Aussie Broadband becomes B Corp Certified!

Aussie Broadband is delighted to announce that it is officially a certified B Corporation, and the biggest telco to be accredited in Australia.

Certified B Corporations, or B Corps, are businesses that are verified by B Lab to meet high standards of environmental and social performance across five impact areas, agree to be transparent about this performance, and commit to accountability to all stakeholders. Aussie's performance against those metrics will be viewable on the B Lab website, which includes Environment, Community, Customers, Workers and Governance. Changes have already been made to the company constitution to meet the purpose and stakeholder governance requirement, with around 96% of shareholders approving the company's purpose being amended to "deliver returns to shareholders while having an overall positive impact on society and the environment".

“We warmly welcome Aussie Broadband to the growing B Corp movement. Telecommunication companies play a vital role in our community and also have a significant carbon footprint to manage. It’s fantastic to see a leading business like Aussie Broadband step up to meet the high standards of B Corp Certification and make a commitment to ongoing impact improvement. We need more businesses, in the Telco sector and beyond, to follow their example of performance, accountability and transparency,” said Andrew Davies, CEO of B Lab Australia & Aotearoa New Zealand.

As part of being certified, Aussie Broadband will be required to undergo the verification process every three years to retain certification. The verification process involves documenting Aussie’s business model and information about the company’s operations, structure, and various work processes, as well as review of potential public complaints.

“To have officially been certified as a B Corporation is an incredible achievement and a testament to the hard work that has been happening in all areas of the business over many years,” said Aussie Broadband Community Impact Manager Cameron Foley. “We know how rigorous this accreditation process is, so we’re thrilled to have gotten across the line and be a part of the growing number of registered B Corps embracing stakeholder governance.”

“Becoming a certified B Corp doesn’t mean that we’re starting our ESG journey from this point forward — it’s something that we’ve worked on developing over time which B Lab has recognised,” said Cameron. “But by having B Corp supporting our ESG framework and being certified, we’re committing to this journey of continuous improvement and to upholding the high standards that come with it, and that we set for ourselves.”

To begin to meet that purpose and be accountable for its corporate governance, FY23 has already seen Aussie Offset Scope 1 and 2 emissions and collaborate with suppliers to reduce scope 3 emissions. Purchased Offsets were generated through the Yarra Yarra Biodiversity Corridor plantings in the northern Wheatbelt of Southwestern Australia, and international renewable energy projects.

Other environmental initiatives over FY23 include powering Aussie’s main Dandenong office and call centre with 100% GreenPower, with 33% of that office's energy generated by a 212 kilowatt on-site solar array.

Aussie Broadband has also continued its work in society through its commitment to building better communities. This includes the company’s Helping Communities Connect program where approximately 600 Not-for-profits (NFP’s) and Indigenous businesses are supported through a product discount program; Pledge 1% where Aussie has donated over $450,000 in product discounts, charity donations and volunteer time for FY23; Small Change Big Change where Aussie customers have raised over $500,000 since 2018; and wider industry collaborations.

More information about Aussie Broadband’s Community Impact initiatives can be found here.