Inception Report
Background
This inception report establishes the implementation plan for the research project "Options for FTA Modernisation to Strengthen Critical Mineral Supply Chains for the Indo-Pacific Green Economy Transition," to be implemented by UNSW Centre for Sustainable Development Reform (CSDR) and UNSW Energy Institute under a grant agreement with the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). The project examines opportunities to modernise Australia's Free Trade Agreements with Southeast Asian partners—including Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Philippines, and Thailand—to strengthen critical mineral supply chains essential for battery manufacturing and clean energy technologies. The remainder of the report presents the following for review by DFAT:
- Summary activity report from execution of the Grant Agreement (6 August 2025) to date.
- Revised Implementation plan, informed by preliminary desk research and consultation with DFAT on 4 September 2025. Noteworthy features of this plan are the (1) revised substantive focus to accommodate trade modernisation opportunities beyond the core scope of critical mineral supply, (2) proposed cross-Departmental consultations in Canberra (December 2025) and (3) two virtual stakeholder consultations (November 2025 and February 2026).
- Revised analytical approach designed to reflect consultations with DFAT and the three grant program objectives: informing Australia's Southeast Asia trade agenda to 2040, prioritising FTA modernisation initiatives, and supporting trade liberalisation and economic integration through evidence-based recommendations.
Activity Report
Between grant execution on 6 August 2025 and this inception report, the research team has completed foundational analytical work including desk evidence review of Australia's Southeast Asian FTAs (SAFTA, MAFTA, TAFTA, IA-CEPA, CPTPP, RCEP, AANZFTA), examination of academic and policy literature on critical minerals trade liberalisation and processing opportunities, and internal coordination meetings between UNSW CSDR and Energy Institute experts to establish research methodologies and allocate analytical responsibilities.
The stakeholder consultation with DFAT on 4 September 2025 refined the project's analytical approach based on departmental priorities. Key themes emerging from this discussion that shape the project's evolved approach (and focus of substantive deliverables) include:
- Industry needs identification: Consultations will elicit practical barriers and specific recommendations from industry stakeholders, focusing on implementation challenges rather than aspirational text.
- Standards and behind-the-border barriers: Analysis will address standards fragmentation for critical minerals, transparency requirements, and trade facilitation processes that create practical market access impediments.
- Cross-sectoral pattern identification: While maintaining critical minerals as the analytical anchor, the research will test whether identified barriers and solutions have applicability to agriculture, green economy, and other priority sectors.
- Instrumental flexibility assessment: Analysis will consider the full spectrum of policy instruments—FTA upgrades, quick fixes, bilateral investment agreements, and cooperation mechanisms—rather than assuming comprehensive FTA renegotiation.
- Practical liberalisation focus: Given that goods, services, and investment arrangements are already relatively liberal, emphasis shifts to identifying and addressing specific regulatory frictions and implementation gaps.
Implementation plan
Personnel
The core project team will include the following UNSW experts:
- Dr. Ben Milligan is Scientia Fellow and Director of the UNSW Centre for Sustainable Development Reform (CSDR), serving as project lead. His expertise in resource governance, sustainability standards, and trade policy includes advising Indo-Pacific governments on policy reforms. Dr. Milligan's work with the UN International Resource Panel and European Commission on raw materials diplomacy provides specialized insights into critical minerals dimensions of FTA modernization. He has facilitated ministerial negotiations including the Pacific Blue Shipping Partnership, and has advised Indonesian, Vietnamese, and Philippine governments on environmental policy.
- Professor Iain MacGill is Joint Director of the Collaboration on Energy and Environmental Markets (CEEM) at UNSW Sydney, specializing in electricity industry restructuring, energy markets, and renewable energy integration. His work focuses on technical, economic, and policy challenges of transitioning to low-carbon energy systems.
- Dr. Rahman Daiyan, a Senior Lecturer at UNSW's School of Minerals and Energy Resources Engineering, provides expertise in techno-economic dimensions of clean energy supply chains. His work focuses on developing and assessing commercial viability of renewable energy technologies including green hydrogen and sustainable fuels.
- Dr. Michelle Vaqueiro Contreras is a Senior Research Fellow at UNSW's School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering (SPREE) and Institute Manager at the UNSW Energy Institute. Her expertise in solar cell manufacturing processes and materials science contributed to the Silicon to Solar (S2S) study informing Australia's $1 billion Solar Sunshot program.
- Edoardo Santagata is a PhD candidate at UNSW's School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering (SPREE) and a member of the Collaboration on Energy and Environmental Markets (CEEM). His research focuses on energy resilience and security in the Asia-Pacific region, developing planning frameworks for clean energy transitions and decarbonisation in island contexts.
Implementation Schedule
The project follows a five-phase implementation schedule running from August 2025 to February 2026, with research deliverables aligned to DFAT reporting milestones. A structured consultation program engages Australian Government departments, Southeast Asian partners, and industry stakeholders to inform the analytical framework and validate emerging findings. The table below details the consultation activities, their rationale, and substantive focus areas.
| Consultation Activity | Rationale and Focus | Indicative Partners |
|---|---|---|
| Inter-Departmental Roundtable (Canberra, December 2025, 9:00-15:00 at DFAT preferred location, 15-20 participantsm) | Provides opportunity (in confidential setting) for Australian Government departments operating in clean energy, circular economy, and related policy spaces to consider trade constraints and opportunities with wider implications for their portfolios. Jointly facilitated by CSDR and DFAT, drawing on CSDR's specialist facilitation expertise in inter-departmental settings, to enhance evidence review quality through cross-portfolio integration. | Relevant Australian Government departments (co-selected with DFAT) |
| Southeast Asian Stakeholder Consultations (Virtual, September-October 2025) | Iterative engagement with Australian and regional embassies, high commissions, industry representatives, and government officials to validate preliminary findings, identify partner country priorities, and ensure recommendations reflect bilateral relationship dynamics. | BRIN, WRI Indonesia, ISEREC, MP Solar, SERIS; Australian and regional embassies/high commissions |
| Australian Industry Consultations (October-November 2025) | Targeted engagement with mining, processing, manufacturing, and clean energy sectors to elicit practical barriers, implementation challenges, and industry-driven recommendations focusing on operational constraints rather than aspirational policy text. | Mining/METS sector, clean energy manufacturers, battery value chain participants |
| Track 2 Virtual Dialogue I (December 2025, 120 minutes, 10-15 participants) | Multi-stakeholder forum under the Chatham House Rule bringing together government and non-government actors to discuss emerging findings, test cross-sectoral applicability of identified solutions, and refine recommendation priorities ahead of Technical Paper development. | Multi-stakeholder participants from prior consultations |
| Track 2 Virtual Dialogue II (February 2026, 120 minutes, 10-15 participants) | Final validation forum under the Chatham House Rule to review draft recommendations, assess implementation feasibility, and ensure alignment with Australia's 2040 Southeast Asia trade agenda before Final Report delivery. | Multi-stakeholder participants from prior consultations |
The Interim Evidence Report (due 6 October 2025) will document trade barriers, processing opportunities, and preliminary FTA enhancement options informed by initial consultations. The Consultation Summary (due 6 December 2025) will synthesize stakeholder input and consensus opportunities. Following Track 2 Dialogue I, the Technical Paper on model provisions will be developed (January 2026), with Track 2 Dialogue II refining final recommendations before delivery of the comprehensive Final Report (28 February 2026) containing specific FTA modernisation recommendations and implementation roadmap to 2040.
Structure and Focus of Written Reports
Structure of Written Reports
| Deliverable | Description and Dissemination |
|---|---|
| Inception Report | This document: establishes implementation framework and refined analytical approach |
| Evidence Review | Living document with continuous updates and monthly polished versions for wider circulation; documents baseline context, trade barriers, processing opportunities, and FTA enhancement options |
| Consultation Summary | First published 6 December 2025 as living document with continuous access and monthly polished versions; synthesizes stakeholder priorities and consensus opportunities |
| Technical Paper with Specific Recommendations | Interlinked with Evidence Report; targeted for DFAT and Australian Government circulation (not public release); focused recommendations informed by consultation outcomes |
| Final Report | Consolidates all project materials with comprehensive FTA modernisation recommendations, implementation roadmap to 2040, and administrative reporting consistent with funding agreement |
Refined Substantive Focus
Following the 4 September 2025 DFAT consultation, we propose to adopt a "pathfinder sector" approach that maintains critical mineral supply chains as the analytical anchor while identifying patterns and solutions with cross-sectoral applicability. The analysis operates across three tiers: core critical minerals examination (trade barriers, processing constraints, standards fragmentation, ESG requirements), adjacent trade dependencies (infrastructure, services, technology transfer, investment frameworks), and applications to broader sectors (agriculture, manufacturing, green economy). This approach allocates approximately 60% of analytical effort to critical minerals deep-dive, 25% to cross-sectoral pattern identification, and 15% to developing broader application frameworks, directly addressing the three grant objectives of informing Australia's 2040 Southeast Asia trade agenda, prioritising FTA modernisation initiatives, and supporting practical trade liberalisation. Detailed analytical frameworks, methodological approaches, scope boundaries, and implementation strategies are elaborated in the substantive project deliverables.
Acronyms
- AANZFTA: ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement
- BRIN: Badan Riset dan Inovasi Nasional (National Research and Innovation Agency, Indonesia)
- CPTPP: Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership
- CSDR: Centre for Sustainable Development Reform
- DFAT: Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
- ESG: Environmental, Social, and Governance
- FTA: Free Trade Agreement
- IA-CEPA: Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement
- ISEREC: Indonesian Solar Energy Research Center
- LCR: Local Content Requirement
- MAFTA: Malaysia-Australia Free Trade Agreement
- METS: Mining Equipment, Technology and Services
- MRA: Mutual Recognition Agreement
- RCEP: Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership
- SERIS: Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore
- TAFTA: Thailand-Australia Free Trade Agreement
- TSD: Trade and Sustainable Development
- UNSW: University of New South Wales
- WRI: World Resources Institute