‘Relationships creating success’ is Downer’s tagline – and it has always been our fundamental operating principle.
We understand that strong relationships with our customers, supply chain, communities and each other form the platform our success is built on.
Relationships are crucial to each of Downer’s 13 material issues, and central to the four other sections in this report:
Creating and maintaining lasting, genuine relationships is Downer’s focus in everything we do – from pre-planning to tenders, to the delivery of our projects and contracts, and the long-term maintenance and management of our customers’ assets.
The materiality assessment Downer undertook in 2021 confirmed that the relationships we have with our communities, customers and supply chain partners are essential to the sustainable success of the organisation.
Extensive work has been done in FY22 across our Australian and New Zealand operations to create, nurture and maintain the relationships we have built with our stakeholder groups.
To achieve Downer’s targets and objectives relating to Relationships, Downer prioritised the following short-term focus areas in FY22, which we committed to in our 2021 Sustainability Report:
Focus area | Result | Reference | |
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Launch Downer’s Delivery Governance Management app in Australia to automate and simplify adherence to the Delivery Management Methodology, a core process area within The Downer Standard, which will deliver outstanding results for our customers |
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Increase engagement with our supply chain, through the CDP Supply Chain survey |
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Actively build relationships with the communities where we operate. Identify a not-for-profit Indigenous organisation to support, both financially as well as via the capabilities and expertise of our people |
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Introduce a workplace giving program for Downer employees |
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Continue to review our sponsorships and partnerships to ensure all initiatives are aligned to our Purpose, Promise and Pillars and deliver value for the communities in which we operate. |
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Downer actively supports the communities in which we operate, through good times and bad. We recognise the significant and lasting socio-economic benefits our presence in the community can bring. We seek to engage with local suppliers and contractors and actively participate in regional business groups and chambers of commerce. In addition to providing local employment opportunities, Downer is focused on making a difference in our communities through partnerships, sponsorships and donations. We implement a range of strategies focusing on social responsibility, cultural heritage management and stakeholder engagement.
Customer engagement was highlighted as Downer’s fourth-highest material issue in the materiality assessment conducted in 2021.
At Downer, customers are at the heart of everything we do, and central to our Purpose and Promise.
Downer’s Purpose is to create and sustain the modern environment by building trusted relationships with our customers. Our Promise is to work closely with our customers to help them succeed, using world-leading insights and solutions.
To achieve our Purpose and Promise, we:
The above focus areas are formalised as part of Downer’s Delivery Management Lifecycle, which provides a consistent and collaborative approach to servicing our customers. In FY22, significant work has been done to embed Downer’s best practice Delivery Management Methodology and customer management processes (see Delivery Management Methodology).
Downer also understands that our ability to deliver outstanding results for our customers relies on keeping strong relationships with trade unions in the sectors we operate in.
A critical part of the Keolis Downer joint venture’s success in mobilising the Region 8 Bus Contract in New South Wales was Downer’s ability to rely on its mutually respectful relationship with the Rail, Tram and Bus Union to ensure the smooth transition of 700 bus drivers from employment with the State Transit Authority to employment with Keolis Downer.
In addition to Downer and the Rail, Tram and Bus Union finalising negotiations for a four-year enterprise agreement within eight weeks of contract commencement, Downer and the senior leadership of the Rail, Tram and Bus Union reached agreement on a framework for ensuring sustainable jobs and workforce development. The framework promoted redeployment of drivers and other workers with the requisite skills into suitable vacancies across the Downer network, ensured that existing State Transit Authority terms and conditions would transfer to Keolis Downer, and included an agreement to no forced redundancies for the term of the new enterprise agreement.
Contractor management is Downer’s fifth-highest ranked material issue. Last year, Downer spent more than $7 billion with more than 28,000 suppliers and subcontractors.
Indigenous procurement spend | |||||
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|
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
Spend |
$17,406,211 | $24,565,300 | $47,313,233 | $53,001,598 | $78,332,646 |
Increase |
Not available | 41.12% | 92.60% | 12% | 47.79% |
Māori procurement spend | ||||
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|
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
Spend |
$22,468,083 | $28,087,018 | $28,178,386 | $29,210,575 |
Increase |
Not available | 25.01% | 0.33% | 3.66% |
Relationships will always underpin Downer’s success.
We are committed to nurturing and strengthening our existing relationships, and seeking to build new ones with both internal and external stakeholders. In FY23, we will: