Category 3 – Government Leading By Example For A Sustainable Future
Awarded to a government organisation for leadership, commitment and excellence in protecting Australia’s environment and the sustainable management of the environment or natural resources.

Beyond The Norm & A New Standard (Townsville State of Environment) – Townsville City Council
QLD
Townsville City Council over the past 15 years has developed and implemented a range of innovative programs and policies based on ESD principles often in partnership with schools, Landcare and industry designed to protect Townsville’s nationally significant environmental areas (eg World Heritage Great Barrier Reef). Townsville’s newly released State of Environment Report brings together all aspects of these initiatives and programs, reporting on the environment in accordance with the Commonwealth’s SOE (pressure:condition:response) Model; Themes; and Core Environmental Indicators 2000 and provides the opportunity for involvement. The SOE report incorporates technological advances in document management, presentation, and environmental promotion, which go beyond normal practice and set new environmental management standards.

City of Fremantle
WA
The City of Fremantle is committed to preserving, caring for and improving total environment. In so doing, we are mindful of the need to incorporate sustainability principles into all our activities, to take account of not only the needs of current but also future generations and to work with other organizations to preserve precious and limited resources to achieve the vision for Fremantle. The City of Fremantle as a local government authority, is well placed to lead responsible environmental management, working closely with Fremantle’s environmentally aware community in such forum as the Precinct System, the only such system in WA. It is not possible to fully detail all the City’s initiatives in the area of conservation and environmental management. The City is particularly proud of Living Smart, Shed Your Car Day and the creation of Booyeembara Park being just three of a long list of Council’s achievements. The City of Fremantle has a plan to progress sustainability that is built on incorporating sustainability principles into our decision-making and operational processes. It is this incorporation of sustainability into all of our activities that is testimony of our ‘Government Leading by Example’.

Hume City Council Environment Initiative
VIC
Hume City Council has recently developed a Framework and Implementation Plan to address the issue of Sustainability within the local community and Council operations. A key feature of the framework and plan is a commitment by Council to undertake annual State of the Environment (SoE) Reporting, to provide information and feedback to the community on environmental issues and progress.

Solar in Schools – Sustainable Energy Development Authority
NSW
Solar In Schools brings clean energy to schools in NSW. Each school receives their own solar power system, and teaching resources that reinforce the relationship between energy and the environment. More than 20000 school children in 43 NSW Solar Schools are now learning about renewable energy, energy efficiency and global warming in a way that is fun, easy and hands-on. Think Global, Act Local – Solar in Schools provides a local solution to the global problem of climate change in a way that benefits the community and local businesses. Leadership – Students in Solar Schools lead the community by example by encouraging the sustainable production and use of energy. The Future – Solar in Schools educates the energy users of tomorrow to make informed choices that care for the planet.

Sustainable Living at Home Program – City of Port Phillip
VIC
Sustainable Living at Home (SLAH) is a community based environmental program, which is defined by and thrives on community involvement. This program builds on the need expressed by residents that they wanted to build better relationships with their neighbours as well as be more ‘environmentally friendly’. The program is structured so that teams of households meet once a month to learn from each other and to utilise practical solutions to environmental problems from the SLAH workbook. This resource provides easy to follow guidelines on environmental sustainability.

Sustainable Schools Program – NSW Department of Education & Training and Resource NSW
NSW
Two state Government departments, within NSW and Environment Australia, have combined their resources and skills to implement the Sustainable Schools Program. The program guides schools through three phases of developing and implementing a school environment management plan, finally leading them to a stage where they meet a set of criteria that accredits them as a sustainable organisation. The program employs the resources of numerous government and non-government organisations as well as involving communities and local councils in its implementation. By becoming a sustainable organisation, schools are taking on projects to improve their local environment, educate their communities and prepare today’s students for a more sustainable future.

Category 4 – Environmental Leadership in the Rural Sector
Awarded to an individual, group or an enterprise within the rural sector that has made an outstanding contribution to the protection of the environment and sustainable management of Australia’s natural resources.

Charlie Carp
NSW
Charlie Carp is a story of commitment. It is a story of a group of individuals dedicated to restoring the health of Australia’s inland waterways. Their target – to control the most significant, environmentally damaging pest ever introduced into the Australian water system – the European Carp. Charlie Carp has adopted an innovative commercial approach to a problem, turning an unwanted pest into a resource capable of being used to further improve the environment. The reduction in carp numbers will allow native fish numbers to increase and underpin wide efforts to further improve our river systems. The company has led the way informing strong partnerships to deliver real results an encourage others to become involved in addressing the issue or provide support for the efforts of Charlie Carp through the purchase of a range of natural, environmentally friendly products. The mission of Charlie Carp is to manufacture innovative products which provide our customers with superior results and benefit the Australian environment.

Liverpool Plains Land Management Committee
NSW
Since its inception in 1992, the Liverpool Plains Land Management Committee (LPLMC) has been at the forefront of research, planning and natural resource management in the Liverpool Plains Catchment of northwestern New South Wales. Their most notable achievements include: research forums; the Liverpool Plains Catchment Investment Strategy and the trial of market based Land Management Tenders and Small Grants programs targeting biodiversity, salinity and water quality. LPLMC has strived to look beyond traditional boundaries, by forming successful partnerships to access information, finance and resources for landholders and the catchment community. Through this constructive collaboration they are achieving their goal of “A Healthy Catchment for a Productive Future”.

Plumbago Station
SA
Twelve years ago, Plumbago Station introduced a fundamental change in its approach to the management of a pastoral production enterprise to promote the protection and recovery of the Yellow-footed Rock-wallaby, Petrogale xanthopus, and to ensure the sustainability of the natural resource base. Major achievements have included the recovery of the wallaby population from the brink of local extinction to now being considered secure, with evidence of expansion back through its former range. Successful management of total grazing pressure has allowed the recovery of native vegetation communities, with an associated improvement in biodiversity values. Plumbago has demonstrated conservation goals can be achieve in conjunction with pastoral production.

Stanbroke Sustainability Project – Stanbroke Pastoral Company Pty Ltd
QLD
Stanbroke Pastoral Company Pty Ltd is the largest single landholder and beef producer in Australia. With a landmass more than one and a half times that of Tasmania, spread across a wide range of catchments and bioregions, Stanbroke has an unparalleled opportunity to achieve results in environmental protection and stewardship. In 2002, the company initiated an overarching Sustainability Project. The first step in the project was the development of an Environmental Strategy that is the product of an extensive research and consultation process. The strategy is implemented through an EMS process designed to satisfy the ISO 14001 standard. The strength of this EMS is not the process standard, but the natural resource management and environmental protection standards set by the company, that go well beyond legislative, regional or industry standards. Stanbroke is committed to on ground improvement in natural resource and environmental management and is in a unique position to make a real difference to the environment in which we live and work.

Sustainable Grazing Systems (SGS) – Meat & Livestock Corporation
NSW
Australian farmers are proud environmentalists at heart, but 200 years of agriculture were starting to take their toll. The Sustainable Grazing Systems (SGS) program was established to assist farmers understand and improve their operations in a sustainable and profitable manner. What makes this program unique is the cooperation and enthusiasm that developed between producers, researchers, industry and government departments, working together to make a real difference, towards a very real goal of improving the environment. After 5 years, the results were outstanding. ABARE reported that 10,000 producers were involved in SGS, and of these, 81% had made changes to their grazing systems and helped others to become more sustainable also – due largely to SGS.

Category 5 – Sustainable Development Leadership in the Minerals Industry
Awarded to a company in the minerals industry that has demonstrated leadership, commitment and excellence in contributing to Australia’s sustainable future through the effective integration of wealth creation, environmental stewardship and social responsibility.

BHP Billiton – Transforming Policy into Sustainable Outcomes
VIC
BHP Billiton, the world’s largest diversified resources company, is committed to enhancing its contribution to sustainable development. To this end, health, safety, environment and community (HSEC) responsibilities have been integrated into every aspect of the Company’s business. From the highest level down, policies and processes have been implemented, through a systems-based approach, to incorporate sustainability considerations into business strategies and everyday decision-making. Operating under an integrated HSEC Policy and mandatory HSEC Management Standards, the Company’s aspirational goal is ‘Zero harm to people and the environment’. By putting policy into practice, BHP Billiton is at the forefront in developing and implementing initiatives for sustainability in the minerals industry.

Sustainable Development – Global Concepts with Local Practices – Hamersley Iron
WA
When developing its Sustainable Development policy, Rio Tinto recognised there was no ‘blue print’ solution for its diverse global business. Instead it sought ‘locally derived responses’ to sustainability issues. In Western Australia, Rio Tinto’s Hamersley Iron is at the forefront of implementing sustainable development practices across its many Pilbara operations. This proactive approach has lead to the development of a unique methodology that measures, evaluates and embeds the economic, social and environmental criteria of sustainable development into the early stages of corporate decision-making for capital and operating processes. It has been successfully tested on two business decisions for operations in the Pilbara.

Sustainable Leadership by Newmont Australia
SA
Newmont Australia endeavours to demonstrate leadership, commitment and excellence in contributing to Australia’s sustainable future through the effective integration of wealth creation, environmental stewardship and social responsibility. Our strategy for sustainability adopts an integrate approach that recognises the equal importance of employee safety and wellbeing, environmental stewardship and community benefit through wealth creation and partnership projects as key factors contributing to our financial performance. Without the alignment and integration of all of these elements, Newmont Australia assumes long-term sustainability is unlikely. We don’t claim to know it all, particularly is such a complex and challenging issue that is sustainability, but Newmont believes it is learning each day, influencing others to join in the debate and heading in the right direction towards achieving results that will benefit Australia for years to come. Our submission to the Banksia Awards 2003, in the category of Leadership in Sustainability in the Minerals Industry, aims to share our learnings and encourage others in the minerals industry to join in the pursuit towards a sustainable future.

Category 6 – Environmental Leadership in Protecting Bush, Land & Waterways
Awarded to an individual, group or organisation for outstanding achievement and leadership in protecting Australia’s flora, fauna and ecosystems and contributing to a sustainable future.

Biodiversity – Our Living Future – Coffs Harbour City Council
NSW
In Coffs Harbour 93 species of plants and animals are recognised as being either endangered or vulnerable. Coffs Harbour City Council recognised its role as a leader in the community and understood it was in a position to make a difference by leading the community to protect biodiversity and ecosystems in the area. As such, in September 2000 Coffs Harbour City Council made a formal commitment to actively pursue the path to sustainability. This commitment has lead Council to develop both its Biodiversity Action Strategy and Environment Awareness Strategy. These strategies set the way for Council, the community and other organizations to work together to learn more about biodiversity and to actively participate in enhancing and preserving biodiversity and their ecosystems. By treading this path, we can be certain that Coffs Harbour will continue to be a great place to live – for all species.

Clarkesdale Bird Sanctuary
VIC
In 1975 the late Gordon Clarke, a Linton pastoralist and philanthropist, donated land and endowed a Trust to establish an entity structured to fulfil his vision – ‘to optimise, manage and create habitat at Linton to increase the diversity and population of native birds in perpetuity’. Situated 30km southwest of Ballarat, the Clarkesdale Bird Sanctuary of 535 hectares is on land owned by the Bird Observers Club of Australia and Trust for Nature together with adjacent Crown Land designated as Flora and Fauna Reserve. The Committee of Management, appointed by BOCA, has created a strong network of partners working to fulfil his vision. The successful transformation of cleared pastures, degraded mining areas, and depleted bushlands, all previously invaded by weeds and vermin, has resulted in many stable and diverse ecosystems that now support an increasing range and number of woodland native birds. The project continues to be an inspiration to visitors and a source of great pleasure and satisfaction to those who have been involved over many years.

Control of the Yellow Crazy Ant on Christmas Island – Parks Australia and Monash University
Indian Ocean Territories
Biological invasions are one of the greatest environmental issues of our time. Christmas Island’s greatest environmental threat is invasion by the yellow crazy ant (Anoplolepis gracilipes). Parks Australia and Monash University designed, developed, and delivered a program to research and control this ant and mitigate its impacts – in close cooperation with industry, Commonwealth and state government departments, academics and the local Christmas Island community. In 2002, these efforts culminated in a aerial control campaign that devastated crazy ant supercolonies on Christmas Island. This ground-breaking program stands as a model for effective partnerships in invasive species management in Australia and elsewhere.

Fencing Incentive Scheme – Tasmania – Greening Australia Tasmania
TAS
Greening Australia (Tasmania)’s Fencing Incentive Scheme – Tasmania (FIST) has been one of the most successful Tasmanian conservation initiatives. Over the past four years FIST has supported 329 private landholders fence and manage 26,300 ha of important native vegetation in 701 sites, by providing fencing grants and negotiated management prescriptions for each property. The project has enhanced environmental values and protected priority vegetation communities and threatened species for less than $100 of public money per hectare. FIST is more than fencing. It is also about promoting the many values of native vegetation and highlighting the importance of integrating conservation into sustainable agricultural practices.

The Arid Recovery Project
SA
The national significance of the Arid Recovery Project’s achievements are evident by major conservation successes, including removal of key threatening processes and reintroduction of 4 nationally threatened or endangered mammals to a landscape-scale region of arid Australia. These achievements, in only 6 years since the project’s inception, have been facilitated by unique partnerships, applied research, adaptive management and persistent and concerted on-ground works. The widespread applicability of Arid Recovery’s successes have been and will continue to be the focus of a comprehensive education and awareness campaign designed to improve public and stakeholder awareness of conservation issues and land manager capabilities to remedy major threats in the arid zone.

River Resurrection – Pasminco & the West Coast Council
TAS
The ecological health of the severely degraded Stitt River on Tasmania’a West Coast has dramatically improved over the last year following an innovative partnership between Pasminco and the West Coast Council. Levels of potentially harmful nutrients have fallen by more than 95% since town sewage & effluent, which previously entered the Stitt River directly, was diverted into two non-operational mine tailings dams. These dams operate as ‘wetlands’ or biological filters to treat the effluent. The encouraging results have been maintained throughout 2002, indicating that this project has established a long-term sustainable solution to Stitt River water quality issues. This project demonstrates a rare use of mining infrastructure to achieve a community environmental goal, and one which has received active support from the community and every level of government.

Category 8 – Environmental Leadership in Infrastructure & Services
Awarded to an individual, group or organisation which has demonstrated leadership in protecting Australia’s environment and contributing to a sustainable future through the design, construction and operation of infrastructure and services, including water supply, wastewater treatment, energy supply, waste minimisation, telecommunications and transport.

Carrara Catchment Urban Stormwater Initiative – Gold Coast City Council
QLD
The Carrara Catchment Urban Stormwater Initiative (USI) is the Gold Coast City Council’s first whole – of – catchment approach to improving the quality of stormwater run-off in a typical urban catchment draining into the Nerang River. USI engaged several innovative solutions including installing a bio-retention system, upgrading a lake and wetland and restoring stream banks to improve stormwater quality. The works were complemented by a comprehensive education program. USI was unique in south-east Queensland in its collaborative approach involving multiple tiers of government and research agencies as well as private enterprise and the general community.

Douglas Shire Council
QLD
The Douglas Shire Council is a working example of an organisation seeking to be sustainable by aiming at maintaining a healthy economy, vibrant communities and a thriving biophysical environment. The Douglas Shire Council is a small rural region on the coastline of North East Australia. It is the only place in the World where two World Heritage areas meet: the Great Barrier Reef and the Wet Tropics of Far North Queensland. Nearly 80% of the Shire is World Heritage listed. Its economy is built on a relatively new tourism industry and an established agriculture sector. The Shire accommodates a million visitors a year and produces a million tonnes of sugar cane, cattle and a variety of fruit crops. It also has one of the oldest intact surviving indigenous communities in the world – the Kuku Yalanji. The Shire Council demonstrates how a partnership between community, industry, science and government can create a sustainable region and deliver local, national and global goals. Accordingly, the DSC is widely recognised as a leader, through its forward-looking and innovative initiatives, demonstrating excellence in environmental management in a world-class environment.

Muller Industries: Utilising An Environmentally Responsible Approach In Reducing The Risk Of Legionella Outbreaks in Air Conditioning Systems
VIC
Muller Industries 3C Cooler reduces the risk of Legionella outbreaks in Australia by using an environmentally responsible approach in air conditioning systems. It can directly replace existing cooling tower and maintain similar efficiency without the use of harmful chemicals to the environment. Furthermore, it uses less water, does not emit aerosols and has the potential to use recycle water. Due to its closed circuit design, scaling and corrosion in piping and equipment is minimised. Installation of 3C Cooler avoids the problems of high capital costs involved in the replacement of cooling tower with air-cooled equivalent and increased energy consumption.

The Sustainable Built Environment - Southern Metropolitan Regional Council
WA
Western Australia’s Southern Metropolitan Regional Council (SMRC) has established a milestone in Australian public infrastructure with its revolutionary solution to the pressing problem of household waste reduction and recycling. Designed to divert more than 85% of municipal waste from environmentally damaging landfill, the system is one of the first in the world to successfully marry community behaviour with advanced processing technology and commercial product sales in one holistic strategy. Its centrepiece is a multi-million dollar Regional Resource Recovery Centre (RRC), in suburban Canning Vale, which is the second largest of it’s kind in the world. It comprises and advanced materials recovery technology green waste mulching and a state-of-the art in-vessel composting facility to transform putrescible waste into high quality organic compost.

The Marina Hindmarsh Island
SA
The Marina Hindmarsh Island is a multi-faceted, world class, working marina and waterfront residential tourist attraction that is currently being developed on a 1000-acre property on the south-western end of Hindmarsh Island, adjacent to Goolwa in South Australia. In the planning of The Marina Hindmarsh Island, environmental considerations have always been of the highest importance. The Marina Hindmarsh Island has formed partnerships with our Boaties, Residents, Landowners, Suppliers, Local Service Clubs and other Organisations as part of an ongoing program to ensure that we protect the environment we have the privilege to boat in.

Category 9 – Leadership in Sustainable Product Design
Awarded for outstanding achievement in the design and manufacture of products that contribute to the protection of the environment and to a sustainable future.

Hot Press Project – Amcor Spearwood Paper Mill
WA
Amcor Spearwood Mill operates a paper mill in Spearwood WA and recycles 65000 tonnes of wastepaper annually into world-class packaging grade papers and boards. This volume recycled saves resources and diverts material from landfill thus reducing waste. The grades of product made at Spearwood are used in the corrugated box industry to protect and distribute goods efficiently all over the world. The site has both ISO 9000 and 14000 series accreditation. The Hot Press Project has developed the technology to improve process and product design so that less energy, water and other resources are used to manufacture the paper products at the Spearwood Paper Mill whilst reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The Freshwater Systems Biobaffle – Freshwater Systems
TAS
Freshwater Systems, a Tasmanian environmental company, recently patented an Australian environmental innovation called the Biobaffle. It enables native fish and other aquatic fauna to swim through concrete culverts. The several hundred thousand road culverts on Tasmanian streams act as barriers to fish movement due to excessive water velocities inside them. The Biobaffle is designed to restore fish passage at existing culverts. This product is rapidly being adopted: forming the basis for a new Tasmanian fish passage policy; being incorporated into the Forest Practices Code and DIER major road culvert tenders; and culvert rehabilitation in the Derwent catchment (Tasmania) has begun.

The Orbital Combustion Process 2-Stroke Motorcycle Technology- Orbital Engine Corporation Limited
WA
Orbital Engine Corporation’s innovative direct fuel injection technology allows two stoke motorcycles to meet the world’s most stringent exhaust emissions regulations with more than an 80% reduction in noxious emissions and up to 40% reduction in fuel consumption. Europe’s largest scooter producers, Aprilia, Piaggio and Peugeot, have adopted the technology. Between them they will have on the market this European summer eight different motor scooter models in volume production using the innovative Australian technology. Market success as an emissions solution has also been achieved in the marine outboard and personal watercraft sector. The technology relies on a patented direct injection system that is manufactured in high volumes by Synerject in the USA, a joint venture between Orbital and SiemensVDO Automotive. Orbital’s activity in India and other parts of Asia bodes well for a large uptake of the technology in these markets where pollution from two stroke motorcycles is a major problem.

Category 10 – Leadership in Sustainable Buildings
Awarded to a group, organisation or individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the protection of the environment through the design, construction and operation of buildings.

Ecological Sustainability in Capital Projects – Department of Sustainability and Environment
VIC
The Victorian Department of Sustainability and Environment has developed and implemented a comprehensive ecologically sustainable design and construction (ESDC) program, which has been introduced into our capital works activities and is already applied or being applied, to 12 sites across Victoria. By embedding this process into all design and construction procedures, it ensures the approach to future works will also strongly focus on environmental considerations. The process is being shared with other Government Departments, the building and construction community, and building owners and occupiers through a range of processes, including:

• Development of comprehensive ecologically sustainable design guidelines and supporting software
• An informative video and
• Workshops with building professionals.

ESDC principles include; Energy efficiency; Water efficiency; Waste reduction; Preservation of natural habitat; Use of environmentally friendly construction and it-out materials and practices; Indoor environmental quality; and Reduction of the lifecycle impact of the construction and occupancy process.

George St Apartments, Fitzroy – Contemporary Green Design
VIC
Developed by Contemporary Green Design, designed by Gregory Burgess Architects and built by Sightlines, the project aims to lead the way in ecologically sustainable development (ESD). Residents will cut their impact on the environment, save money and live in comfort. ESD achievements include:

• Five-star energy rating
• Solar hot water
• Rainwater harvesting and re-use
• Use of environmentally appropriate material in construction
• Ongoing environmental management

With nine of eleven units sold and new owners moving in, the George Street Apartments have achieved design and commercial success.

Kogarah Town Square – Kogarah Council
NSW
Urban centres are both a threat to the natural environment and an important resource in their own right. The challenge of sustainability is to solve both the problems experienced within cities themselves (the result of action in the past) and the problems caused by the city itself. Kogarah Council recognised this challenge through the Kogorah Town Square Development; a mixed-use residential development in the Kogarah Urban Centre. This development exercise provided Kogarah Council with an opportunity to design a model of sustainability which could act as ‘catalyst’ for the incorporation of environmentally sustainable design principles in other developments, while establishing a benchmark for wider Sydney. The project as successfully established new sustainability targets in construction through its holistic implementation of ecological sustainable development principles and policy. It’s innovation in sustainability extends from the planning process adoption, the scale of the development, the close proximity to public transport nodes, and, most noteworthy, the following urban and environmental design considerations:

• Building integrated photovoltaic cells which form Australia’s largest solar powered medium density residential development
• Inclusion of a sophisticated tertiary treatment stormwater system and
• Provision of a suite of other energy and water conservation measures within architectural layout and fittings supplied.

To ensure that other developments in the municipality follow the same sustainability principles, in 1998 Kogarah Council took the opportunity to create a Development Control Plan for the Kogarah Urban Centre. These building guidelines ensure that developments in Kogarah achieve the sustainable outcomes which are vital for the management and preservation of our fragile urban environment.

60L Green Building, Spowers Victoria, Green Building Partnership, Lincolne Scott
VIC
A ground breaking project, 60 Leicester Street, Carlton (‘60L’) represents new standards of Environmentally Sustainable Design. Designed in accordance with ecological sustainability principles within a commercial context, conversion of the building involved refurbishment of an existing 3 storey brick, timber and concrete office building and integrating the construction of a new 4 storey concrete structure. Produced to a commercial budget, 60L challenges the preconception that ‘green’ buildings cost more. 60L was significantly let at commencement of construction and provides massive savings in energy and water consumption.

Murdoch University – Environmental Technology Centre
WA
The Waalitj Environmental Technology Centre (ETC) at Murdoch University is made up of 1.7 hectares of permaculture garden and state of the art buildings to experiment, demonstrate and motivate those interested in Environmentally Sustainable Technologies (ESTs). The ETC is a nexus between Industry, University, Government and Community. The Waalitj Buildings are evolving and changing to suit the needs of occupants, visitors and researchers alike. Comprising innovative construction techniques, which consider the entire production and deconstruction process, computer controlled climate systems, solar panels, the Waalitj Complex is a major demonstration of new millennium building techniques.

Category 11 – Leadership in Socially Responsible Investment
Awarded to an organisation, group of shareholders, or financial institution for achievement and leadership in contributing to Australia’s sustainable future through socially responsible investment practices.

AMP Henderson Global Investors
NSW
AMP Henderson manages over $4.5 billion in Socially Responsible Investment funds globally. It combines investing in industries of the future and leaders within traditional sectors, together with actively engaging with business on social and environmental issues. AMP Henderson has shown its commitment and sought leadership in the area of SRI as evidenced through a range of Australian initiatives. These include releasing major position papers, conducting a climate change survey of Australian business, raising public awareness through SRI performance studies, engaging extensively with broad stakeholder groups, and creating educational material for consumers and business building tools for financial planners.

Australian Ethical Investment Limited
ACT
All Australian Ethical Trusts and Superannuation Investments are selected in accordance with the Australian Ethical Charter – the principles guiding a portfolio of some 80 investments. For over a decade it has been dedicated to social and environmental criteria, frequently at grass-roost level – a framework unique in Australia and unusual overseas. The trusts and superannuation strategies have often been among the top quartile of financial performers when included with conventional funds. There is consensus that Australian Ethical is the ‘deepest green’ of any SRI fund in Australia. Australian Ethical Investment exists to give investors a choice of fund that combines both financial and ethical considerations.

Investa Property Group: Responsibility In Property Investment
NSW
Investa Property Group is an established leader in the application of sustainability principles within the listed property trust sector of the ASX. With funds under management of $2.8 billion, the Group has been responsible for elevating the fundamentals of sustainability among its institutional investor base, highlighting and increasingly delivering on the opportunities and outcomes afforded by the comprehensive application of sustainability principles across its business platform. Investa Property Group has been rated by international ratings group, Sustainable Asset Management (SAM) as a leader among real estate investment groups in Australia. It was the first Group to embrace the Sustainable Energy Development Authorities (SEDA) Australian Building Greenhouse Rating System across its portfolio, and has made substantial investment in energy management systems and OH&S programmes. It is a foundation member and participant on the Green Building Council of Australia and is presently developing the framework for ensuring direction to its sustainability platform.

Rewards Group Limited
WA
The Rewards Group is a boutiquie agribusiness funds manager that owns and operates commercial plantation Sandalwood operations in the West Australian wheat belt. This submission for the Banksia Awards in the category of Environmental Leadership in Socially Responsible Investment is based on the company’s contribution to the reversal of land degradation and regional economics in Western Australia. Over the past 3 years, the company has injected over $8M and established an 1100 hectare resource of Australia’s most valuable timber, Sandalwood (Santalum spciatum) in Western Australia. External capital investment in rural Australian is typically concentrated in the high rainfall or irrigated agricultural regions. However, the majority of the degradation issues such as salinity and rising water tables are occurring in the low to medium rainfall landscapes of rural Australia. The establishment of the high valued Sandalwood timber industry is the first large scale investment opportunity that addresses the environmental issues crippling Australia and produces a commercial returns for investors. The Rewards Group have successfully developed and commercialised this native species and is delivering exceptional benefits to the degraded landscape of the nation’s wheat belt.

VicSuper: Sustainability Investing for a Sustainable Future
VIC
VicSuper Pty Ltd (VicSuper), with more than $1.6 billion in assets, leads the Australian superannuation industry with its unique and innovative sustainability investment strategy in two key asset classes:
Listed equity – By investing in the largest companies in Australia and internationally that rate well against their peers in terms of sustainability, VicSuper is making a considerable contribution to the protection of Australia’s environment and to a more sustainable future for everyone.
Direct Property - VicSuper has initiated sustainability criteria to be considered in the management of its direct property portfolio ($130 million). VicSuper is not aware of any other large investor that is actively engaging their investment property manager to take sustainability considerations into account in the management of commercial properties.
VicSuper has integrated sustainability considerations into its operations by making sustainability its central operating principle, thereby integrating environmental, social and economic considerations into its decision-making frameworks, operations, staff learning and developments, and investment strategies.

Category 12 – Environmental Leadership in Communications
Awarded to an individual, group, or organisation for achievement and leadership in communication through the raising of public awareness and understanding of environmental issues and innovations.

Filbert’s Place Environmental Interpretive Centre – Thiess Services Pty Ltd
QLD
Filbert’s Place Environmental Interpretive Centre and Swanbank Environmental Education Experiences (SWANEEE) offer an environmental educational experience which is unique in Australia, and possibly the world. Based at Swanbank Landfill, near Ipswich, the programme is the result of a partnership between the Keep Australia Beautiful Council (Qld) Inc and the members of the ReOrganic Energy Swanbank consortium. Targeting schools in the local area and increasingly across Brisbane, response to Filbert’s Place has snowballed in the past year, with 2003 bookings to date standing at 16 schools with 659 children. In addition, Filbert’s Place has achieved a high profile in the local community through effective media releases and events, features on television shows, and personal appearances by the “Filbert the Frog” mascot.

Greencycling Campaign - Parramatta City Council
NSW
There has been a significant increase in the amount of garden waste recycled in the Parramatta area which has been achieved through an extensive education campaign involving local residents. Contamination of garden waste bins with non-recyclable materials has significantly decreased as a direct result of the campaign. The garden waste recovered through the kerbside collection service is recycled into garden products such as mulches and soil conditioners, creating a sustainable and practical solution to the issue of waste minimisation and efficient resource use.

Return To Eden – Artemis International
WA
A fifty-minute documentary, follows Project Eden, an ambitious counter-attack on feral animals and the return of native animals, on the brink of extinction, to the remote wilds of the Peron Peninsular in Western Australia. In a world first, it documents the bilby lifecycle and the efforts of volunteers who breed them in captivity to secure the species. The film took four years to make, has won Australian and international awards and has been broadcast to over 30 million people. It has helped inform bilby captive breeding centres by giving insight into previously unknown bilby behaviour.

The "Wipe Out Waste" Program – Gold Coast City Council
QLD
The ‘Wipe Out Waste’ (WOW) Program is an initiative of the Gold Coast City Council. The program, officially launched in May 2000, aims to raise awareness and develop skills for the minimisation and responsible management of waste on the Gold Coast. Since its inception the program has involved over 50,000 students in waste minimisation activities and learning. The centrepiece of the program is a mobile education facility that provides a unique learning environment for students. Extensive evaluation of the program indicates that the majority of participants raise awareness of waste issues in the family environment and increase their participation in recycling and other waste minimisation measures. The ‘Wipe Out Waste’ Program has also contributed to a significant increase in the recovery of recyclable materials through the kerbside collection system.

Waste Wise – Gould League of Victoria
VIC
The Waste Wise Schools Program is an exciting initiative that assists Victorian schools minimise waste and reduce litter. The Program shows schools how they can save money, create opportunities for worthwhile learning outcomes while helping the environment. The program was developed through extensive consultation with teachers and waste educators and integrates easily into the curriculum. It operates in 830 schools throughout Victoria and is equally relevant to primary schools, secondary schools and special school settings. The Program is funded by EcoRecycle Victoria and managed by the Gould League. Evaluation has shown that schools are achieving outstanding results in reducing waste and litter and that there is enormous support for the Waste Wise Schools Program.

‘Your Home’ –Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology, Sydney, The Australian Greenhouse Office

Your Home is a comprehensive and highly accessible guide that encourages and supports a mainstream Australian audience to take a more sustainable approach to the design, renovation and operation of their homes. Its objective is to reduce the significant detrimental impact of the Australian housing sector on the natural environment. Your Home consists of two linked parts:

• Introductory Consumer Guide
• Technical Manual

The package has been extraordinarily successful since its launch in August 2001, with over 125,000 copies distributed to the general public and 17,000 copies distributed to building industry members. By December 2002 the Your Home website had received over 1 million hits. Your Home has received mainstream media coverage and has been adopted by building industry organisations and tertiary institutions as an integral component of the training they provide.

Prime Minister’s Environmentalist of the Year Award
Awarded to any Australian individual, organisation or group who has excelled in the context of Federal Government’s national environmental priorities and to mark the United Nations' International Year of Freshwater in 2003, the Prime Minister's Award seeks excellence in the following areas: -

• Combating salinity and protecting water quality;
• Involving communities in the repair and conservation of their own environments through the Natural Heritage Trust;
• Implementing greenhouse abatement initiatives;
• Protecting biodiversity;
• Protecting our oceans;
• Improving air quality; and
• Working for a sustainable development through such initiatives as recycling and waste management, in partnership with industry, the community and governments.

Arron Wood
VIC
2001 Young Australian of the Year (National Environment Winner) Arron Wood has worked in community education and the environment since beginning his career in the Water industry. Arron holds a degree in Forest Science from the University of Melbourne and deals extensively with the interface between government and stakeholder objectives.
His previous roles have seen him with Lower Murray Water Authority, Mildura Rural City Council and the Mallee Catchment Management Authority as a Waterway/Floodplain Manager. Arron was the youngest Waterways/Floodplain Manager in the State of Victoria by some ten years.
Arron’s River Health Conference recently became a finalist in the prestigious 2002 Eureka Science Prize and he is set to receive The Centenary Medal for outstanding contribution to conservation and the environment, to be awarded by the Governor-General in April 2003.

Dr. John Wamsley
SA
Over the past 33 years Dr John Wamsley has been a dynamic leader in the conservation of Australia’s Flora and Fauna. He has…

• Identified and solved the problem of Australia’s disappearing wildlife.
• Successfully reintroduced 26 species of threatened wildlife into areas of their original range
• Educated Australians about their wildlife, environment, heritage and responsibilities
• Pioneered the concept of sustainable conservation through the establishment of sanctuaries based on educational eco tourism.
• Launches ESL, the first public company with a core business of conservation
• Demonstrated that Australian animals survive best in protected, original habitat conditions.

Dr Peter Davies
TAS
Peter’s experience in water quality, environmental flow and freshwater biodiversity issues span more than 25 years. He is an environmental leader with passion and vision.
Peter is a high achiever setting new standards an ‘Australian-firsts’ in developing innovative policies and strategies, (AUSRIVAS framework), implementing new practices (Lake Pedder Galaxias translocation) and designing new environmental innovations (the Biobaffle). He has always sought to take new directions and to appropriate new ideas into his chosen area.
He is seen as a primary motivator in the area of aquatic environmental management by many in industry, government and the community.

John Dainton
VIC
John Dainton has been a leader in natural resource management in the Goulburn Broken Catchment of northern Victoria for almost two decades. He has been at the helm of numerous land and water management organizations and lead the development of highly sophisticated and integrated programs to sustain the natural resources of the productive region. John understands better than anyone the need for an integrated approach to sustain the social, environmental and economic wellbeing of the catchment. His vision and leadership qualities have provided the government and the community with innovative solutions and the confidence to invest in them.

Victoria and Double Island Oil Field Developments, Apache Energy Limited
The Victoria and Double Island oil field developments involved the installation of two offshore pipe lines in a shallow water marine environment containing a high diversity of coral bomboras, coral patch reefs and associated marine life. More than 1300 coral bomboras, some more than 3 metres high and 5 metres wide were identified within the pipeline alignments.
Apache, in partnership with the construction contractor (Mermaid Clough Pty Ltd), implemented innovative procedural controls and management initiatives to ensure the protection of the marine environment. Both pipelines were installed with no significant damage occurring to the identified coral bomboras.
Through this success, Apache has set a new benchmark ‘best practice’ methods for pipeline installation in environmentally sensitive shallow water marine environments. These practices could be adopted for any activity requiring anchoring in environmentally sensitive shallow water areas.

Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists
NSW
A little under 6 months ago, a small group of Australian scientists, who became known as the “Wentworth Group”, met to challenge Australia about the damage being caused to our continent from inappropriate land and water management practices. They released a radical blueprint that fired the enthusiasm of the community and triggered an environmental debate the like of which Australia has not seen for decades. They presented a new model for landscape conversation that ends broad scale land clearing throughout NSW and delivers financial security for farmers and rural communities. The NSW Government has adopted this radical institutional reform and backed the plan with a $120 million native vegetation incentives fund. The Wentworth group met at a WWF Australia forum in Sydney where they hammered out a declaration outlining their concerns over proposals to “drought-proof” Australia.