn't design and can't control. Social media amplifies opposition at speed, coordinated disinformation campaigns can derail projects with fabricated claims, and communities often arrive at consultation already primed by content that has no relationship to the actual proposal.

This session examines these issues and what's working. Speakers will draw on real project experience to explore early and sustained on-the-ground engagement, local messenger strategies, accessible information design and how to respond when false claims take hold without inadvertently amplifying them. We'll also look at what industry and government can do collectively to raise baseline community understanding before projects arrive.

Speakers:
• Kim Mallee, Director, Community Power Agency

• Newlan, Head of Stakeholder Engagement and Community Relations, Squadron
• Ed Coper, CEO, Populares

• Tony Maher, Australian Energy Infrastructure Commissioner

Room 219

Australia needs to rapidly scale renewable energy while halting and reversing biodiversity loss. Yet developers are spending millions on project-level studies that do not consistently add up to a shared evidence base, leaving regulators, communities and the sector itself to navigate persistent uncertainty. Why, despite all this research, do the same biodiversity questions keep resurfacing from one project to the next? How can we flip biodiversity from a constraint layer to an opportunity to maximise? Through practical examples and candid cross-sector discussion, this session will examine how shared science and sustained collaboration could reduce duplication, risk and delay while enabling better project decisions and stronger outcomes for nature.

Speakers:

• Emily Haley, Founder, Wagtail Collective & BRIA

• Elise Rutherfurd, General Manager - Environment & Planning, Clean Energy Council

• Lis Ashby, Policy & Innovation Lead, Biodiversity Council

• Veronica Cavanough, Approvals Manager, Squadron Energy

• Michael Sale, Regional Development Manager, Wind Prospect

Room 219

Australia's offshore wind sector faces challenges and policy uncertainty, yet the resource potential and opportunity remain immense. This session will explore the status of the Australian offshore wind market, the progress of projects, community sentiment and the steps needed to ensure Australia’s first offshore wind turbines deliver energy to the grid in the 2030s.

Speakers:
• Jim Rijks, Engineering Manager, Iberdrola Australia
• Felicity Sands, Acting Executive Director, Offshore Wind Energy Victoria, Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA)
• Qiang (Dan) Gao, Principal Engineer, Bureau Veritas
• Mark Wakeham, Australian Lead, Ocean Energy Pathway
• Eoin Richardson, Senior Associate Economist, Jacobs Engineering

Room 219