2011 Activity Report

Forward from Matthew Tukaki. Matthew Tukaki is the Australian Network Representative for the United Nations Global Compact, is a Director of the Board of the United Nations Global Compact Network Australia (UNGCNA) and is also the UNGCNA’s Company Secretary and Public Officer. Matthew is also CEO and Executive Chairman of UNGC Signatory, the Sustain Group Pty Ltd. 

• Dowload and view a copy of the 2011 Annual Activity Report HERE
• Download the profiles of the UNGCNA Board of Directors HERE

2011 has been a year of growth and development in the Australian Network of the United Nations Global Compact as we have sought to position ourselves as a peak business and industry representative organisation as well as Australia’s leading corporate citizenship initiative. In 2010 we spent a significant amount of time developing our governance and management frameworks which ultimately resulted in the incorporation of the United Nations Global Compact Network Australia Limited, the election of a Board of Directors representing a cross section of Signatories and the path towards membership and signatory growth.

2011 has also been a year of establishment, of outreach, developing learning and knowledge sharing outcomes for Signatories and members, tools that can be utilised and leadership around our four core thematic areas of Human Rights, Anti-Corruption, the Environment and Labour. To that end our activities have been driven by the needs and demands of Signatories and the development of safe knowledge sharing environments where case studies around big and small challenges can be discussed, where best practice can be shared, contacts made and experiences in different areas channelled into identifying solutions to issues.

Globally the world is facing a number of challenges from climate change to the economy, from the movement of populations across borders to conflicts and geo-diplomacy. Many of the challenges we face can be solved with the assistance of business and industry and not just with the traditional input from civil society organisations, Governments and institutions.

In Australia we have been fortunate to have come through this phase of the global financial crisis in stable shape. Our unemployment rates are significantly lower than North American and European averages and our budget deficits are low by comparison. During the last twelve months the Government has also introduced some significant pieces of legislation that deal with the climate change challenge, labour and employment reform as well as business and industry support. On the Human Rights front new discussion has opened up around the place of Indigenous Australians in the Constitution, the pressures placed on policies through border protection and refugees and the opening narratives on the issues of a Bill of Rights. In many ways the Australian experience has been one of stability in an ever increasing unstable world economic environment.

Through all of these challenges and discussions, narratives and policy debates has come the rise of the role of business and industry and the commitments being made to things such as Human Rights, Anti-Corruption, Labour and the Environment. While individual businesses and organisations have been responding to these challenges for some years, the concept of collaboration and co-ordination is now beginning to grow at pace. This is a time where business and industry are getting together, networking, sharing knowledge and information, best practice, learning and strategies.

Increasingly business and industry are becoming more visible in the activities they are undertaking and this in turn is leading to greater community and civil society awareness. This visibility is also becoming more apparent in the eyes of Government where engagement in understanding what is occurring across our industry sectors can not only assist in the development of good public policy, but provide avenues of support that enable us all to meet our strategic, national, regional and international goals.

The United Nations Global Compact Network in Australia is the primary example of where business and industry are coming together with the academic, civil society and institutional communities to share, collaborate, learn, inform and teach. This is an important milestone in the history of corporate citizenship and social responsibility in Australia and also recognition of the role many of our leading companies play in supporting their respective communities, empowering regions and locations where they operate, provide sources of economic and sustainable development. Key to this new paradigm shift is the fundamental reality around the ability for business and industry to cross borders with relative ease thereby taking that best practice and social responsibility ideal with them whether they operate in our towns and cities, purchase goods from developing countries or have operations in places such as South East Asia, China, Papua New Guinea and the Pacific.

All of this can never be achieved without the dedicated support and passion of an effective Board of Directors. The UNGCNA has been fortunate to have had such a Board and the guidance and leadership of Board Chairman, Graham Paterson (representing Westpac) has been key to maintaining momentum. The support of our team at the Secretariat, Rosemary Sainty (2010 / 11) and Sarah Davidson (2011 - ) has been instrumental as has the financial and in-kind commitments of our Founding Partners. The road ahead is always smoother when effective representation meets with the need to challenge our ideals, find solutions to problems and share knowledge to reach our end objectives. The goal of the United Nations Global Compact Network in Australia is to be a voice for members and Signatories as well as a meeting place where that knowledge can be shared.