Local Government Sustainability Award

Sustainability at Sunshine Coast: It’s who we are, it’s what we do

Sunshine Coast Council, QLD

The Sunshine Coast community’s vision is to become the most sustainable region in Australia – vibrant, green, diverse. Council has taken a leadership role to ensure that our region can support growth without eroding our environment and social values. In assuming this role we recognised the need to walk the talk and have taken action to ensure that our own operations embed sustainability practices. Our Sustainability and Innovation Principles are simple and direct and we have consciously applied them across all council teams. We have an attitude best summed up by our Manager of Finance who states simply: ‘Sustainability: it’s who we are, it’s what we do’. Council is proud of its many achievements in sustainability, from reducing the spend on stationery by 50%, to having over 80 staff graduate with a Diploma of Sustainability, to major initiatives such as the Valdora Solar Farm proposal which will reduce our carbon footprint by over 50%. Not withstanding these achievements, we recognise that there is still much to do and a long way to travel on our sustainability journey. Most importantly, over the past five years since we started down this pathway, we have learnt that regional sustainability cannot be achieved without remarkable business alliances and solid community partnerships

Comments from Judges

The Judges found this a real ‘wow’ submission. Based on its top down approach, coupled with its staff and community engagement, ambitious solar projects and their strong longterm commitments beyond normal timeframes they are really leading the way.