Communities and local economies

We are connected to the communities where we operate:

  • Adelaide – head office
  • Perth – projects and operations office
  • Otway region (Victoria) - offshore exploration and production and onshore "Athena" gas plant
  • Gippsland region (Victoria)- offshore exploration and production and onshore "Orbost" gas plant
  • Cooper Basin in north-east South Australia- non-operated production.

We don't have a fly-in fly-out workforce. Our people, contractors, and most of our suppliers live and work in these communities.

We talk to our communities, inform them of our actions and ask for their feedback. Where possible we engage them in decision-making. We see the benefits of co-existence and diversity in local economies.

Benefits to local businesses

We operate alongside other local industries – managing any risks and delivering benefits to local economies. Wherever possible we make sure we help to sustain our local businesses and services by bringing our business to cafes, plumbing suppliers, accommodation providers, supermarkets, pharmacies, health services and schools.

Support for local not-for-profit and charitable organisations

The Cooper Energy Legacy Foundation was started to support projects that bring benefits to our communities. We invite local groups to approach us with their ideas and requests funding in line with our themes:

  • Education – with a focus on minority or disadvantaged groups
  • Health – mental health, particularly that of children and young adults
  • Sustainability – the marine and land environment in proximity to where we operate.

If you have a project you’d like us to support contact us

Our support has offered services to our communities including:

  • a three-year agreement with Victoria’s Royal Flying Doctor Service to improve health services in the Otway and Gippsland regions. They visited schools within bushfire affected communities to provide some fun and sense of normality
  • providing health technology to remote areas to enable them to access Telehealth services.

Local organisations we have supported include:

We create opportunities for young people in the regions and our industry by:

  • sponsoring health students to complete their studies and return to work in regional Victoria
  • supporting up and coming STEM students through the Society of Petroleum Engineers and the Playford Trust Adelaide University Petroleum Engineering Scholarship.