Our approach to CSR
As a large business that serves all Tasmanians, we recognise our impact on people and the planet and are working to address social and environmental issues in the way we operate.
Our business is well-placed to deliver for Tasmanians in a sustainable way. Through modernising our network, contributing to Tasmania’s economy and budget, and supporting the transition to clean and renewable energy, we can help to secure a positive, sustainable future, create value for our people and communities, and preserve the planet for future generations.
Our material issues
To help focus our efforts where we have the most impact and ensure we are communicating the issues of most interest to the community, we’ve identified a number of relevant topics for our corporate social responsibility that we call ‘material issues’.
Our defined material issues have a direct or indirect impact on our ability to create, preserve or erode economic, environmental and social value for our organisation, our stakeholders, the environment and the community.
Find out more about our material issues.
Alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals
We’ve aligned reporting of our material issues with our five focus SDGs.
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030. The SDGs and our material issues are, like
most sustainability issues, interconnected. The diagram below illustrates this interconnection.
How are we connected?
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Affordable and Clean Energy
Energy is the dominant contributor to Climate Change, accounting for around 60 per cent of total global greenhouse gas emissions. TasNetworks is in a unique position to support the clean energy transition through connecting and upgrading North West Tasmania’s electricity network to unlock the state’s renewable energy and storage resources and provide further connection with mainland Australia. We also must ensure our distribution network meets the evolving needs of customers and address the challenges / opportunities presented by the energy transition. Affordability is a continued focus, and we work hard to deliver the lowest sustainable prices possible for our customers and work collaboratively with our customers to ensure our pricing structures are tailored to meet their needs
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Decent Work and Economic Growth
TasNetworks has the opportunity to address Tasmania’s regional issues, challenges and opportunities through the economic development opportunities provided by large infrastructure developments such as North West transmission. We have committed to encouraging, support and mandating where appropriate; requirements that will assist TasNetworks and our suppliers to work towards a sustainable and equitable future. This includes upholding human rights, fair labour and environmental management practices, and diversity and inclusion principles.
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Life on Land
TasNetworks’ electricity and telecommunications networks span around 35,500kms across Tasmania. Our network can cause changes to the landscape and impact on nature, biodiversity, and threatened species. Our assets and operations produce controlled wastes such as waste oil, arsenic ash, PCB oil and SF6 waste and energy losses during electricity transmission and distribution, produce GHG emissions which can impact on the climate.
Through effectively managing our operations and the way we build and maintain our network, we can contribute to goal 15.
More specifically, we are taking action on targets 15.5 and 15.8 to reduce the degradation of natural habitats, halt the loss of biodiversity, prevent the extinction of threatened species and reducing invasive alien species on land.
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Sustainable Cities and Communities
We have an opportunity to make cities and communities more inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable by creating career and business opportunities, and building resilient societies and economies through Project Marinus and related activities.
We contribute to Goal 11 by ensuring our electricity network is cyber safe, accessible and resilient to severe weather and other events. We support this goal by working to reduce our waste, pollution and contamination created by our operations and work in a way that protects Tasmanian’s cultural and natural heritage.
Cities are on the front line of coping with the COVID-19 pandemic and its lasting impacts. Across the globe, COVID-19 is threatening cities and communities, endangering not only public health, but also the economy and the fabric of society.
Protecting Threatened Species
We're passionate about protecting our iconic Tasmanian wildlife and are working hard to minimise risks that our overhead poles and wires pose to birds of prey, such as Wedge-tailed Eagles, Grey Goshawks and White-bellied Sea Eagles.
Responsible Procurement
We're committed to acting ethically and with integrity in all our business dealings and relationships and to implement and enforce effective systems and controls to ensure Modern Slavery is not taking place in our business or in any of our supply chains.
We've launched our Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP).
Our RAP marks a significant step in our journey to creating a better tomorrow by building relationships, respect and opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.
Waste Management
In the course of doing business, we produce waste material and resource flows. This includes the essential resources we use during the construction, maintenance and replacement of network and telecommunications assets, as well as waste associated with our work and the provision of IT and fleet services.