Community asked to share views on material topics with Port Waratah

The latest Port Waratah Local Voices Community Survey is now open.

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 This round of the regular survey aims to identify what topics and issues related to Port Waratah and its operations are most important to community stakeholders.

Survey responses will help inform the organisation’s review of their sustainability materiality assessment later this year.

“Active engagement with stakeholders enables us to recognise differing interests and expectations in the way we conduct business.

To achieve exceptional quality in our sustainability management and reporting, it is essential that we understand which topics and issues are most important to our stakeholders,” said Hennie du Plooy, CEO, Port Waratah Coal Services.

The Local Voices March ‘pulse’ survey asks participants to consider the level of importance for each material topic and select which topics are most important to them.

The survey takes 5-10 minutes to complete. A sample of the topics includes air quality, noise management, water quality, climate change, regulation and licencing, future of coal, energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions, community support and employee safety among others. The results will be combined with input from a wide range of different stakeholders such as our employees, contractors, industry and other partners, community meeting group members, and research.

Port Waratah will use this information to update the current materiality assessment to reflect the levels of interest, influence, emerging issues and expectations in 2024 and beyond.

Co-founder and CEO of Voconiq, Dr Keiren Moffat says the Local Voices survey provides Port Waratah with data every six months to enable the organisation to further two-way communication, engagement and information sharing on issues and topics that matter most to their community relationships.

“There is enormous value for communities in being heard by the companies that work alongside them,” said Dr Moffat. 

“Through Local Voices, portside community members and people in the broader Newcastle area are directly influencing how Port Waratah thinks about its operations, plans for the future and invests locally.”

To emphasise the value of the survey to Port Waratah, five dollars for every completed survey is donated to a local community organisation. Since 2018, more than $30,700 in funding has been distributed to community groups in the Newcastle area.