Simple Steps for Australian companies to Start Their Sustainability Journey
12/02/2026
Sustainability, ESG , Net Zero, Climate Change are words, that for small Australian businesses, are probably not a priority for the day to day running of a business. This may be the case today, but your customers, your financial backers and the community will start asking questions about your sustainability credentials. Do you know your emissions, water use or impact on that community that you are operating next to ? All business, including small and medium sizes customers have an obligation to have a a plan and governance over their activities and operations.
Australian agencies and regulatory bodies will ask for reports and disclosures relating to your business. Don't wait for it to be a statutory requirement , put some simple governance in place now.
Steps to develop a sustainability plan for your small to medium sized business.
1 - Create a Basic Sustainability Policy:
Start by drafting a simple policy statement. This is just a short document that says, "We're committed to reducing our environmental impact by managing our energy, reducing waste, and being mindful of our resource use." Version the document and put it into a central location. Make sure your employees are aware of the policy.
2 - Assign a Sustainability Champion:
Designate one person or a small team to be responsible for sustainability efforts. Set regular, say quarterly meetings to review current status of sustainability efforts int the company and to discuss emerging regulations and trends. Update the policy, update the employee, show your stakeholders you have initiatives in place by updating your website or provide details in a customer newsletter.
3 - Start with Simple Data Tracking:
Begin tracking a few easy metrics—like electricity usage, paper consumption, or how much they recycle, even record and manage the engagements with you stakeholders. An affordable and powerful software application to manage your data for sustainability , ESG or stakeholder engagement is SustainaPass, take a look here Try SustainaPass now or contact us.
Sustainability, ESG , Net Zero, Climate Change are words, that for small Australian businesses, are probably not a priority for the day to day running of a business. This may be the case today, but your customers, your financial backers and the community will start asking questions about your sustainability credentials. Do you know your emissions, water use or impact on that community that you are operating next to ? All business, including small and medium sizes customers have an obligation to have a a plan and governance over their activities and operations.
Australian agencies and regulatory bodies will ask for reports and disclosures relating to your business. Don't wait for it to be a statutory requirement , put some simple governance in place now.
Steps to develop a sustainability plan for your small to medium sized business.
1 - Create a Basic Sustainability Policy:
Start by drafting a simple policy statement. This is just a short document that says, "We're committed to reducing our environmental impact by managing our energy, reducing waste, and being mindful of our resource use." Version the document and put it into a central location. Make sure your employees are aware of the policy.
2 - Assign a Sustainability Champion:
Designate one person or a small team to be responsible for sustainability efforts. Set regular, say quarterly meetings to review current status of sustainability efforts int the company and to discuss emerging regulations and trends. Update the policy, update the employee, show your stakeholders you have initiatives in place by updating your website or provide details in a customer newsletter.
3 - Start with Simple Data Tracking:
Begin tracking a few easy metrics—like electricity usage, paper consumption, or how much they recycle, even record and manage the engagements with you stakeholders. An affordable and powerful software application to manage your data for sustainability , ESG or stakeholder engagement is SustainaPass, take a look here Try SustainaPass now or contact us.
