Community investment

Our approach

Our contribution to Queensland and New South Wales extends beyond the immediate economic benefits of our business. We support a wide range of projects and partnerships to build stronger and more sustainable communities. Most importantly, we invest in the regional communities surrounding our operations.

We prioritise support for projects based on the needs of the community as identified through regional plans, consultation and our socio-economic baseline studies. These needs generally include business development, education and training, health, environment and culture. We look for projects that offer long term solutions to important issues in these areas.

Our community investment programme includes community development funds, local donations, sponsorships and partnerships.

We also have a number of corporate sponsorships including Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service, CQRescue, Hunter Medical Research Institute, and Hunter Valley Research Foundation.

Our corporate partnerships include our Community Alliance with the Newcastle Knights NRL team, Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining (The University of Queensland), and the University of Newcastle.

Community investment is made at the discretion of the business. The investment amount is consistent each year, irrespective of market conditions and other impacts on our business.

The way in which our investment is allocated is largely determined by committees comprising of community members and representatives from within our business. Funding may be given for community projects as donations or charitable gifts, sponsorships, partnerships or the cost of matching charity fundraising by employees. Our community development funds are a critical part of our community investment programme. More information about our funds is available by selecting from the navigation menu.

Direct payments or 'community controlled' payments are those that are made via land access, mine development, native title, impact benefit, compensation or other legally binding agreements entered into for the purpose of community development. It is the community - not the business - that determines how the funds are used.