GRI Sustainability Reporting Standards for Timberwell Constructions

This study is based on the preparation of the sustainability assessment report with respect to the GRI Sustainability Reporting Standards 2016 for Timberwell Constructions. It covers economic, environmental and social sustainability aspects. The economic sustainability section covers climate change, risks, financial implications, and confirmed incidents of corruptions. The environmental sustainability section covers energy consumption, impacts on biodiversity, and environmental regulations. The social sustainability section covers new employee hires, employee turnover, actions taken against incidents of discrimination, and engagement with the local community.

Running head: SUSTAINABILITY, ETHICS AND GOVERNANCE
GRI Sustainability Reporting Standards
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
A. Economic sustainability..............................................................................................................2
B. Environmental sustainability.......................................................................................................5
C. Social Sustainability....................................................................................................................8
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................10
Reference.......................................................................................................................................11

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Introduction
Timberwell Constructions is located in Stanwell Council district and is a residential
development company that builds apartment complexes. The company have 58 male staffs
employed from the region and the employees have the experiences with the different profession
and trade. The local market for the employees is very competitive and thus, Due to market
competition the company has employed 21 new apprentices for the reporting period.. This study
is based on the preparation of the sustainability assessment report with respect to the GRI
Sustainability Reporting Standards 2016. GRI Standards are designed so that it can be used by
the different organizations to report their impact on the society, environment and economy
(Globalreporting.org 2018).
A. Economic sustainability
i) Climate change and the opportunities and risks and financial implications-
The GRI standards reveal that the reporting organization must report the following
information: information of the opportunity or risk and its differentiation as either regulatory or
physical; description of the opportunity or risk in connection with the impact; financial
implication of the opportunity or the risk before the action taken; methods employed to manage
the opportunity or risk; the cost of the action taken to manage the opportunity risk or
opportunity.
According to the case study, there is an increased risk in Stanwell district from the
bushfires due to the warming effects and the climate change. The Stanwell council proposed to
amend the Local Environmental Plan (LEP) and rezone certain areas of Stanwell district as
bushfire prone areas. The amendment is expected to take effect within a time period of 6 weeks.

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Any new development within the amended LEP zone must meet the issue of bushfire. The higher
standards of safety include increased spaces between the land boundaries and buildings, also
utilization of the fire retardant materials in the buildings. Timberwell Constructions has a region
in the Stanwell district that requires an amended LEP zone in order to comply with the bushfire
safety. To comply with the new amendments, it would cost Timberwell Constructions a
whopping $4 million. In order to minimize the huge costs of, an external town planning firm has
been engaged by Timberwell Constructions to look after the development of the region and work
alongside the Stanwell council. In return of the service the new town planning company is
charging $50,000.
ii) Confirmed incidents of corruptions and actions taken-
The GRI standards reveal that the organization which is reporting must gather
information based on: nature and the number of the confirmed cases of corruption; number of the
confirmed cases in which workers were either disciplined or dismissed due to the charges of
corruption; number of cases in which contracts were not cut down because of involvement with
corruption charges or business partnerships were terminated due to corruption; legal cases based
on the corruption charges against the workers of a company during their reporting period or
against the organization and the results of such cases.
According to the case study, Dennis McCabe a former employee of Timberwell
Constructions. Dennis McCabe brought charges against the company to different government
authorities. This resulted in Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to
move to the Federal court on grounds of anti-competitive conduct that involved exclusive
dealings and market power misuse against the Timberwell Constructions. ACCC accussed that,
Timberwell Constructions came to know about establishment of a rival company in the Stanwell

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district. In response to the competitive threat, Timberwell company executives told the
contractors and the suppliers to not to get involved with the new company. If they do, then
Timberwell Constructions will both reduce and withdraw business from the contractors and the
suppliers. Based upon the allegations, the Federal Court will give its verdict in 4 months. There
were other separate complaints made by Dennis to the state corruption commission. The
allegations involved a public corruption involving 2 business partners and 5 Timberwell
employees. The complaint revealed that, the 2 external consultants and company’s five employee
offered bribes to the project officers of the council in order to move the company’s development
application out of the council approval process. This resulted in charging the 5 employees of the
company and the 2 external consultants with corruption. Although the prosecutions were
pending, the 5 employees are suspended by the company without their pay. Timberwell also
cancelled the contracts with these two external consultants.
iii) Monopoly practices, anti-trust, anti-competitive behavior and the legal actions arising out of
it
The GRI standards reveal that the organization which is reporting must gather
information based on: pending or completed legal cases and its actions during the reporting
period based on the grounds of violations of anti-trust, monopoly legislation and anti-competitive
behavior in which an organization has been found as a participant; major results of the legal
cases which included judgements and decisions.
According to the case study, Dennis McCabe, resigned from the company and a claim of
workplace harassment was filed by him to the fair work commission. He revealed that he was
subjected to discrimination for his age with respect to the other workers. He even mentioned that
he was the only worker who was aged above 50 years. The Fair Work commission took Dennis’s

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issue and ordered the company to pay 4,400 to Dennis. The commission also directed the
company to amend its anti-discrimination policy and also train the employees regarding anti-
discrimination. The company Timberwell Constructions complied the commission orders.
An incident of anti-competitive conduct was reported by Dennis McCabe to the
Australian Competition and consumer Commission (ACCC) on the grounds of exclusive
dealings and misuse of the market power. ACCC alleged that Timberwell Constructions came to
know that a development company is going to be established in the Stanwell district. Timberwell
Constructions wanted to put a check on the new company, thus the senior Timberwell executives
told the suppliers and the contractors to not to get involved with the new company. It was warned
that engagement with the rival company will lead to reduction in and withdrawal of business.
This case was thus listed to be heard by the Federal Court in the 4 months.
Another was registered by Dennis to the state corruption commission which resulted in to
public corruption scandal that involved the 5 employees and the 2 business partners of
Timberwell Constructions. The complaint was registered based on the allegation that in order to
move the company’s development application from within the council, the 2 external consultants
and company’s employees offered bribes to the project officers of the council. Thus, state
corruption commission accused the external consultants and the company’s 5 employees with
corruption.
B. Environmental sustainability
i) Energy consumption within the organization
The GRI standards reveal that the reporting organization must report the following
information: total fuel consumption from the nonrenewable resources within the organization,

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including fuel consumption from the renewable resources within the organizations, the usage of
fuel types, total energy consumed within the organization in the unit of joules; calculation tools,
assumptions, methodologies and standards used.
According to case study, a media released information stated that Timberwell
Constructions is an energy efficient organization. The data released by the media included: fuel
consumption in terms of non-renewable resources were 1.0 Gigajoule; fuel consumption in terms
of renewable resources were 0.5 Gigajoules; consumption of electricity was 2.0 Gigajoule.
According to the calculations made 1 Gigajoule= 109 joules (Mekhilef et al. 2012). The tools for
calculation used were prescribed by the Australian Department of Industry and Science. The
media release also stated that, Timberwell has implemented a program in which it plans to
increase the consumption of fuel in terms of renewable resources by at least 50 percent within
the period of 3 years.
ii) Impacts on biodiversity services, products and activities
The GRI standards reveal that the organization reporting must gather information based
on: nature of the significant impact on the biodiversity due to the construction of transport
infrastructure, mines, manufacturing plants; pollution; introduction of the pathogens, pests,
invasive species, reduction of the species, habitat conversion; significant indirect positive,
negative and direct impact- duration of the impacts, extent of the impacted areas, species
affected, irreversibility and the reversibility of the impacts.
According to the case study, Dennis made a complaint to the department of Environment
and Energy. The department after investigation directed the Timberwell Company to pay a fine
of $200,000 for clearing a critically endangered ecological community of the coastal grasslands.

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The affected coastal grassland was recognized by the State Planning commission as an important
habitat for the fauna and flora.
iii) environmental regulations and laws and its non-compliance
The GRI standards reveal that the organization reporting must gather information based
on: non-monetary sanctions and fines due to non-compliance with the environmental laws and
regulations; if the organization failed to identify non-compliance with the environmental
regulations and laws, a brief statement is required; the reporting must also include the
international treaties, conventions, international declarations; local, regional, sub-national,
national regulations, environmental agreements with the regulation authorities that are
considered as a substitute for the new implementing strategies or are binding; cases brought
against a company through the national dispute resolution mechanism by the government.
According to the case study, allegations were brought against the Timberwell
Construction Company of clearing a 0.45 hectare of critically endangered community of coastal
grasslands. The company was imposed a $200,000 fine for this by Department of the
Environment and Energy.
The coastal grassland was earlier designated by the State Planning Scheme as to be
containing important fauna and flora. The company was ordered to take up an external review of
the vegetation management plan, to implement a rehabilitation plan at a cost of no less than
$440,000.
Coastal grassland are a habitat for different types of bird species and insects. Contain the
endangered flora and fauna and these grasslands are able to withstand changing microclimate in
the coastal areas (Ground, Slotow and Ray-Mukherjee 2016). Due to the loss of the coastal

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grasslands, many micro vertebrates and fish that especially utilize these grasslands are reducing
in number due to the habitat destruction (Seitz et al. 2013). It was also found that the habitat
destruction due to anthropogenic activities have affected the predation of snakes to a great
extent. This has resulted in the reduction in the number of the snakes in the coastal grasslands
(Santos et al. 2013).
C. Social Sustainability
i) New employee hires and employee turnover
The GRI standards reveal that the reporting organization must report the following
information: The rate of the hiring of new employees and the total number of employees during
the reporting period by region, gender, age group; rate of the employee turnover.
According to the case study, 58 male staffs were employed by the company from the
region that are having the experience in construction related trades and profession. It was
informed that due to the competitive market 17 employees resigned. In place of the 17
employees only 12 new apprentices have been recruited by the company. In order to retain the
employees, the company has started to increase the pay rates and also introduced a monthly
rostered day off for its existing staff. When Dennis made a complaint to the fair work
commission regarding the work discrimination, it was revealed by him that other than him all
other employees were aged between 30 to 50 years.
ii) Actions taken against the incidents of discrimination
The GRI standards reveal that the reporting organization must report the following
information: Total number of the incidents of discrimination at the time of reporting; actions
taken and the states of the discrimination- incident cross examined by the organization,

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remediation plans that are implemented, remediation plans implemented and the routine check
by the management processes, incident that are no longer subject to any action.
According to the case study, only one incident of discrimination was reported. Dennis
McCabe lodged a complaint to the fair Work Commission against the Timberwell Constructions.
Dennis reported to be facing harassment due to his age from the other co-workers because he
was the only employee with 50 years of age. The Fair Work Commission took up Dennis’s cause
and directed the Timberwell Company to pay Dennis $4,400 as a compensation. Along with it
the company was also directed to amend it anti-discriminatory policy. The company was
suggested to give anti-discrimination training to its workers. The Timberwell Company was later
found to comply with the orders of the commission.
iii) Engagement with the local community, development programs and impact assessement
The GRI standards reveal that the reporting organization must report the following
information: gender impact assessment, social impact assessment based on a participatory
processes; local community grievance process; stakeholder engagement plans based on the
requirement of the local communities.
According to the case study, media released information revealed that the company
carried out an environmental impact assessment (EIA). This was done by the company to portray
itself as a good corporate citizen. Timberwell carried out an EIA of the Otford Park development
site and discovered the presence of rare wallum sedge frog. Media releases also revealed that the
company went on to engage with the local communities in order to conduct impact assessments,
formulates social development programs. These programs were carried out in order to develop an
affordable social housing.

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Conclusion
From the above study, it can be concluded that Timberwell Constructions is an Australian
based construction company that are provide building solutions in the Stanwell district. The
company even planned to create zones that are bushfire prone and devoted special attention for
the development of the bushfire prone zones. Whereas, it has been found that company got
engaged with certain unethical activities that had cost the company huge sums of money.
According to some media releases, it has been found that the company has positive engagements
with the local communities and work for their development.

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Reference
Globalreporting.org, 2018. Consolidated set of GRI Standards. [online] Globalreporting.org.
Available at: https://www.globalreporting.org/standards/gri-standards-download-center/
consolidated-set-of-gri-standards/ [Accessed 13 Feb. 2018].
Ground, L.E., Slotow, R. and Ray-Mukherjee, J., 2016. The value of urban and peri-urban
conservation efforts within a global biodiversity hotspot. Bothalia-African Biodiversity &
Conservation, 46(2), pp.1-10.
Mekhilef, S., Safari, A., Mustaffa, W.E.S., Saidur, R., Omar, R. and Younis, M.A.A., 2012.
Solar energy in Malaysia: current state and prospects. Renewable and Sustainable Energy
Reviews, 16(1), pp.386-396.
Santos, M.B.D., Oliveira, M.C.L.M.D., Gonçalves, T.P., Almeida, F.D.M., Loebmann, D. and
Tozetti, A.M., 2013. Does human influence on coastal grasslands habitats affect predation
pressure on snakes?. Biota Neotropica, 13(1), pp.366-370.
Seitz, R.D., Wennhage, H., Bergström, U., Lipcius, R.N. and Ysebaert, T., 2013. Ecological
value of coastal habitats for commercially and ecologically important species. ICES Journal of
Marine Science, 71(3), pp.648-665.