Energy transition and process safety take centre stage at Chemeca 2026 and Hazards Australasia
1st October 2026
Chemical and process engineers will play a pivotal role in delivering Australia and New Zealand's low-carbon future, with energy transition, process safety, innovation and emerging technologies taking centre stage at Chemeca 2026 and Hazards Australasia.
Held at Melbourne's Marvel Stadium from 28-30 September, the co-located conferences brought together more than 300 industry leaders, researchers, regulators, academics and students from across Australasia and beyond to explore the challenges and opportunities shaping the profession.
Under the theme Innovate. Integrate. Impact., delegates shared insights across more than 90 technical presentations, plenary sessions and panel discussions covering energy transition, bioenergy, process safety, decarbonisation, advanced technologies and industrial innovation.
Delegates were joined by Yvonne Baker, CEO of IChemE, and Dr Ollie Folayan, President of IChemE, who travelled from the UK for the event.
"The energy transition is creating significant new opportunities for chemical engineers to apply their skills in emerging industries, from low-carbon fuels and bioenergy to advanced manufacturing and industrial decarbonisation," said Liz Hallfix, Co-Chair of Chemeca 2026 and Hazards Australasia and IChemE Treasurer.
Kathryn Mumford, Co-Chair of Chemeca 2026 and Hazards Australasia and Professor at the University of Melbourne, said the conference highlighted the profession's strength and its future workforce. "The strong engagement from students, researchers and industry leaders demonstrates the depth of talent, innovation and collaboration across our profession and highlights a bright future for chemical engineering," she said.
A recurring theme throughout the conference was the importance of collaboration across industry, academia and government to accelerate the energy transition while maintaining the highest standards of process safety.
Shahana McKenzie, CEO of Bioenergy Australia, highlighted bioenergy's potential to strengthen energy security, create regional jobs, reduce emissions and support a circular economy. An energy transition panel featuring representatives from Boeing, Jemena and Viva Energy Australia identified policy certainty, workforce capability, process safety leadership and cross-sector collaboration as critical enablers of low-carbon energy solutions.
Process safety remained a key focus. Leanne Hughson, CEO of Energy Safe Victoria, emphasised the importance of embedding safety throughout every stage of the energy transition, while regulators from Australia and New Zealand discussed workforce capability, decommissioning challenges and the evolution of regulatory frameworks to support emerging technologies.
Alexandra Robertson, Managing Director of 27South Advisory, challenged executives and boards to look beyond dashboard metrics and critically examine the evidence behind reported performance when making safety-critical decisions.
Barry Hooper, Founder and CTO of KC8 Capture Technologies, shared lessons on commercialising clean technologies, including attracting investment and building capability to scale carbon capture solutions.
Delivering the 2026 Chemeca Medallist presentation, Keith Sharp of TfA Project Group outlined how low-carbon fuels could help decarbonise hard-to-abate sectors, strengthen fuel security, support regional jobs and attract significant investment.
Yvonne Baker, CEO of IChemE, said, "Being part of the Chemeca and Hazards Australasia conference experience has been both inspiring and encouraging. It has highlighted the value of bringing together industry, academia and regulators to share knowledge, challenge thinking and accelerate innovation. The discussions throughout the conference reinforced the critical role chemical engineers will play in advancing the energy transition, strengthening process safety and developing the technologies needed for a more sustainable future."
We look forward to Chemeca 2027, which will be held in conjunction with the Asia-Pacific Confederation of Chemical Engineering Congress (APCChE 2027) in Australia. The event will explore the theme, “Collaborating to Deliver a Secure, Sustainable and Equitable Future”.
For more information, visit APCChE27 or contact chemeca@icheme.org
What is chemical engineering?
Chemical, biochemical and process engineering is the application of science, mathematics and economics in the process of turning raw materials into everyday, and more specialist, products. Professional chemical engineers design, construct and manage process operations all over the world. Energy, pharmaceuticals, food and drink, synthetic fibres and clean drinking water are just some of the industry sectors and products where chemical engineering plays a central role.
IChemE
The Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) advances chemical engineering's contribution for the benefit of society. We facilitate the development of chemical engineering professionals and provide connections to a powerful network of around 32,000 members in more than 100 countries.
We support our members in applying their expertise and experience to make an influential contribution to solving major global challenges, and are the only organisation permitted to award Chartered Chemical Engineer status and Professional Process Safety Engineer registration.