Reviewing your corporate affairs plan for 2027

An organisation reviewing its corporate affairs plan for 2027 needs to connect external developments to its own decisions, resources and responsibilities. For energy and infrastructure teams, the useful question is which development changes the work required before an investment, consultation or public announcement.

## Electricity planning and the decision ahead

The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) published the 2026 Integrated System Plan on 25 June 2026. Corporate affairs teams should identify the planning assumptions and infrastructure dependencies relevant to their organisation, then establish which statements require confirmation from project or technical teams.

Consider a storage project, invented for this example, preparing an investment announcement. A proposed network connection or upgrade may affect what the developer can say about timing. The project team needs to confirm the dependency and its status; corporate affairs can then prepare an announcement that distinguishes the investment decision from approvals, connection and construction milestones still to come.

The work plan should name the responsible technical contact, the evidence to obtain, the material to prepare and the point at which the announcement can be approved. A general task to monitor the energy transition would leave those responsibilities unresolved.

## Engagement procedures when requirements change

The Australian Government consulted on an exposure draft of the National Environmental Standard for Community Engagement from 9 June to 7 July 2026. The consultation record establishes that process and its dates; it does not establish the final operative requirements.

For a project planning consultation, the responsible legal or approvals adviser should establish which requirements apply and when. The engagement lead can then review the plan, participant information, reporting and responsibilities against that advice. The corporate affairs plan should reserve time for that review before the consultation material is approved.

## A defined task and owner for AI

The Digital Transformation Agency announced updated Australian Government AI policy, an impact assessment tool and procurement guidance in December 2025. Those resources concern government agencies and are not a universal private-sector obligation.

A corporate affairs team considering AI could start with a defined task, such as comparing published consultation documents. The brief should identify the permitted source material, who will check the output against those sources and who remains responsible for the final advice. Confidential submissions need separate handling arrangements; their availability to a team does not establish permission to put them into an AI service.

## Review points

For each matter, record the external process, the business decision affected, the required output, its owner and the next review point. Review the plan in December 2026, or earlier if a relevant decision changes, and confirm the status of each external process before relying on it. The result should be a set of assignments that can be resourced and approved, with the dependencies visible.