Our Sustainable Approach and Defining Materiality

Download this section (2.8 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 have continued to engage with internal and external stakeholders to develop supporting actions, identify areas for employee development and report on key metrics.

This includes quarterly sustainability reports to the Corporate Executive, to measure performance ensuring our policy drives and guides our future direction. Further information on our approach to sustainability, including our 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. Results are reported to the Corporate Executive and the review is conducted using a five-step process, informed by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) tests for materiality:

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

Asset 12x2

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.

Addressing our Most Important Material Issues

Our approach to addressing our top material issues and alignment with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), of which Australia is a signatory, is shown in the table below. More information on how these topics relate to Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) indicators can be found here

Material Issue	Key Impacts	Key Resources Affected	SDG Alignment
Road Safety	Western Australia’s road death statistic, 6.1 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.
Congestion & 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.
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. These prevent undue influence in the administration of our role and ensure swift, efficient and effective implementation of government policies and strategies
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.
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.
Value for Money	We must make effective use of the government funding we receive to deliver our services to the community.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 2018-19 we engaged directly with more than 5,400 suppliers and made in the order of $2.174 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.