Our Sustainable Approach and Defining Materiality

Download this section (1.3 MB)

Released in 2016, our Sustainability Policy establishes a clear set of principles focused on creating lasting benefits socially, economically and environmentally.

The policy reflects our maturity and is aligned with the sustainability focus and outcomes identified in Keeping WA Moving. The policy was developed in consultation with our portfolio partners and industry stakeholders. It is underpinned by six key aspects guided by our policy objective and are considered material:

  • sustainable transport
  • climate change
  • environmental footprint
  • behaviour
  • governance and performance
  • funding and financial matters.

Over the past year we engaged with internal and external stakeholders to develop supporting actions, areas for employee development and key metrics, including quarterly sustainability reports to the Corporate Executive, to measure performance to ensure our policy drives and guides our future direction. Further information on our approach to sustainability, including the updated policy, can be found on our website.

Defining Materiality

We ensure the relevance and validity of all areas of our business and stakeholder relations through a biennial desktop materiality review and internal stakeholder prioritisation workshops, with results reported to the Corporate Executive.

The review is conducted using a five-step process, informed by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) tests for materiality:

The analysis stage draws from our corporate and legislative commitments, key risks, corporate stakeholder engagement processes, media and Ministerial topics, and our peers’ reporting practices.

The Matrix

The Matrix shows the results of our five-step materiality process, indicating what is important to our community and stakeholders.

Material Aspects

This report is prepared in accordance with the GRI principles of sustainability context, materiality, completeness and stakeholder inclusiveness, our value chain and the requirements specified in the Public Sector Commission’s Annual Reporting Framework. A GRI Content Index is available for reference.

Addressing our Most Important Material Issues

Our approach to addressing our top material issues and the alignment to addressing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), of which Australia is a signatory, for each issue is shown in the table below. More information on how these topics relate to GRI including the GRI Content Index and the SDGs can be found on our website.

Material IssuesKey ImpactsKey Resources AffectedSDG Alignment
Road Safety Western Australia’s road death statistic, 6.2 road deaths per 100,000 population, is the poorest of the mainland states – about 24 per cent above the national average. We believe no one should die or be seriously injured on our state’s road network, and we will manage the network for all road users to minimise the likelihood of road trauma.

Customers

Network Performance

Assets

Our People

Know-How

Good Health and Well BeingSustainable Cities

Congestion and Freight Productivity It is one of our core objectives to reduce the impacts on our community and economy from congestion on the road network and to provide more efficient access for our freight customers.

Customers

Network Performance

Assets

Our People

Know-How

Zero HungerIndustry, Innovation and InfrastructureGood Health and Well BeingSustainable CitiesDecent work and economic growth

Good Public Policy As a statutory authority we rely on our resources and know-how to ensure we have clear, transparent and strong governance approaches that prevent undue influence in the administration of our role and ensure swift, efficient and effective implementation of government policies and strategies

Customers

Assets

Our People

Know-How

Peace and JusticePartnerships for the goals
Biodiversity Our state is widely recognised as having unique flora and fauna and our actions have the potential to cause negative impacts in sensitive and protected environmental areas.

Natural Resources

Our People

Know-How

Assets

Customers

Clean water and sanitationLife on Land
Workforce Safety and Health Our work environment means that our people, suppliers, partners and customers often interface with the road environment, moving traffic and heavy machinery in order to deliver our services.

Customers

Our People

Know-How

Assets

Network Performance

Good Health and Well BeingSustainable CitiesDecent work and economic growth
Value for Money We must make effective use of the government funding we receive to deliver our services to the community.

Customers

Assets

Our People

Know-How

Financial Capital

Decent work and economic growthIndustry, Innovation and Infrastructure
Regional Presence and Development We operate across a vast and isolated state and our rural operations can have significant impacts on regional towns’, communities and their economies.

Customers

Our People

Know-How

Assets

Financial Capital

Zero HungerDecent work and economic growthQuality EducationIndustry, Innovation and Infrastructure
Compliance with Environmental Legislation In some circumstances our activities are subject to state and federal environmental legislation. We may face penalties, reputational damage or loss of stakeholder and community confidence if we do not comply with our environmental obligations.

Natural Resources

Our People

Know-How

Assets

Financial Capital

Customers

Good Health and Well BeingLife on LandClean water and sanitation
Indigenous Heritage and Native Title We acknowledge the traditional custodians of Western Australia’s lands and aim to protect Aboriginal cultural values wherever possible. We recognise that there is an unacceptable level of disadvantage in living standards, life expectancy, education, health and employment experienced by Aboriginal peoples. We are committed to making a change in our industry and progressing reconciliation.

Our People

Assets

Customers

No PovertyReduced InequalitiesDecent work and economic growth
Local Communities Our works and operations impact communities that live and work within close proximity. Acquisition of property, noise and business continuity are examples of issues that need to be carefully managed, require stakeholder engagement and impact our role as good neighbours.

Customers

Our People

Know-How

Assets

Good Health and Well BeingIndustry, Innovation and InfrastructureQuality EducationSustainable CitiesDecent work and economic growth
Procurement Practices We rely on our supply chain to deliver tasks critical to our overall success. We engage with a large number of suppliers of varying characteristics. In 2017-18 we engaged directly with over 4,500 suppliers and made in the order of $1.962 billion in payments. We are aware that our terms of payment can impact the cash flow and solvency of various businesses and seek to minimise those impacts. We also leverage our relationship with our suppliers to deliver priority government policy which includes training, indigenous engagement and supporting local business.

Our People

Know-How

Customers

Assets

Natural Resources

Quality EducationReduced InequalitiesDecent work and economic growth
northlink wa cars

Sustainability

Sustainability the Winner for NorthLink WA

The partnership we built with contractor John Holland to develop a sustainability culture across the NorthLink WA southern section team has delivered award-winning results. Setting and pursuing...

leaf symbol
Case Study Page 53 Strategies for Aboriginal Employment

Community Access

Project Welcomed by Locals

We are delivering a project to complete the sealing of the Broome Cape Leveque Road on behalf of the Shire of Broome. The remaining 90 kilometres...

people symbol
See more stories