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All Your Social Impact Assessment Needs In One Place

Do you want us to help you create your social impact assessment report?

Well, you’ve come to the right place. Our team here at WPG is highly knowledgeable and experienced in the preparation of Social Impact Assessments (SIAs).

Operating for more than a decade, we understand just how vital impact reports are to a project, and so we make it a priority to ensure we cover all the bases. Before we get started, however, let’s go back to basics.

The following article is a deep dive into all things social impact assessments, including what they are and why they are so important.

Social Impact Assessments:

What Are They?

Before you get started on any project, it’s essential to understand any social influence it might have on the community, both positive and negative. So that’s where the preparation of a social impact report comes in. Essentially, these reports contain a lot of research identifying areas of potential social change or possible repercussions caused during any process of the project, whether that be before production, during, or after. The Queensland Government defines an SIA as:

‘a process for the identification, analysis, assessment, management and monitoring of the potential social impacts of a project, both positive and negative’.

These impacts affect people and their communities, either directly or indirectly.

What Is Included In A Social Impact Assessment Report?

Each SIA must address five critical matters. They are:

Engagement, both community, and stakeholder
Workforce management
Accommodation and housing
Industry procurement and local businesses
Health and wellbeing of the community

It’s worth noting that completing an SIA is required by law (Strong and Sustainable Resource Communities Act) for large resource projects, and each report must cover all five key matters. This means for smaller, non-resource projects, SIAs are non-mandatory. However, as expert social impact assessment consultants, we have experienced first-hand the difference preparing an SIA makes on a project. As SIAs address the entire lifecycle of a project right from conception to completion, they help promote community support and acceptance while assisting with the reduction of conflict or any other potential issues.

And Why Are They Important?

Without a complete understanding of how your project could affect the community, there’s a possibility you might cause some unintended harm. Social impact reports help promote an environment that is both sustainable and equitable. As they offer comprehensive insight into several social, economic, historical, and cultural impacts of a project, SIAs are imperative in determining how the development might affect the community in question. This means you can identify any adverse effects on the community and adequately consider the requirements and conditions of those impacted by the project. Additionally, SIAs encourage community empowerment, building trust and solid social relationships.