Snowy Hydro social impact and community chief Sarah Norris will join a plenary session on community engagement at Forestry Australia’s 2026 Symposium in Canberra this October. A proud Snowy Mountains local, Norris brings more than 15 years of work on major infrastructure, energy and government projects to a programme built around the sector’s social licence.
“Supporting regional communities isn’t just part of my role at Snowy,” Norris wrote on LinkedIn earlier this year, describing the work as personal rather than procedural. She has little patience for fly-in consultations or templated engagements, favouring an approach that shows up, listens, and backs local priorities.
Her argument goes to the heart of the Symposium’s theme: the towns that host major developments deserve a hand in the decisions and a lasting share of the gains. Across major infrastructure, energy and resources projects, she has argued that consultation too often comes after the decisions are already made.
Norris joins a plenary of engagement specialists, including Janina Gawler, who served for 15 years as Rio Tinto’s vice-president for communities and social performance. Gawler wrote the miner’s social performance standard, negotiated land access and First Nations agreements across Australia and North America, and now runs RST Solutions for Community Engagement.
Luke Martin fronted Salmon Tasmania, and before it, the Tourism Industry Council of Tasmania, through some of that state’s fiercest social licence debates. Alexandra Gartmann, chair of the Australian Farm Institute and a former Rural Bank chief executive, has worked for more than 25 years on the resilience of rural and regional communities.
Norris is one of three names added to the programme this week, alongside former Australian Forest Products Association acting chief executive Natasa Sikman and former Sustainable Timber Tasmania boss Steve Whiteley. They join a bill headlined by keynote speakers Stan Grant and Simon Longstaff.
Forestry Australia chief executive Jacquie Martin said, when registrations opened in May, that the programme reflects a commitment to open and constructive dialogue from a sector with something to say and a responsibility to listen.
Held at Canberra’s Rex Hotel from Wednesday 7 to Friday 9 October and themed around the forestry story, the Symposium runs two days of plenary and concurrent sessions followed by a day of field trips. Registration at early bird rates ends on Sunday, 12 July, Forestry Australia has confirmed, with the full programme and bookings open on the conference website.
