Department of Energy and Economic Diversification (DEED)

Over the past few years, Western Australia has been undergoing the single largest infrastructure and public policy transformation in its history, as it begins the transition from decades-old coal-fired power generation to a series of modern electricity systems, powered by renewable energy, battery and gas.

For the Department of Energy and Economic Diversification (DEED), the challenge was not simply communicating the transition to an extremely diverse (and sceptical) public – the policy translation had to build understanding, trust and social licence across 2,527,013 square kilometres of regional, urban and remote WA communities.

Customers ranged from metropolitan households wanting reassurance around reliability and affordability, through to regional communities hosting new infrastructure, Traditional Owners, landholders, industry partners and international investors. Each audience had different concerns, expectations and information needs, requiring a coordinated approach that balanced statewide consistency with locally relevant communications. Many had experienced a diverse range of service issues, legacy systems and cost scenarios that urgently needed to be addressed.

The Department required a single source of truth across political, media and community events, advertising and digital resources. An overarching communications platform had to be developed that could explain complex policy, research and community impacts in plain language, strengthen trust in government decision-making, reduce friction around major projects, and position Western Australia as a global leader in renewable energy.

Anthologie partnered with DEED’s communications, policy and community engagement teams to develop the strategic communications platform that became State of Energy – a long-term public engagement initiative designed to improve understanding of Western Australia’s energy future and build increased social license for the WA State Government.

Rather than beginning with channels or creative, we focused on the customer experience.

By working directly with government departments, research partners and community impact groups, we could better understand the questions different audiences were asking, the concerns driving resistance, and the information required to build confidence throughout the transition. This informed a messaging framework built around transparency, clarity and practical community benefits.

The overall approach recognised that while everyone needed a consistent story about the State’s overall energy transition, individual communities also required tailored communications that reflected their local context, priorities and lived experience.

The result was a scalable communications platform capable of supporting government, industry and community engagement over many years. From the beginning, it was designed to integrate with the State Government’s ‘Made in WA’ platform and ‘Diversify WA’ strategic plan, allowing it to seamlessly link investment, employment, education and tourism outcomes to the energy transition narrative. Working closely with the Department of the Premier and Cabinet also allowed a consistent platform between major policy announcements, community messaging and related government initiatives.

Anthologie helped develop the strategic narrative, visual design, messaging matrix and customer communications platform supporting the State of Energy initiative, including:

• State of Energy brand and campaign messaging
• Customer segmentation and targeted messaging for metropolitan, regional and stakeholder audiences
• Collaborating with research partners, public Q&As and market research testing
• Launch creative and event collaboration
• Website content strategy and digital information architecture (in partnership with Government digital delivery partners)
• Social, digital, outdoor and broadcast campaign assets
• Community information resources and stakeholder toolkits
• Regional communications supporting communities hosting energy infrastructure
• Video, photography and creative assets (including working files and templates) supporting long-term campaign implementation
• Strategic guidance establishing State of Energy as the trusted source of information for Western Australia’s energy transition.

By listening to the WA public and the people on the ground in WA State Government, we were able to simplify a complex story to a set of community-first messages under the State of Energy banner.

By translating complex technical policy and impact into accessible, human-first language, the team were able to deliver measurable outcomes in research tracking and improved public sentiment across:

• wider understanding of the WA energy transition
• more consistent public communications across different government initiatives and departments
• public confidence built with transparent and benefit-focused messaging
• regional community outcomes with tailored, place-based communications
• scalable frameworks capable of supporting the energy transition narrative over the long term.

The State of Energy narrative has enabled the WA Government to create more consistent, transparent and clear messaging in a complex and contentious environment. This means more ordinary Western Australians have a better understanding of what our largest infrastructure transition means for their lives, their communities and the future of WA.