Appropriate stakeholder consultation is well-known to be
a critical part of successfully delivering major projects. The Full
Federal Court has recently provided important guidance on the scope
of the requirement to consult, including requirements for First
Nations consultation for offshore petroleum projects. Its decision
could have wide-reaching implications for other resources and
energy projects, offshore and onshore.
Court proceedings
Tipakalippa v National Offshore Petroleum Safety and
Environmental Management Authority (No 2)
[2022] FCA 1121 concerned a challenge to the National Offshore
Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority's
(NOPSEMA's) decision to accept an environment
plan (the Drilling Plan), which had been prepared
by the proponent of an offshore gas project in the Barossa gas
field, approximately 300 km north of Darwin.
