A release area is an area of pastoral land, certain Crown land and state waters that the Minister responsible for the HRE Act has declared for renewable energy development.

Release areas involve government working with Native Title groups, pastoralists and other landowners, representative organisations, communities, and interest groups to identify areas of land that can sustainably host large-scale renewable energy development.

Under this framework, renewable energy activities on designated land will only occur where the Minister has declared a release area. Once declared, release areas will be allocated through a competitive tender process, ensuring only the best projects and proponents are awarded the exclusive access to develop large-scale projects.

The release area pathway has been included to ensure development on designated land is strategic, sustainable, supportive of regional development objectives, and is the best use of the land, while co-existing with existing land uses.