Following significant amendments to its $30 billion Browse joint venture project proposal—including reducing the development footprint near heritage sites and relocating drilling units—Woodside Energy faces reopened public consultation by Western Australia’s EPA. The company’s adjustments, aimed at minimizing environmental impact, come amid shareholder backlash and regulatory pressure.

Woodside Energy published its 2023 Modern Slavery Statement detailing comprehensive measures to mitigate modern slavery risks across its operations and supply chain. The document outlines initiatives such as enhanced modern slavery due diligence, robust supplier audits, updated remediation guidelines, comprehensive training programs, and effective grievance mechanisms, all aimed at protecting worker rights and ensuring ethical business practices.

The article details Woodside Energy’s recent lobbying on offshore oil and gas regulation reforms and highlights its rapid resubmission of an Environmental Plan with minimal changes following court findings on inadequate consultation with Traditional Owners. These actions raise concerns over the company’s political influence and commitment to ethical business practices and indigenous rights.

Woodside Energy has donated over $2.6 million to major political parties over the past decade and has board members with deep political ties, which critics argue secures influential protection for its fossil fuel activities and undermines democratic accountability.

On June 26-27, 2023, UN Special Procedures issued communications to Australia and three companies, including Woodside Energy, criticizing the expansion of the Scarborough gas project. The communications allege that the project poses significant risks to indigenous cultural heritage at Murujuga and may contribute to environmental degradation and human rights abuses, in potential violation of obligations under the Paris Agreement and international human rights treaties.

Woodside Energy was compelled to engage in collective bargaining with unions at its offshore gas platforms after losing a seven‐month legal battle, marking the first time in 30 years the company has entered into such negotiations.

Woodside Energy spent $820,000 on lobbying in 2023, as reported by OpenSecrets. This spending reflects an effort to influence U.S. policy through corporate lobbying, a practice that may favor corporate interests over progressive, marginalized, and public welfare concerns.

In January 2022, Woodside Energy announced its decision to exit its involvement in the A-6 gas joint venture in Myanmar amid concerns over the authoritarian junta regime. The move comes after previous controversy involving executive comments and aligns with a broader shift away from doing business with repressive governments.

The UN correspondence released by Murujuga traditional custodian Raelene Cooper accuses Woodside Energy of damaging sacred Aboriginal rock art and songlines on Murujuga. The letter, sent to the government in 2022, calls for the company to comply with both Australian and international environmental and human rights standards.

In February 2021, Woodside Energy's CEO Peter Coleman stated that the company would proceed with a major deepwater gas project off Myanmar's coast despite widespread human rights criticism and calls to pressure the military regime. Human rights groups, including Human Rights Watch, condemned the comments and the decision as negligent corporate social responsibility, arguing that the move indirectly supports an authoritarian regime embroiled in human rights abuses.