The role of Australia’s windfarm commissioner has been a success and should be expanded to include solar and other large-scale renewables, a report by the Climate Change Authority has recommended.

It says the post, set up under the former prime minister Tony Abbott to handle complaints and investigate potential risks, has actually facilitated the uptake of wind energy by helping to address community concerns.

The controversial role of national windfarm commissioner was established by the Coalition in 2015 as part of a deal with anti-wind senators in response to complaints about turbine noise.

Tony Abbott’s government established the role of national windfarm commissioner as part of a deal with anti-wind senators. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Andrew Dyer was appointed to the position on an annual salary of $205,000.

A report published on Thursday by the Climate Change Authority found that there had been 163 complaints to the commissioner since the establishment of the office in late 2015 and most of those related to proposed windfarm developments, not windfarms that were already operational.

Eighty-four of the complaints were addressed by providing information to the person making the complaint or referring the complaint to the developer or a government agency.

Fifty-two cases were closed because the person making the complaint decided not to pursue it.

The report said the commissioner had “exceeded expectations” and that the windfarm industry and state governments “told the authority that the commissioner has facilitated uptake of wind energy by helping to address community concerns”.

The report recommends the role be expanded to include other developments such as large-scale solar and battery storage because there is likely to be a significant amount of new renewable energy development in Australia during the next few years.

In relation to solar farms, the chairwoman of the Climate Change Authority, Wendy Craik, said objections “generally relate to amenity, noise during construction and glare from the panels” as well as impacts on agricultural land, while complaints about batteries could relate to noise and visual impacts.

The report said the commissioner role was likely to be needed for at least the next few years and expanding it would be “an efficient and relatively low-cost way of helping to manage community concerns about large-scale solar, wind and storage (such as large-scale batteries) in the short to medium term”.

It recommends the post be funded until 2021 with a “modest” budget increase.

Andrew Bray coordinates the Australian Wind Alliance, which represents community supporters of windfarms. He said the commissioner had, in some cases, helped resolve long-running negotiations between windfarm developers and landholders on neighbouring properties.

“When companies are negotiating with neighbours around noise and changes to the visual landscape, he’s able to introduce realistic expectations of what neighbours can expect and that has allowed agreement to occur,” Bray said. “There are massive opportunities for regional communities from windfarms but it’s important the development is done right so any concerns are managed and financial benefits are shared appropriately.”

Another industry group, the Clean Energy Council, agreed with the report’s conclusions and echoed the call for the commissioner’s role to expand.

“Technology aside, many large-scale renewable energy projects share common challenges and community expectations,” energy generation director Anna Freeman said. “It makes sense to make the most of the commissioner’s expertise to inform the renewable energy sector as a whole.”