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Social impact assessment
A social impact assessment is necessary for all resource development projects that require an environmental impact statement (EIS) under either the:
- State Development and Public Works Organisation Act 1971, or
- Environmental Protection Act 1994.
The social impact assessment forms part of the EIS.
Proponents must consult with the departmental officer managing their project before conducting the assessment.
What are social impacts?
Social impacts include positive or negative changes in one or more of five broad areas:
- demographic (e.g. changes in gender or age distributions, the number of resident versus non-resident workers)
- economic (e.g. local employment and business opportunities and economic conditions, availability and affordability of housing)
- health and wellbeing (e.g. social, economic, lifestyle and behaviours, access to services)
- environmental (e.g. dust, noise, lighting and water-quality impacts on social amenity/liveability and health and wellbeing)
- institutional (e.g. capacity, capability and membership of community organisations and governance mechanisms).
Assessment process
The social impact assessment process involves:
- understanding the local and regional areas potentially affected
- developing a stakeholder engagement plan
- scoping the social and cultural environment
- forecasting possible social changes
- developing a robust methodology
- estimating the significance of predicted changes
- identifying and managing potential impacts
- developing a monitoring plan to track implementation.
The assessment involves the collection of both qualitative and quantitative data. This data enables the existing, or baseline, social conditions to be measured and provides a basis for measuring future impacts.
Fact sheet
For more information, read the fact sheet on the Social impact assessment process (PDF, 131 KB)
