Skill360 Australia Goes Carbon Neutral
Media Release — 1 October 2009
Today, 1 October 2009, represents the beginning of a new era for vocational education and training as Skill360 Australia delivers its apprenticeship and training services on a carbon-neutral basis. The achievement represents a strategic shift in direction for Australia’s foremost apprenticeship and training provider.
“This move is without precedent in the vocational education and training sector. In the courses we teach there are a lot of references to sustainability, so it is appropriate that we practice what we teach,” said Troy Williams, Chief Executive Officer of Skill360 Australia.
Beyond aligning Skill360 Australia’s operations with a vocational education and training framework which has an increasing emphasis on environmental sustainability, Mr Williams said that the decision to operate on a carbon-neutral basis reflected the values of the companies and the more than one thousand apprentices Skill360 Australia works with.
“In our discussions with employers and apprentices about what was important to them, a recurring theme was environmental sustainability, so the decision to deliver our services on a carbon-neutral basis was an easy one to make,” Mr Williams said.
According to Mr Williams, the first step was to understand exactly what the challenge was, so an independent expert was brought in to assess the extent of Skill360 Australia’s carbon dioxide emissions and opportunities for these to be reduced, with remaining emissions then offset.
“I think we were all surprised about the size of our carbon footprint. Previously, on an average year Skill360 Australia produced around 610 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually,” Mr Williams said.
Over the course of the past six months, Skill360 Australia has reduced its carbon dioxide emissions by 47%, with the remaining emissions being off-set through government approved abatement programs.
“We continue to identify ways to further reduce our carbon dioxide emissions across the company, and this is an ongoing priority for our team,” Mr Williams said.
Skill360 Australia’s commitment to environmental sustainability extends beyond being carbon neutral, with considerable effort being undertaken to reduce the organisation’s consumption of other resources such as paper and water. For an organisation with around ninety operational staff, it is a big challenge.
“Skill360 Australia’s commitment to environmental sustainability is important to a lot of the employers and apprentices that we work with who are involved in the tourism, electricity generation and mining sectors. The feedback I’ve received is that they really appreciate the ability to partner with an organisation such as Skill360 Australia which shares their commitment to doing the right thing by our environment,” Mr Williams concluded.
Supporting Skill360 Australia’s commitment to environmental sustainability, the organisation recently achieved ISO14001 Environmental Management Systems certification.
Ends.
Media Contact:
Troy Williams - CEO, Skill360 Australia
t: 1300 933 358 (Intl: +61 7 4046 4000)