Governance, Ethics and Sustainability: Sustainability Assessment Report

This report assesses the sustainability of Timberwell Constructions, a housing development company, in terms of economic, environmental, and social factors. It covers various disclosures related to sustainability and the actions taken by the company to improve its position.

Governance, Ethics and Sustainability

Table of Contents
Executive Summary...................................................................................................................3
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Economic sustainability.............................................................................................................4
i) Disclosure 201-2 Financial implications and other risks and opportunities due to climate
change....................................................................................................................................4
ii) Disclosure 205-3 Confirmed incidents of corruption and actions taken...........................4
iii) Disclosure 206-1 Legal action for anti-competitive behaviour, anti-trust, and monopoly
practices..................................................................................................................................5
Environmental sustainability......................................................................................................6
i) Disclosure 302-1 Energy consumption within the organisation.........................................6
ii) Disclosure 304-2 Significant impacts of activities, products, and services on biodiversity
................................................................................................................................................7
iii) Disclosure 307-1 Non-compliance with environmental laws and regulations.................7
Social sustainability...................................................................................................................8
ii) Disclosure 406-1 Incidents of discrimination and corrective actions taken......................8
iii) Disclosure 413-1 Operations with local community engagement, impact assessments,
and development programs....................................................................................................9
Conclusion................................................................................................................................10
References................................................................................................................................10

Sustainability Assessment Report
Executive Summary
Timberwell Constructions is a housing development company that develops building
complexes in the district of Stanwell Council. Various complaints have been lodged against
the company by FWC, ACCC, DEE and SCC. All the relevant organizations considered all
the environmental, economic and social issues held by the company and when found guilty,
considered for compensation to the company. The company took the issues seriously and
took various initiatives in order to improve the position of the company.
Introduction
Timberwell Constructions is a housing development company that develops building
complexes in the district of Stanwell Council. Dennis McCabe, who was an employee of the
company resigned and filed a case of workplace harassment in the Fair Work Commission
(FWC). He lodged number of complaints in Australian Competitive and Consumer
Commission (ACCC), State Corruption Commission (SCC) in addition to the Department of
the Environment and Energy against Timberwellregarding various aspects.
 FWC-Work harassment claim for age discrimination
 ACCC- Anti-competitive conduct i.e. misuse of market power and exclusive dealings
 SCC- Corruption i.e. offering bribe to the project officers of council
 DEE- Clearance of endangered ecological community coastal grasslands

Economic sustainability
i) Disclosure 201-2 Financial implications and other risks and opportunities due
to climate change
Under this revelation, the reporting organization should explain the risks and opportunities
caused due to change of weather that have the possibility to make substantial modifications in
the procedures, income or expenses. The organization should provide description of the
impact related to that risk or opportunity and the financial suggestions before taking any
action. Additionally, the methods utilized to manage the risk or opportunity should also be
reported by the organization(May & Brennan, 2006).
The investigation conducted against Timberwell after complaint of Dennis required them to
pay a fine of $200,000 because the company had cleared 0.45 hectares of critically
endangered coastal grasslands and utilizing it for the development purposes. The area which
has been cleared by the company was recognized under State Planning Scheme because of
presence of important flora and fauna. Afterwards, the company took the matter seriously
because it was ordered by the DEE to undertake an external reassessment of its flora
management plan and to expand its review program for the contractors and to execute a
rehabilitation plan of expenses around $440,000.
ii) Disclosure 205-3 Confirmed incidents of corruption and actions taken
Under this disclosure, the reporting organization is required to report about the various
incidents of corruption and the others wherein, employees were dismissed or took under
discipline for corruption (Bond et al., 2012). The numbers of incidents whenever contracts
with business associates completed or not transformed due to violations about dishonesty are
also required to be reported. In addition, the organization should also report about the public
legal cases related to the corruption that have been brought alongside the organization or its
employees throughout reporting period as well as the results of such cases.

In this context, the complaint filed against Timberwellin the SCC which resulted in a public
corruption scandal involved five employees of the company along with its two business
partners. The complaint was based on the matter that in order to get the approval from the
council for development and to forward the development application regarding it, five
employees of the corporation along with two outer consultants offered bribes to the project
officers of the council(Popea et al., 2004). Due to this reason, SCC charged all the five
employees and one external consultant with corruption charges. In response to it, Timberwell
took serious action and suspended those five employees without pay till the decision pending
under prosecution. Along with it, the business also ended its joint venture with both the
exterior consultants charged with corruption.
iii) Disclosure 206-1 Legal action for anti-competitive behaviour, anti-trust, and
monopoly practices
Under this disclosure, the reporting organization needs to report regarding the pending or
completed legal activities throughout the reporting phase related to the anti-competitive
behaviour and infringements of the anti-trust and control legislation wherein, the contribution
of the reporting organization has been identified (Ding, 2014). The organization needs to
report about the main results of the concluded legal actions, which include decisions as well
as judgments.
One of the employees named Dennis had made a number of complaints to various
government authorities about the operations of Timberwell. One such complaint was taken
into consideration by the ACCC, which established the proceedings in the Court alongside
company for anti-competitive behaviour that involved mistreatment of its marketing power as
well as restricted dealings. The allegations were made against Timberwell by the ACCC that
the company was well aware about the plan of local builders to establish a development
corporation that would obviously be its opponent or competitor in the region (Jenkins et al.,

2003). It was alleged by the ACCC that due to this threat of competition, the senior
executives of the company asked the suppliers as well as the contractors to not to get
involved with the new development company or else, the company would lessen or withdraw
business with them. It was claimed by the ACCC that it was the strategy of the company to
deter or prevent the new entrant in the market and to reduce the competition in the
development market of the region.
It was a kind of monopoly practice and an anti-competitive act as well that could influence
the preferences of the customers, pricing and other factors as well that are considered to be as
highly significant to the efficient markets(Morrison-Saunders et al., 2015). The monopolies
are controlled or prevented by the government with the assumption that competition between
the organizations can promote economic efficiency as well as substantial growth of the
country.
Environmental sustainability
i) Disclosure 302-1 Energy consumption within the organisation
The reporting organization is required to report about the overall fuel utilization in the
organization through renewable as well as non-renewable sources in joules and should also
include the type of fuels utilized by the organization. The organization should also report
about the standards, assumptions, methodologies as well as the calculation tools being
utilized by them in order to calculate the total amount of energy consumption.
Due to lot of negative publicity, the company issued a number of media release in order to
demonstrate its corporate responsibilities. In its second media release, Timberwell explained
about its energy consumption table on the basis of calculation tools that have been approved
by the ADIS. The organization revealed that the fuel utilization through non-renewable
resources was 1 Gigajoule and through renewable sources was 0.5 Gigajoule and the total

energy consumption of the organization was 2 Gigajoule. However, the organization neither
revealed the types of fuel being used by them nor about the source of consumption for the
remaining 0.5 joule. Furthermore, it was also revealed by the organization that it had applied
a program to increase its fuel spending from renewable resources to a minimum of 50% of its
entire fuel utilization within the next 3 years.
ii) Disclosure 304-2 Significant impacts of activities, products, and services on
biodiversity
The organization should report about direct or indirect effect on biodiversity, which involve
building or utilization of manufacturing plants, mining or transport infrastructure, pollution,
introducing persistent species, pathogens or pests, species reduction, habitat adaptation and
changes in the ecological processes (Jones, 2008). In this context, the organization should
report about significant impact with regard to influence on species, extent of area to be
affected, duration of impact and reversibility or irreversibility of the impacts.
The organization was fined by DEE for permission of 0.45 hectares of critically endangered
coastal grasslands. It was revealed by the company that EIA performed on its Otford Park
development site found that 60% of the location consisted of the population of rare wallum
sedge frog and proposed, average density housing development was expected to irretrievably
alter the habitat and would have destroyed the survival of frogs on the site. Taking into
consideration all of it, the company is functioning with Council and various environmental
groups to develop a plan for the management of planned development location as well as
preservation of rare species of frog.
iii) Disclosure 307-1 Non-compliance with environmental laws and regulations
The business should report about the compensations and non-financial sanctions for no
fulfilment of environmental regulations including overall financial value of compensations,
non-financial sanctions as well as argument resolutions (Josh Byrne & Associates, 2018).

Due to clearance of endangered community, the company was fined $200,000 and was
ordered to execute a rehabilitation plan which would have price of around $440,000.
Social sustainability
i) Disclosure 401-1 New employee hires and employee turnover
The organization should inform about the overall number and rate of employees hired and
employee turnover based on age, sex and region during the reporting period (GSSB, 2016).
Timberwell employed 58 males from different construction- based professions and employed
12 new interns during the reporting period, as 17 employees have left the organization. In
order to retain the employees, the company has increased worker’s salaries as well as
implemented rostered day off every month. So, there is no description about the reason for
increase.The employees’ rate of retention seems to be low in the organization, because of
which, the organization increased pay rates and holiday for the employees.
ii) Disclosure 406-1 Incidents of discrimination and corrective actions taken
The business should report about the incidents related to discrimination in their reporting
period. In this context, the business should provide information about the position of the
incidents and activities considered by the organization in this regard. The organization should
inform about the incident review, remediation plans to be considered for implementation,
remediation plans that have already been implemented and the outcomes of the plans to be
reviewed by routine internal management review processes. Furthermore, the organization
should also report about the incidents that are not required to be taken into action. In this
context, the organization should provide the report that includes incidents related to
discrimination on the basis of sex, religion, political inclination, race, colour, nationality or
social or cultural aspects in accordance with the ILO and other related forms of

discrimination, which involve internal as well as external stakeholders through operations
during the reporting period.
Dennis resigned the organization and claimed workplace harassment case against Timberwell
organization in the FWC. The allegations made by the employee were that he was
differentiated because of his age by the co-workers. It was stated by Dennis that he was the
only member of staff who was older than 50 years in the organization and all other employees
were in the age group between 30 and 50 years. Due to this reason, all other employees used
to make fun of him and he usually became the objective of embarrassing age related jokes by
others. The allegation of Dennis was upheld by FWC which ordered the company to
compensate $4,400 to Dennis. As well, the commission ordered the company to promote its
anti-discrimination policy as well as to provide anti-discrimination education to all the
employees. Timberwell obeyed all the orders of the commission because the presence of
effective policies and its implementation is essential to avoid the discrimination and to
establish socially responsible conduct of the organization.
iii) Disclosure 413-1 Operations with local community engagement, impact
assessments, and development programs
The organization should inform about the fraction of operations regarding implementation of
engagement of local community, development programs and impact assessments which
include the utilization of social impact assessments; environmental impact
assessments;disclosure of results of both these assessments; development programs of local
community;stakeholder engagement plans;consultation committees as well as processes of
local community;occupational health as well as safety committees; and other grievance
processes.
The company explained in its third media release and explained about the considerable
expenditure it was doingon the engagement of local communities, on performing impact

assessments as well as in formulating the social development programs for all the future
residential developments in the region. The company informed that all those initiatives
included Environmental Impact Assessments, meetings of local residentsas well as
development programs for local community, which were based on the requirements of the
local community for the purpose of inexpensive social accommodation. The company has
employed all initiatives essential for the benefit of the society and invested a lot in it.
Conclusion
Timberwell Company was alleged for various environmental, economic and social issues.
The company took all the allegations seriously and has taken serious initiatives in this
context. The report shows how company has complied with the different disclosures related
to sustainability.
References
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