Engaged Outcomes

“When you lift this discussion beyond climate and net zero, regions really step into the space.”

A powerful perspective from Sarimah Hellyer on the latest episode of the Empower podcast 🎙️

As CEO of Regional Development Australia Murray and founder of Aligned Thinking, Sarimah is a passionate advocate for the future of regional Australia 🌏⚡ She is known for bringing people together across industries, government and communities to tackle complex challenges with clarity, collaboration and practical action.

With deep experience in strategic planning, stakeholder engagement and regional development, Sarimah brings a strong place-based perspective to conversations around energy transition, workforce capability and emerging industries. Her work is focused on ensuring regional communities are not only part of the conversation, but leading it 🤝

This episode explores the future of regional Australia through the lens of energy, community, sovereign capability and the opportunities emerging across the Riverina Murray.

🎧 Tune in to hear more thoughtful insights from regional leaders shaping the conversation on the ground.

Listen now: https://www.engagedoutcomes.com.au/empower-podcast

“What if you’re missing 90% of the story?

The middle 90% are often not included in the conversation… often mediated through community leaders or interest groups… and what we wanted to do was bring those voices from the middle directly into the conversation.

And what’s fascinating is - the story is always more nuanced than it appears.”
In episode 34, Wendy Agar sits down with Dr Kieren Moffat to unpack one of the biggest challenges in regional engagement right now - who is actually shaping the conversation?

While it can feel like communities are divided, the reality is most people aren’t engaging at all, while a small group shows up again and again. So what does that mean for how we interpret “community sentiment”?

This is a practical, grounded conversation exploring the impact of the loud minority, engagement fatigue across regional Australia, and what better, more representative engagement could look like in practice.

If you work in renewable energy, transmission, land access or stakeholder engagement, this one is well worth your time.

Part of the Working in the Middle: Engagement on the Ground During the Energy Transition series, proudly supported by Powerlink Queensland.

Listen now https://www.engagedoutcomes.com.au/empower-podcast

Voconiq Queensland Treasury Clean Energy Council The University of Queensland CSIRO