Overview
The policy landscape around Australia’s low-carbon transition has become complex across national, state and territory levels, creating challenges for heavy industry. Policies are tailored to different regions and industries, and understanding their interactions and implications is crucial for business decision-making.
This project will map existing national, state and territory policies, offering a comprehensive overview of energy, climate change and industry development frameworks. It aims to help heavy industry navigate the complexity by providing a comprehensive analysis of the current policy framework, exploring opportunities to align with existing policies, and identifying ways to reduce uncertainty. It will also examine international approaches for insights that strengthen Australia’s global competitiveness while supporting a smooth low-carbon transition.
By addressing key questions about policy alignment and risks, this work supports informed decision-making and positions heavy industry for a sustainable and competitive future.
Project Details
Through systematic research and collaboration with industry and government, this project will deliver valuable resources, including policy maps, comparative analyses and practical recommendations. These will provide heavy industry with tools to align with and benefit from Australia’s low-carbon policies, and help industry leaders engage effectively with policymakers.
The project will also explore future policy directions and propose actionable recommendations.
Key project activities include:
- Mapping Australian policies – identify, catalogue and summarise existing policies to provide a holistic overview that offers a high-level systemic perspective.
- Reviewing international policies – identify and review key policies supporting the decarbonisation of heavy industry to determine implications for industry development in Australia.
- Understanding future policy directions – reviewing existing policies in Australia and abroad, and engaging with policy administrators, to reveal insights into expected future policy directions around Australia’s heavy industry low-carbon transition.
- Policy analysis – compare existing policy approaches, consult with policy administrators and seek feedback from industry to identify factors in the policy landscape that influence heavy industry’s capacity to make decisions around expansion and technology adoption.
- Inform government – To ensure that valuable lessons gleaned from the research informs government policy in a meaningful manner, the project will develop an options paper to convey insights on which policy mechanisms are working and where there is room for improvement, and provide recommendations for policy reforms to improve heavy industry’s capacity and confidence to invest in the low-carbon transition.
- Cost-benefit analysis – Assess the costs and benefits of selected policy instruments to support green metal export industries and provide analyses of specific instruments chosen or being considered in Australia.
HILT CRC Milestones
- 3.1 Developing supporting frameworks for emerging low-carbon technologies
- 3.2 Assessing barriers and policy enablers for the production and trade of low-carbon products and commodities
Research Areas
- Industry roadmaps and transition strategies
- Low-carbon transition policy review
Project Outcomes & Benefits
- A deeper understanding for industry and other stakeholders of current federal and state government policy around the heavy industry low-carbon transition.
- Enhanced understanding of key policy agendas across jurisdictions to support governments’ capacity to facilitate the international market competitiveness of Australia’s natural-resource-based heavy industries by: 1) understanding industry needs; and 2) identifying areas where existing policy approaches may be optimised.
- An options paper to inform policy to enhance heavy industry’s capacity and confidence to invest in low-carbon technologies while maintaining competitiveness.
- Working papers on domestic and international policies to inform development of the Australian Government’s sectoral decarbonisation plans.
- A workshop to provide HILT CRC industry partners with preliminary findings and solicit feedback.
- Clear comprehension of existing carbon-reduction policies and regulations to help ensure that business practices and planned investments comply with policy settings.
- Improved ability for industry stakeholders to align their business strategies with the evolving policy landscape and engage in constructive policy discussion.
Download the Project Summary
RP3.008 A policy roadmap for Australia’s heavy industry low-carbon transition