Australia’s resources and energy sector is navigating shifting commodity needs, changing community expectations, and a more complex funding landscape.
For many industry participants this has not been about leaving one sector behind, but about evolving into new areas. Their advisers have also needed to move with them.
Lawyers working on the front line of these issues see both challenges and opportunities as the world embraces a more sustainable future.
McCullough Robertson Lawyers Partner Andrew Bukowski says that when the firm’s resources arm was established more than 20 years ago, it largely reflected the industry of the time and was dominated by the large coal investments in Queensland and NSW.
“As the sector diversified, some of our work changed” he said. “But what’s been consistent is that we have been able to remain with those clients, even as their investments have shifted.”
“In the last seven years, renewables have become a big focus. We’ve also seen growth in critical minerals – lithium, vanadium, scandium, silica sands and so on. In many cases, these are long-standing clients who are now investing into different parts of the industry.”
“At the same time, the nature of client needs has evolved across the project lifecycle. Funding has also changed significantly, with more complex structures rather than just large offshore investors.”
McR Partner Kate Swain, co-head of the firm’s Resources and Renewables (R&R) team, said the team had grown alongside industry to around 45 partners with whole-of-project capability.
“Our clients are not operating in silos. Today, resources, renewables and infrastructure increasingly overlap,” she said.
“It’s the full lifecycle – acquiring land, getting approvals, funding projects, constructing projects, decommissioning, and everything in between.”
Ms Swain said the R&R team’s ability to advise across both resources and renewables was a point of distinction. “There is a lot of talk about ‘energy transition’, but we have made a choice to remain deeply embedded in the resources sector while also growing strongly in renewables across Australia.”
While traditional resources industries may look a lot different from wind farming and solar power, there are significant similarities.
“Many of our mining clients who we acted for 20 years ago are the same ones leading the renewables and battery metals charge today,” Ms Swain said.
“Our role is often to help clients apply what they already know about land access, approvals, working alongside regional communities and funding in a new context.”
The regulatory environment has tended to evolve with changing community imperatives and policy priorities.
“The approvals environment depends a lot on the commodity,” Ms Swain said.
“In recent years, coal projects have been more challenging to get approved compared to critical mineral projects” she said. “The key is early engagement with regulators and communities.
“Mining involves rigorous environmental assessments, which can take time, and are often influenced by project complexity and funding challenges.”
The renewables regulation space can also be ever-changing, as legislators try to keep pace with the speed of transformation.
“As renewables grow, regulators often don’t yet have all the answers, so reforms follow,” Ms Swain said.
“For example, decommissioning frameworks for wind turbines and solar farms aren’t clearly legislated yet in Queensland or New South Wales – it’s handled on an ad-hoc basis. That’s an area where we are likely to see future regulation, with proposed reforms in NSW recently announced which will impose additional rehabilitation and decommissioning obligations on renewable energy developers.”
Transmission infrastructure – getting renewable energy to market and managing grid impacts – will be another “major challenge” going forward.
Despite the complexity, McR Partner and Real Estate Group Lead, Eva Vicic, says Australia remains attractive as an investment destination because it is stable and predictable.
“While approvals may take longer, Australia offers certainty, rule of law, and low sovereign risk,” she said.
Whilst Australia has an abundance of land appealing to renewable developers compared to places like Europe, land availability for large-scale renewables is becoming “more constrained” so tension between agricultural use and energy development will likely remain a point of contention in coming years.
Ms Vicic said the rise in renewable energy had introduced new land-use challenges, with mining, wind and agriculture needing to coexist alongside each other and the communities they serve.
McR’s long history of being present in regional Australia and working with the agricultural industry helps it to provide insights in balancing competing needs.
“It’s part of our culture to be down-to-earth and genuinely care about people,” Ms Vicic said.
“Being on the ground and understanding landowners’ concerns helps build trust and leads to better outcomes.”
Ms Swain said juggling different land use impacts often came down to a willingness to engage.
“Some landholders are strongly opposed to solar and wind projects, while others are very supportive and see renewables as a way to diversify income,” Ms Swain said. “It really depends on mindset.”
Ms Vicic said that, in a world of competing priorities, lawyers often became “informal project managers” to ensure smooth coordination.
“Understanding how projects actually work on the ground, improves the quality of our advice,” she said.
Mr Bukowski said the firm often talked about being involved in big projects “from acorns to oak trees”.
“In mining, we’ve supported projects from initial pegging through to operation, sale, and ongoing ownership,” he said.
“In renewables, we’ve helped clients enter the Australian market, structure projects, handle approvals, manage land issues, and ultimately sell operating assets. It’s very rewarding to see that full lifecycle.”
“What’s rewarding is seeing clients grow, change and diversify and knowing we’ve been able to move with them, stay current, and support them at every stage.”
This is one of a series of articles to mark McCullough Robertson’s centenary in 2026. For more about the firm and its centenary, see here.
