Community Engagement

We place high importance on stakeholder consultation and take pride in our proactive approach to community engagement.

Community Updates

We keep the community informed of our latest activities by sending quarterly community updates to our community database.

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Community Open House Sessions

We hosted three open house sessions in May 2024, inviting local community members to learn about a potential strategy to fill the mine pit and hear the latest on rehabilitation of the former mine and power station sites.

The community events followed four years’ of technical work that explored the use of groundwater to fast-track filling the mine pit within the next decade as opposed to potentially keeping the site restricted for 50 years using the natural fill option.

A total of 102 members of the local community attended the sessions to discuss the technical findings with representatives from the Alcoa team and their technical experts.

Feedback Summary:

  • 88 per cent of survey respondents felt they better understood the draft Anglesea Mine Rehabilitation and Closure Plan
  • 86 per cent of survey respondents felt informed about what viable options there are to fill the mine pit
  • 86 per cent of the feedback was assessed as being either neutral in tone (56 per cent), or positive (32 per cent), while 14 per cent was assessed as being negative
  • Community members remain interested in a variety of other aspects related to the future of the site

A summary report of the feedback received throughout the sessions is available to view below:

Considerate of the feedback received and informed by the extensive and complete technical work as part of the Groundwater Risk Assessment, Alcoa submitted a formal groundwater licence amendment application to Southern Rural Water in July 2024.

Community Engagement for Future Land Use

The process to develop future land use plans began with establishing guiding principles, developed with the community and key stakeholders. At each stage of consultation, we published a community engagement report outlining the feedback received and how the feedback helped shape the plans.

Read more about future land planning

Alcoa Community Consultation Network Meetings

In 2001, we established the Alcoa Community Consultation Network (CCN) comprising local residents, land and business owners, community groups, Surf Coast Shire Council representatives and Victorian government departments and agencies such as Earth Resources Regulation, DELWP and EPA Victoria.

Groundwater Pumping Test Updates

Filling the mine pit with water is a key enabler to finalise the Anglesea Mine Rehabilitation and Closure Plan. To further investigate using groundwater to support the long-term filling strategy, we completed a groundwater pumping test in 2022. During the test we published monthly updates.