REVIEW OF OPERATIONS FY24
LETTER FROM THE CHAIR AND CEO
CLEAN
AUSTRALIA’S MISSION IS TO INSPIRE AND MOBILISE COMMUNITIES TO IMPROVE AND CONSERVE OUR ENVIRONMENT, ELIMINATE LITTER, AND END WASTE.
Thank you to our amazing volunteers, community allies and corporate partners, who help take Clean Up Australia from strength to strength.
As our Review of Operations for FY24 illustrates, it has been another great year for Clean Up Australia, with support for the organisation growing across businesses, schools and members of the Australian community. Over the year, more than one million volunteers grabbed their gloves and got involved. What an incredible effort, and we remain so grateful for that spirit of volunteering that is demonstrated year after year.
In FY24, we were fortunate to have pro bono support for a nation-wide brand sentiment study, confirming that Clean Up Australia is one of the country’s most loved and trusted organisations. With brand trust at over 85%, we were delighted to formally verify what Clean Up Australia means to Australians for the first time in our three-decade history.
That same study also reinforced that young Australians, in particular, are deeply concerned about the environment and often feel powerless. We know the antidote is action and remain dedicated to offering practical ways to make a difference, to inspire hope and celebrate progress. As our wonderful founder Ian Kiernan always said: ‘Don’t wait for someone else to fix it, make a start, take it into your own hands!’
And in that vein, over 4,400 schools got involved last year and we continue to expand the ways schools can participate, including our popular curriculum-based lesson plans.
Our young Australians inspire us with their dedication to the environment and motivation to protect it. We were fortunate to spend time with students from a primary school in Gladesville on Schools Clean Up Day, who showed us first-hand how empowering a school Clean Up can be.
Our work is more important than ever as Australia continues to be a hugely wasteful nation, generating vast amounts of litter, with 130,000 tonnes of plastic escaping into the marine environment each year*. In addition to our Clean Ups, we advocate for more sustainable living practices and encourage Australians from all walks of life to rethink their relationship with the products and packaging they use.
Thank you for your ongoing encouragement and support and we look forward to working with you in the years ahead.
Jenny Geddes, CEO
Pip Kiernan, Chair
* Source: https://www.dcceew.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/nationalplastics-plan-summay-fs.pdf
Volunteers
FY2024
Volunteer hours
1,077,127 2,154,254 16,320 9,985 4,405 1,930 251
Community Clean Ups
School Clean Ups Business Clean Ups
Sites Councils supporting
COMMUNITY ACTION
The Clean Up Australia community is a hard-working collective of people from different cultures, places and stories, who are committed to improving our land for future generations.
We celebrate you, our community of volunteers and supporters. You, who host weekly and monthly Clean Ups with your local groups. You, who joined us on Clean Up Australia Day and have done so for many years, and you who hosted your first community Clean Up event for your town, school or place of worship. Lastly, but certainly not least, we celebrate you, who went on your first ever Clean Up this year; we warmly welcome you to the Clean Up Australia community!
We are grateful to the community leaders and Site Supervisors of the ten thousand community events that took place this year. To our one million volunteers – thank you for your dedication to cleaning up our environment.
GREAT SPRING CLEAN
This year saw the evolution of the Great Northern Clean Up into the Great Spring Clean, a nationwide campaign focused on preventing litter from washing into our waterways, particularly during the wet season in the northern, tropical parts of the country. The Great Spring Clean saw over 14,600 volunteers participate in Clean Up events in 453 locations during the months of September and October 2023.
CLEAN UP AUSTRALIA
DAY
On Sunday 3 March 2024, we saw 4,300 community groups gather their volunteers, grab their bags and gloves, and take part in the nation’s largest day of Clean Up action – Clean Up Australia Day. Over 750,000 individuals volunteered their time to clean up our local sidewalks, parks, creeks, rivers and beaches, preventing millions of pieces of plastic and waste from entering our waterways and harming our ecosystems. An incredible 11,246 locations around Australia were cleared of litter thanks to our community coming together.
COMMUNITY-LED ACTION
Clean Up Australia is proud to empower community groups to create impactful Clean Up campaigns in their local communities. Community grassroots initiatives, like Tamar Natural Resource Management’s Catch It In The Catchment in Tasmania, encourage residents in Launceston and surrounds to connect with each other, build new friendships and improve environmental health. Community-led action is powerful, as exemplified by the many volunteers participating in local campaigns including the Landscape Recovery Foundation and Glamorgan Spring Bay Council’s 2023 Great East Coast Tasmania Clean Up, Clean Up the World with the Fraternity in Truth Association (FITA), The Big Butt Hunt with No More Butts, and many others.
Would you like to host a community Clean Up? Learn more about how to get involved.
EDUCATION
SCHOOLS CLEAN UP DAY
Schools are a vibrant and dedicated part of the Clean Up Australia community, with preschool, primary and secondary students and teachers all doing their bit to help make a cleaner Australia. School Clean Ups inspire students to learn about the impact of rubbish on their local environment, while empowering them to play an active role in their school.
The Schools Clean Up Day 2024 campaign period saw 2,479 pre and primary schools and 543 secondary schools take part in a fun and educational Clean Up. Participating schools were invited to enter a creative competition in the lead up to the big day, resulting in a record number of entries submitted to the competition, which this year was themed on poetry!
EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
Clean Up Australia is proud to partner with Cool.org to deliver our educational resources and curriculumaligned lesson plans, helping teachers maximise the success of their School Clean Up. This year, our Education Partner Unilever supported an update of our existing free school lesson plans on Cool.org as part of World Environment Day in June.
Clean Up Australia believes that change starts with our young people. It is so encouraging to see increased engagement with litter prevention in the classroom, facilitated by our updated lessons. Over a six-month period (November, 2023 – May, 2024) our lesson plans were downloaded 2,111 times, with 582 unique educators and 77,406 students reached, and 244 schools represented.
We are proud to grow our partnerships with educators and students around Australia and help provide our young people with positive and practical ways to care for our precious environment.
UNDERSTANDING BEHAVIOUR CHANGE TRAINING
Hosted by BehaviourWorks Australia, Monash Sustainable Development Institute, and supported by the NSW Environment Protection Authority, Clean Up Australia participated in a series of co-design workshops targeting litter prevention. The sessions included educational training content, hands-on system mapping and problem identification, and thought-provoking discussion on insights and interventions.
The Clean Up Australia team developed capacity to better understand the problem of litter from a behaviour change perspective and to develop key behaviour change interventions towards our litter prevention goals.
LITTER REPORT
Since 1991, the Clean Up Australia annual Rubbish Report has provided a snapshot of the rubbish our volunteers collect over a calendar year. Typically, around 10% of all sites are surveyed, with volunteers opting to provide this data. In 2024, the Rubbish Report transformed into the Litter Report FY23, altering its reporting period from a calendar year to a financial year – with surveyed litter collected between July 1, 2022 and June 30, 2023. The Litter Report is now in alignment with our Review of Operations. The Annual Litter Report will now include a broader examination of the factors which influence the major types and sources of litter our volunteers are finding in the environment, as well as identifying waste streams for targeting as we progress our work in waste prevention through advocacy.
ADVOCACY
In 2024, Clean Up Australia attended numerous key conferences – such as the Product Stewardship Forum 2024 and the Australian Repair Network Summit – in support of our objective to fast-track Australia’s transition to a circular economy. Our team also contributed to consultations through state and federal governments, drafting submissions on issues such as statewide reduction of single-use plastics and the expansion of Container Deposit Schemes.
DONATIONS
As a registered charity with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission, Clean Up Australia relies on donations from both the community and the corporate sector, to keep us doing what we do! Donations help fund free Clean Up kits for communities and schools throughout the year as well as contributing to the development of our educational resources. Every donation received supports generations of Australians to remove litter from the environment, before it impacts wildlife or ends up in our waterways and oceans.
We receive donations from business partners, business events, generous community members and volunteers who wish to chip in financially, incredible school fundraising events and even via our local Container Deposit Schemes – when upstanding community members return their cans and bottles for recycling and choose to pass on the 10c refund to us!
Every little bit makes a huge difference – we appreciate the support.
CORPORATE PARTNERS
We are so grateful for the generous support from our Corporate Partners, whose funding enables us to both provide free Clean Up kits to school and community groups across the country, as well as develop important resources to help empower people of all ages on litter prevention and environmental sustainability.
GOLD PARTNERS SILVER PARTNERS
Coles – Since 2018, Coles has supported Clean Up Australia in our mission to inspire and mobilise communities to improve and conserve our environment, eliminate litter and end waste.
Peters Drumstick – 2023 marked 60 years of Drumstick Summer moments. Drumstick is passionate about protecting our beautiful Aussie environment and continues to pledge funding towards our Family Clean Up kits.
Amazon – is committed to a sustainable future and supports Clean Up Australia by distributing our Clean Up kits for CUA Day across the nation.
Cleanaway – with a mission to make a sustainable future possible, Cleanaway is the perfect partner for Clean Up Australia and they have generously supported us since 2016.
SodaStream – is leading a revolution against bottled beverages by providing consumers with a better-for-theplanet alternative to store-bought drinks, helping keep Australia free from single-use plastic bottles.
BRONZE PARTNERS
Bupa – is creating movement through its Healthy Cities program that encourages communities to look after their health and the health of the planet.
Liquorland – Liquorland has supported Clean Up Australia with their ‘Love Your Land’ campaign.
PepsiCo – continued its support as a Bronze Partner holding national team and community Clean Up events.
PepsiCo also funded six ‘How-To’ videos which assist volunteers in the planning of their Clean Up events.
Safcol No Net Tuna – is proud to partner with Clean Up Australia and amplify its focus on reducing the impact and risk of ghost nets in our oceans, protecting vulnerable marine life.
EDUCATION PARTNER FOUNDING PARTNER
McDonalds – is our founding partner and has supported Clean Up Australia since our inception in 1989. A growing number of staff in their restaurants across the country enthusiastically get out to help on Clean Up Australia Day.
Unilever – is currently redesigning its packaging to use less plastic and make it easier to recycle. Unilever supports Clean Up Australia in developing curriculumlinked lesson plans, giving teachers access to resources to help inspire their students in practical environmental action.
We are also grateful to the many businesses which choose Clean Up Australia as their beneficiary, especially noting:
Platinum Cables – has supported Clean Up Australia since 2014, and very generously contributes 1% of revenue to its chosen charity partners.
The Commons – contribute to our Melbourne office, and have undertaken numerous Clean Ups across Sydney and Melbourne.
Clean Up Australia also receives grants from government entities and other organisations in support of Clean Up activities and projects.
FY24 GRANTS AND PROJECTS:
Australian Government Grant : Reducing the Impact of Litter on our Environment and Biodiversity.
City of Sydney Quick Response Grant : Clean Up Redfern-Waterloo 2024.
City of Sydney Venue Hire Support Grant: Clean Up Australia Day 2024 Launch.
Great Barrier Reef Marine Debris Management and Mitigation Grant: Clean Up Australia in partnership with Tangaroa Blue Foundation’s ReefClean Project.
Fremantle Foundation Grant: Western Australia Engagement Campaign.
NSW EPA Waste and Sustainable Materials (WASM) Litter Prevention Grant Stream 2: Sustainable Behaviour Change Project – Strengthening Litter Prevention Capabilities.
Queensland Government Community Sustainability Action Grant: Clean Up Australia and Queenslanders – Mobilising to Improve our Environment.
PRO BONO SUPPORTERS
We are extremely grateful for all the pro bono support we receive and it contributes to our ongoing success.
Bain & Co.
Cleanaway Daniels
Ernst & Young
Hunt & Hunt
SPARK Foundry
TPG Telecom
PROFESSIONAL SERVICE PROVIDERS
We appreciate the support and all the hard work these providers do for us.
Feature Communications
Slalom
The Being Group
Uberbrand
ALLIANCES
In FY24 Clean Up Australia worked with a number of organisations that became Business Supporters, encouraging their employees and stakeholders to participate in Clean Up activities.
An alliance with Clean Up Australia is aimed at creating a non-financial partnership focusing on joint initiatives that benefit the environment.
We work with our Allies to encourage their network to participate in Clean Up activities and to make more sustainable choices.
Become a Community Ally of Clean Up Australia by contacting: community@cleanup.com.au
FY24 FINANCIALS
Linda Boettcher – Process Improvement Manager
Amanda Cox – Corporate Partnerships Manager
Jenny Geddes – CEO
Sarah Jones – Education Sector Specialist
Sunaya Kumar – Customer Relations Officer
Johann Kytzia – Operations Manager
Sarah Martin – Corporate Partnerships Executive
Lucia Moon – Project Officer
Aidan Rodgers – Marketing and Communications Manager
Greta Stevens – Community Relationship Manager
CLEAN UP AUSTRALIA TEAM OFFICE VOLUNTEERS
Romayne Braid
William Holcroft
Megan Huston
Ian Morgan
Munkhjin Munkhbat
Andrea Verlander
VOLUNTEER WRITERS
Elliana Groeneweg
Matthew Hooper
Elissa Pizzata
Dani Smith
Elizabeth Taddeo
VOLUNTEER TRANSLATORS
Hilda Alexandra
Elena Bellettati
Jeanne Birouste
Lila Cai
Quang Thien Dang
Luciana Escobal
Eunsun Kim
Frederique Le Bescond
Ahmed Redwan
Maryam Shams
In 2024, with the help of our volunteer translators, Clean Up Australia was proud to facilitate the translation of our event resources into ten languages: Arabic, French, Indonesian, Italian, Korean, Persian, Spanish, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Vietnamese.
Up Australia Level 4, 233 Castlereagh Street Sydney NSW 2000
Web: www.cleanup.org.au Email: cleanup@cleanup.com.au
Emma Cowdroy
Catriona Dixon
Brett Hearnden – Company Secretary
Maurene Horder
Pip Kiernan – Chair
Andrew Post
Dan Ratner