Corporate Social Responsibility and Poverty Eradication: Optus Australia's Sustainable Development Goal

This paper discusses Optus Australia's innovative CSR initiative and its impact on poverty elimination. It explores the correlation between corporate social responsibility and the eradication of poverty through several donation initiatives.

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Executive Summary
Discourses concerning Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) have been existent since decades
without any comprehensive understanding of the term. However United Nations has shed light
on the CSR initiatives that eventually changed the underlying conjectures of the term and its
implications. As civil society organizations have recently gained confidence regarding the
potential impact of CSR on poverty alleviation in developing nations. The paper provided a
comprehensive idea of the way one of the critical CSR issue poverty eradication which relates to
the Sustainable Developmental Goal of Optus, a telecommunication company in Australia.

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Discussion........................................................................................................................................3
Poverty elimination as a CSR area of concern............................................................................3
Optus’s aim for Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)..............................................................4
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................6
References........................................................................................................................................8

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Introduction
The concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has expanded at a substantial rate in
the past decade and has been increasingly present in the discourse and functions of several
modern organizations as well as civil society organizations. Regardless of the extensive exposure
the debate concerning the connotations and role of CSR has been by means comprehensive
(Optus 2018). At a universal level, the definition primarily has been perceived as an advanced
tool which would aid companies to develop competitive benefits while attaining the heightening
social demand related to corporate ethics and more specifically on the social as well as
environmental performance of the company (Optus.com.au 2018). The following report
explicitly evaluates one of the critical CSR issues of poverty elimination which relates to the
Sustainable Development Goal of Optus Australia.
Discussion
Poverty elimination as a CSR area of concern
The viewpoint of CSR as a highly effective mechanism for the contest against eradication
of poverty has been actively underpinned by multilateral institutions as the United Nations or
World Bank as well as by modern organizations like Optus Australia for Sustainable
Development. Poverty during contemporary times has been defined as a something which
defined concept of income poverty (Optus.com.au 2018). The elevation rate of the gross
domestic product (GDP) over the past decades has been identified as an exclusive indicator for
poverty and the disagreement of a trickle-down impact of wealth to the financially deprived has
been brought up in order to preserve such forms of neglect (Sridharan, Barrington and Saunders
2017). Corporate Social Responsibility has been identified as a form of commitment to behave in
an utmost ethical manner and further to considerably contribute to sustainable economic growth

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by performing with wide ranging with all relevant stakeholders to enhance their condition of
lives in ways which are constructive for businesses as well as sustainable development strategies
also for the society itself to a great extent. As per Optus.com.au (2018) CSR approaches in
Australia tend to contribute at substantial degree to the community enhancement. The corporate
house can further develop the community by successfully creating employment and further
focusing on environmental concerns (Antolín-López, Delgado-Ceballos and Montiel 2016). Such
humanitarian approaches have been relevant for a nation like Australia where Optus executes its
business operations in which the government interventions in these sectors have been amplified
by distinct corporate alliance. These alliances have expanded a long way in developing the
economy, society as well as environment.
Optus’s aim for Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)
As a significant approach Optus has successful provided unlimited network connections
to financially unfortunate sections of the population (Antolín-López, Delgado-Ceballos and
Montiel 2016). With Optus’s digital Technologies along with innovative programs the company
is initiating towards certain exceptional moments which food create an assertive effect for the
financially underprivileged and vulnerable youth within the company's wider community
domain. Optus’s current poverty eradication approach further facilitates the company to
efficiently attain its mission that is to help vulnerable youth achieve thrice as well as belong to
the community (Optus 2018). Its community initiatives are fundamentally relied upon education
and employability along with inclusion and well-being of the poverty stricken section of the
society. At this juncture Optus's current social change initiative “Donate Your Data Scheme”
must be taken into consideration in order to elucidate its relation to its sustainable development
goal. Recent reports by Zuchetti (2018) on its sustainable program reveal that Optus has

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launched a new initiative in Association with Charity partner known as the Smith family in order
to offer a comprehensive solution towards the digital exclusion of the poverty stricken section of
the society (Thesmithfamily.com.au 2018). The marginalisation of digital gains have resulted a
vast section of financially underprivileged section of families as well as used to facing critical
challenges in communicating with the real world (Antolín-López, Delgado-Ceballos and Montiel
2016). Donate Your Data initiative of Optus Australia not only enables eligible the companies
service uses to donate their unused mobile data to the financially disadvantaged section with the
Smith family but also makes it a highly and demanding as well as convenient way to support
charity devoid of any financial donation (Optus 2018).
Furthermore the Optus future makers introduced in the year 2016 has significantly
enabled innovative technology solutions which focus on social issues encountered by poverty
stricken class. The social change initiative essentially intends to mitigate the gap between
innovation social enterprises and the community sector that comprises people experiencing
poverty (Optus 2018). It has been noted that the future makers’ initiative has generated
productive outcomes for the disadvantaged poverty stricken youths through approaches which
are only successful through technological solutions.
Reports on Optus Australia have further advanced the company’s welfare program with a
recently developed initiative which distinctively has been tailored to its retail teams. The
organization has efficiently built on the attainment of its current program known as Happy
Bodies (Sridharan, Barrington and Saunders 2017). It has been observed that Optus’s initiative
have continued to successfully equip the people leaders to better aid their team members through
Healthy Minds. Telecommunication organizations like Optus has contributed substantial amount
of financial resources to children’s homes which are situated in a financially short term profitable

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region of Australia. However, Optus Australia through this comprehensive social change
initiative will create a greater degree of impact if their amount of aid is the supply of broadband
for a year in order to avail paediatric care services online. Such a strategy could be highly
constructive and economical for Optus (Optus 2018).
The organization furthermore can aim to make extensive impact by successfully
providing its network of branches to the ‘Australian Aid’ that is recently developed regulation
for endorsing prosperity and further eradicating poverty by enhancing solidity to administer $ 15
million donation for the provision of scholarships (Gradaustralia.com.au 2018). Such as
approach guarantees that the whole amount will be offered to the marginalized sections and
underprivileged youth generation. This however has been sustainable as the return on such a
CSR investment in education for companies like Optus is regarded as invaluable (Sridharan,
Barrington and Saunders 2017).
Optus Australia has remained highly committed to play its role as a dependable corporate
organization in order to contribute in the socio-economic development of Australia. Optus
Australia is of the perspective that when initiating to obtain market power over its rivals, CSR
practices can facilitate to its business strategy (Optus.com.au 2018). Thus the company
successfully adopted wide ranging business projects for the well being of the community as well
as preservation of the environment. These social development endeavours tend to reflect Optus’s
prominence as an effective forerunner in several corporate social performances. Various social
corporate activities of the company have been proficiently preventing environmental pollution
and further preserving natural resources specifically amongst youths (Sridharan, Barrington and
Saunders 2017). The company has further engaged itself for its immense dedication and
commitment for the pro-poor as well as vulnerable population of the Australia. Optus

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specifically believes in high empowerment of its citizens in order to leverage a shared
consciousness in order promote assertive transition in people’s lives.
Conclusion
Therefore from the above discussion it can be stated that Optus Australia innovative CSR
initiative will pose a certain impact on poverty elimination as well as the correlation between
corporate social responsibility and the eradication of poverty through several donation initiatives.
However the organisation must take into consideration other forms of social issues such as
women empowerment in order to acknowledge wide section of underprivileged women through
their technological support and solutions and further achieve sustainable development goal for
the growth of the company.

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References
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