How Contacts Are Categorised
The category types, objectives, events, and committees used to classify contacts in Hive.
This article explains how we categorise contacts in Hive.
Contacts can carry several categories at once — they are not mutually exclusive.
1. Category type
What is this? The primary "hat" the person wears. A person can have multiple categories.
| Category type | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Adviser to politician | A staff member of a politician. | Senior adviser to Minister for Climate Change and Energy |
| Civil society | A member of a consumer group, environmental or climate organisation, or other not-for-profit. | Chief Executive Officer, ACTOSS |
| Consultant | An expert we commission for work, such as economic modelling. | Director, Dynamic Analysis |
| ECA board member | A member of our board. | Chair of ECA, Dr Michael Schaper |
| ECA staff member | A staff member of ECA. | GM, Public Affairs and Strategy |
| Energy industry | An individual who works for an energy retailer, energy industry association, or another organisation linked to the energy industry. | CEO of Energy Australia |
| General individual contact | A member of the public who isn't discernibly linked to any other category. | A member of the public who subscribes to our newsletter |
| Government department | An employee of a Federal, state or territory department. | Director, NSW DCCEEW |
| Local government | A representative of local government, or a staff member employed by a local council. | Head of Stakeholder Engagement, Waverley Council |
| Media | A representative of the media, including journalist, editor, or producer. | Climate reporter, The Age |
| Non-energy industry | An individual who does not work in civil society or for an energy organisation. | CEO, Business Council of Australia |
| Ombudsman | A representative of an ombudsman, including state or territory energy or water ombudsman. | Ombudsman and CEO, Energy and Water Ombudsman Victoria |
| Politician | An elected Federal, state or territory politician. | Minister for Climate Change and Energy |
| Regulator or market body | An individual who works for a regulator or market body — including the AER, AEMC, AEMO, ACCC, and ESC. | Chair, Australian Energy Regulator |
| Research organisation | An individual who works at a university or research organisation. | Professor of Law, University of Melbourne |
| Small business organisation | An individual associated with a small business, or small business advocacy organisation. | Head of Policy, COSBOA |
| Supplier | An individual that supplies services to ECA, such as events. | Chop Chop |
2. Projects
What is this? Projects in Grid that contacts or organisations are associated with.
- There is an integration with Grid, so that when a new project is created in Grid, it automatically creates a new project in Hive.
- This lets you associate stakeholders in Hive with projects — for example, all the contacts or companies who signed a joint consumer submission on a particular law reform, or all researchers on a grant project.
- You can also link an advocacy decision-maker to a project. For example, if you're working on a Tasmanian-specific law reform, you can open the Tasmanian Energy Minister, add them to the project, and select the association label Decision-maker. A project can have multiple decision-makers.
3. Objectives aligned / objectives opposed
What is this? ECA objectives that a contact is either aligned with or opposed to.
- You can categorise stakeholders by whether they are aligned or opposed to a specific ECA objective.
- For example, you can record that an industry representative is aligned with our views on consumer duty, but currently opposed to our views on minimum energy efficiency standards in rental properties.
- If you are the subject matter expert, it is your responsibility to keep stakeholders' aligned/opposed status current for your objectives.
4. Events attended
What is this? ECA events or workshops that a contact has attended.
- Stakeholders can be categorised by which ECA events they have attended, including the Foresighting Forum (by year) or board stakeholder events.
- This appears in the left-hand column of the contact page under Event Information.
- It is the responsibility of the Community team to ensure stakeholders who attended events are updated in Hive.
- To add a new event, contact the System Administrators.
5. ECA committee or group
What is this? The ECA committees or groups that contacts are, or have been, a part of.
Available options:
- ECA Reference Committee (current or former)
- Consumer Roundtable
- Small Business Roundtable (current or former)
- CER Expert Working Group
Who maintains this: the team running the specific committee or group. For example, the Community team maintains the Reference Committee, Consumer Roundtable, and Small Business Roundtable lists.
To create a new committee or group, contact the System Administrators.
Related articles (link once published)
- How Contacts Are Categorised: Issues and Jurisdiction
- How Politicians Are Categorised
- How Media Contacts Are Categorised
- Grant Recipient Categories
- How Companies Are Categorised