FY23 Sustainability Report
Campus Living Villages acknowledges Country and the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the land and waters throughout Australia. We recognise and acknowledge that the land we walk upon today has a Dreaming that continues to connect people, Country and culture and we pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging.
This report is Campus Living Village’s (CLV) second public disclosure on annual sustainability performance. It is prepared with reference to the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards (refer to GRI Content Index on pages 30 to 31). It has been reviewed and approved by the Board of Directors.
Our reporting scope includes activities under the control of the CLV group of companies – which consists of Campus Living Funds Management Pty Limited (ABN 19 115 371 321) as the trustee of three trusts: Campus Living Australia Trust (ABN 76 639 813 054), Campus Living UK Trust (ABN 69 408 391 907), Campus Living US Trust (ABN 48 370 045 004).
This report details the environmental, social and governance (ESG) disclosures we believe are most meaningful for our stakeholders and summarises our progress against our ESG framework. The key performance indicators and
narratives relate to the period 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2023. All currency amounts are in Australian dollars unless otherwise stated. This report has not been externally assured, but our GHG emissions inventory has been aligned with the GHG Protocol methodology and has been reviewed by external consultants.
Level 6, Triniti Tower II, 39 Delhi Road, North Ryde, NSW, 2113 (02) 9270 1600 www.campuslivingvillages.com
We strive to be open about our progress and where we are going. Accountability is one of our values and so we welcome enquiries and feedback about this Sustainability Report. These can be emailed to sustainability@clv.com.au.
Wurundjeri man Daniel Ross at SVM smoking ceremony
FY23 Highlights
achieved 40% men, 40% women, 20% any gender, gender balance at Board level and at total workforce level. 92%
of employees agree that CLV supports inclusion and diversity in the workplace and 94% believe that CLV provides a working environment free of discrimination and harassment.
of Australian based students rated their overall Village experience as positive.
Governance
Message from our Executive
of UK based students reported feeling a strong sense of community.
of US based students reported that living at our villages enhanced their academic skills and endeavours.
Campus Living Villages creates and operates a home away from home for thousands of domestic and international students each year, in collaboration with our university partners and with the backing of our superannuation fund investors.
Every day, we undertake this huge responsibility with care, accountability, integrity and teamwork. We are committed to ensuring the sustainability of our business by identifying the environmental, social and governance issues and opportunities that matter most to us and our stakeholders; setting targets to tackle these issues collaboratively, and supporting our business divisions to focus where they can make the most difference.
FY23 has been a year of ‘rebound’ in the purpose-built student accommodation sector. In all three countries we operate in, occupancy has rebounded to pre COVID-19 levels, and in some cases outperformed, as national borders and university doors have been opened again. In this operating environment the message from existing and
potentially new university partners is clear: affordable, bespoke, on-campus accommodation that places student experience and welfare at its core is the order of the day.
Over the course of FY23 our ESG framework has continued to guide our efforts to meet this objective and it is with great pleasure and pride that we report our recent progress against the framework in this report.
We acknowledge the entire Campus Living Villages team for their hard work, demonstrated commitment to our values, and spirit of continuous improvement and thank the Board of Directors for their guidance during the year.
Louisa Scott Group ESG Manager
John C. Schroder Group Managing Director and CEO
Our business at a glance
Campus Living Villages (CLV) is one of the world’s leading providers of on-campus, purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA). Since opening our first student village at the University of Sydney, Australia, in 2003, we have progressively expanded our presence and are proud to have over 20 years of experience financing, designing, developing, and managing industry-leading student accommodation facilities in strategic, on-campus locations for our partner universities.
Our group has offices and operations in three regions – Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. In FY23, we were in partnership with 29 universities, providing over 25,000 beds to their students from across the globe.
Many of our student residents are learning to live independently for the first time when they arrive at one of our villages. To support them, we’re focused on combining resident life, learning and growth in one campus. We deliver quality accommodation with a focus on community and the benefits are clear – students have a seamless university life that enables them to perform at their best, and universities benefit from attracting the highest calibre of talent.
We specialise in on-campus accommmodation delivered in the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model. We achieve this through our vertically integrated and flexible operating model that spans the full lifecycle of PBSA projects. We place a strong emphasis on working to understand the vision and strategic objectives of our university partners. We then deliver on this by developing and managing tailored, sustainably designed and inclusive student accommodation and related amenities.
Our success lies in delivering an integrated, onsite student experience for our university partners, and to achieve this, we source and partner with highquality suppliers in each region across a range of disciplines, from large corporates to small, family enterprises and sole traders. Disciplines range from construction contractors, facilities management services to maintain sites, cleaning, and linen services, as well as goods such as furniture and whitegoods through to consulting firms specialising in sustainability, legal, tax, finance, risk and information and communications
Our people
The people who work at CLV are the heartbeat that keeps our villages vibrant. We have an outstanding team of specialists in-house with a wealth of experience in PBSA (and related infrastructure) across the design, development, construction, sales, operations, finance, legal, ICT, digital and marketing disciplines. Our Customer Service Advisors in the UK and our amazing cohort of Resident Assistants in Australia and the USA serve as a vital link between our student residents and our management teams, ensuring a safe, engaging and inclusive living environment.
Our stakeholders
We identify our stakeholders through our business activities and our materiality process as those most directly impacted by our operations. Our ongoing dialogue with these groups helps create a feedback loop that enhances the way we do business, builds relationships and creates value. Our main stakeholder groups, their key interests and concerns and how we engage with them are described below.
Stakeholder group How we engage Key interests and concerns
• Town Halls, celebration events, meetings, workshops and on-site visits
• Group-wide surveys
Employees
Student residents
• Performance reviews and development plans
• Emails and calls
• Newsletters
• Social media channels
• Emails and calls
• Surveys
• Welfare checks and room inspections
• Live, Learn, Grow program events
• Social media channels
• Website
• Annual sustainability report
• Village Advisory Board Meetings and other adhoc meetings
University partners
JV partners (external and/ or with the university)
• Emails and phone calls
• Conferences
• Regular reporting
• Annual sustainability report
• Board meetings
• Monthly reporting
• Quarterly investment reporting and meetings
Investors
• Emails, calls, briefings
• Investor surveys
• Annual sustainability report
•
•
• Safety, health & wellbeing
• Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI)
• Learning and development
•
•
• Value for money and affordability
• Safety, health & wellbeing
• Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI)
• Environmental performance (GHG emissions, energy, water, waste)
• Academic performance
• Student resident experience and welfare
• Operational and asset management performance
• Health and safety
• Environmental performance (GHG emissions, energy, water, waste)
• Financial performance
• Risk management
• Good governance
• Environmental performance (GHG emissions, energy, water, waste)
• Financial and fund performance
• Risk management
• Environmental performance (GHG emissions, energy, water, waste)
• Social performance (DEI, reconciliation, human rights, safety, health & wellbeing)
•
• Risk management
• Responsible and ethical engagement
•
• International student enrolments
• Housing availability
Trends shaping our industry
The environment we are operating in is subject to continuously shifting international and domestic student demographics, regional regulations and legislation and stakeholder expectations. We monitor these trends on a regular basis and consider them in our annual strategic planning so that we can both manage the risks and embrace the opportunities that arise from them.
We understand that focusing on the issues that matter most to our stakeholders is fundamental to the future prosperity of our business. We undertook our first materiality assessment in 2019 by engaging with internal and external stakeholders to understand their views on current and emerging environmental, social and governance (ESG) trends. We updated our materiality assessment in 2022 and, from this, established our ESG framework. We maintain ongoing dialogue with our key stakeholder groups and regularly review and assess the key trends shaping our industry to ensure that our understanding of these issues remains up to date and that we are adapting our strategy in response.
In Australia, Campus Living Villages is an active member of the Property Council of Australia’s Student Accommodation Council (SAC) and holds the Deputy Chair seat of the SAC Board.
Our ESG Framework
Our objective: We partner with universities to support more residents to graduate and thrive through strong social programs and an affordable and safe place to live.
Energy. Carbon emissions. Climate risk. Sustainable design & development. Waste. Water. Biodiversity. Education.
Climate Change Natural Resources
Community. Affordability. Safety. Accessibility. Training & education. Wellbeing.
FOCUS AREAS
MATERIAL TOPICS TARGETS
Modern slavery. Responsible procurement. Social procurement. Reporting. Trust. Workforce. Partnership.
A purposeful & equitable value chain A trusted operator Manage the risks of modern slavery in our supply chain and protect human rights. Maintain trust among all partners. Resident Life Health, Safety & Wellbeing Create a
UN SDGs and targets
Where are we heading next?
Climate Change
Why is this important to us?
As trusted partners of leading universities and providers of a home away from home to our world’s future leaders, we know that we must do everything we can to contribute to meeting the Paris Agreement goal of keeping average global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees.
We also know that by identifying the climate related risks, impacts and opportunities facing our business and developing a strategy to mitigate and adapt to these, we will strengthen our resilience and set ourselves us up for future prosperity.
What have we done in FY23?
We have continued to focus on energy efficiency in our sustainable asset management plans by continuing our lighting upgrade program across our assets, replacing internal and external light fixtures with LEDs, as well as upgrading air conditioning systems and appliances to newer more efficient models as they reach end of life.
We installed another 100kW of onsite solar in FY23, this time at our Griffith University Village in Australia, and progressed business cases for another 350kW to be installed in FY24. We continue to purchase renewable energy certificates (RECs)
What are our targets?
Net zero scope 1 and
• review US energy savings reports and incorporate findings into our asset management plans and Lifecycle Cost Plans (LCCPs).
• continue to identify and implement energy efficiency measures in all three regions
• continue our on-site solar system rollout in all three regions.
• attain energy performance National Australian Built Environment Rating System (NABERS) ratings for our AU portfolio of buildings along with action plans for improving the results.
• improve our energy and emissions data tracking systems and processes.
• continue to monitor and manage our climate related risks (see Appendix 2)
equivalent to 100% of our FY23 UK based electricity demand and 49% of our US based electricity demand. Using a market-based emissions calculation methodology, this resulted in a 48% reduction in group scope 2 emissions from FY22 and a 37% reduction in group scope 1 and 2 emissions.
In FY23 we commissioned an external consultant to undertake a review of our energy costs and usage across our US portfolio of Villages to establish a baseline for comparing future performance and to understand where we can affect the most change.
Reducing our scope 1 and 2 emissions is the first step in our efforts to decarbonise our business. While we know that these operational emissions are low compared to those of our whole value chain, it is important to us that we have our ‘own house in order’ and have a credible roadmap in place to achieve our target.
Our scope 1 emissions are primarily generated from gas use at our student accommodation buildings. Gas is used to power our hot water systems and the dryers in our onsite laundries. We recognise that our use of refrigerants in cooling systems and appliances and a small amount of diesel use in the fire system backup generators also contribute to our scope 1 emissions, but we
currently do not have a process for collecting this data.
Our scope 2 emissions are generated from the electricity used in our villages to power lights, space heating and cooling, ventilation systems, and plug-in equipment of all shapes and sizes, from mobile phones and laptops to fridges and washing machines.
The actions we have committed to taking to achieve our 2030 target are outlined below.
Where are we heading next?
Natural Resources
Why is this important to us?
According to the World Green Building Council, worldwide buildings are responsible for 50% of all extracted materials, 33% of water consumption and 35% of generated waste. Other environmental impacts include resource depletion, air, water and land pollution and biodiversity loss.
We recognise this significant impact and understand that it is critical that we play our part in designing, constructing and operating our Villages in a way that not only reduces our environmental footprint as much as possible, but that looks to have an overall positive impact.
What are our targets?
CLV has a track record of designing and constructing high-performance buildings, as evidenced by the attainment of third-party sustainability ratings such as BREEAM in the UK and GreenStar in Australia. However, in early 2023, we started taking this to the next level by defining the sustainable design standards for what we expect to achieve in the next generation of buildings coming down our development pipeline (see case study).
In FY23, we continued to roll out water saving devices such as low-flow taps, showers and dual flush toilets as we undertake refurbishments at our Villages. We also took some small steps to engage and raise awareness with our staff and our student
residents about the environmental impacts of water use and waste and what behaviour change steps they can take to help us achieve our targets. The consultants that looked at our US portfolio with an energy lens (see Climate Change section of this report) also considered water costs and efficiency measures. We recognise that we have work to do to improve our data capture and monitoring systems at a Village level in all three regions so as to empower our local teams with the information they need to track usage, take action where we are responsible and inspire action from our student residents and staff on more sustainable use of natural resources.
In FY24 we will:
• continue to implement water efficiency initiatives in all three regions.
• attain water performance National Australian Built Environment Rating System (NABERS) ratings for our AU portfolio of buildings along with action plans for improving the results.
Case Study: Sustainable Design Standards
Students who live on campus are more likely to get better grades, stay in school and graduate. Our university partners and others we are not yet working with, within in all three regions require additional on-campus purpose-built student accommodation to address the growing numbers of student enrolments and local housing pressures. This emerging organic and inorganic development pipeline represents an exciting time for CLV. As such, we have committed to designing, constructing and operating sustainable
• improve our water and waste data tracking systems and processes.
on-campus villages as defined by the criteria below. In each region, we will evidence this by achieving 5-star Green Star ratings in Australia, BREEAM Excellent ratings in the UK, LEED Silver ratings in the US and WELL Gold ratings in all three regions.
aligned to the goals and objectives of our university partners
biodiverse urban green spaces that provide active connections between people and nature
designed to be resilient to the local pressures brought about by a changing global climate
Our future devlopments will be: net zero emissions in operation by being all electric, highly resource efficient and powered by renewably sourced electricity embracing circular thinking by incorporating ways to recycle water on site and reuse materials in construction and landscaping safe, healthy and inclusive places for people
materials
designed with a Countrycentric approach that recognises and respects First Nations cultures
Resident Life
What are our targets?
Why is this important to us?
Many of our student residents first come to us at an important transition period in their lives, as they move away from home for the first time into independent living or as they embark on a study period in a new country, state or city – sometimes both at the same time!
Fostering a connected community at each of our Villages is critical to making early student life a success. An engaging and supportive environment reduces the impacts that isolation and loneliness can have on our residents’ experience at university. Social connections provide emotional support, help us to meet our basic needs and allow us to learn and grow as individuals.
What have we done in FY23?
We continued to align our resident life program with the pillars of 'Live,' 'Learn,' and 'Grow’ through events run throughout the semester. We know that the first third of a semester is the most important time to make connections, which will help to navigate the remainder of the semester.
We have a dedicated working group to ensure continuous improvement each year of our resident life program. We also started to measure the program's success through our customer satisfaction survey.
Where are we heading next?
In FY24 we will:
• continue to evolve the ‘Live Learn Grow’ program in response to changing student expectations and those of our university partners.
• establish partnerships to provide additional support and events for our residents
Create a connected community through the resident life program
Case Study: Live Learn Grow program
Our Resident Life program ‘Live Learn Grow’ integrates the developmental and demographic profiles of a diverse population of students and seeks to address the needs of students in the 21st century and the priorities of our university partners. We are focused on helping our university partners to attract, retain and graduate well-prepared students.
We have spent years honing our expertise in this field because we know it’s important to both our
• integrate the pillars of wellbeing into resident life calendars (see CLV Cares case study on page 19).
resident customers and our university partners. As well as operational management of residents’ day to day lives on site, we are responsible for maintaining and updating the physical asset, including communal spaces that residents can use to meet, spend time together and engage in their social lives.
We create opportunities for residents to explore their environment through socialisation, engagement and participation helping to build relationships with others. These opportunities create fun, friendly environments that are inclusive and accessible to all and which cover four main areas: Community Engagement, Social Events, Recreational Events, Spirit Events
We create opportunities to support and enhance our residents’ academic success inside and outside of the classroom. We signpost and raise awareness about the support and resource programs provided by our university partners, and we seek to teach life skills to help people deal effectively with life’s demands, challenges, and rewards.
We create opportunities for our residents to be more socially aware members of the community through four focus areas: Environmental Awareness, Social Awareness, Intra & Interpersonal Awareness, and Social Responsibility.
LEARN GROW LIVE
Health and Wellbeing
Why is this important to us?
The prevalence of mental health challenges is higher than ever before among the current student cohort. Understanding the role we play in encouraging health and wellbeing is pivotal for the holistic welfare of our residents. By prioritising mental health and wellbeing initiatives, we are able to foster environments conducive to academic success and personal growth.
Our focus on student mental health resonates deeply with our university partners, who also recognise the impact of student wellbeing on academic performance and campus culture. Through collaborative efforts with our partners and with our own expertise, we collectively address the many dimensions of mental health, ensuring that our student accommodation remains a safe, nurturing, and supportive space for all.
What are our targets?
Maintain or improve resident and employee wellbeing
Where are we heading next?
In FY24 we will:
• forge partnerships with third-party providers of mental health support, to augment the resources available to our residents from our university partners and in the public domain.
• continue to evolve how we integrate mental health and wellbeing into our resident life program, crafting initiatives and activities that address the mental health challenges students face.
Case Study: CLV Cares
The workplace of 2023 is vastly different to its preCovid 19 counterpart and we understand that noneconomic issues are increasingly important to the talent attraction and retention equation. Ensuring that we create a safe environment (both physically and psychosocially) for our employees every day and that we have systems and processes in place to support their overall health and wellbeing is an important part of our value proposition.
What have we done in FY23?
Throughout the year, we continued to review material resident reported incidents at our weekly Executive Committee meetings, monitoring trends and actioning policy and standard operating procedure updates where necessary.
For our new developments we established sustainable design standards that prioritise the development of healthy environments, aligned with regional green building and wellness standards. These standards underscore our dedication to the student experience through thoughtful design considerations that foster physical, mental, cultural and emotional wellbeing within our Villages (see case study on page 15).
We redistributed information about consent and respect to all villages following the release of the Australian ‘National Student Safety Survey (NSSS)’. Information about consent and sexual assault and harassment is always included in our resident onboarding processes.
Our annual employee engagement survey demonstrated that our approach to employee safety is having an impact with 95% of respondents agreeing that their workplace is a safe place to work but the responses also showed that we have more work to do on our employee health and wellness related initiatives.
In FY22, we developed our evidence based CLV Cares framework to govern our approach to resident and employee safety and wellbeing. This has been rolled out to all our Villages in
Awareness:
Case Study: CLV Cares
Raise awareness about the causes of poor health and wellbeing and signpost to available wellbeing services
• implement the CLV Cares scorecard to track implementation of our framework across the three regions we operate in
• continue to focus on mitigating the likelihood of sexual assault and harassment incidents at our villages.
FY23 and we have developed a scorecard to start tracking its efficacy in FY24, enabling us to adapt it responsively by monitoring its impact on both resident and employee health and wellbeing.
Wellbeing:
Create and manage a culture centred on the 7 domains of wellbeing (mental, physical, social, financial, spiritual, environmental, vocational)
Access:
Partner with organisations that can support the health and wellbeing of our residents and our people
Belonging: Increase feelings of belonging by creating an engaged and inclusive community
Communication: Ensure systems and processes are in place that enable ongoing dialogueboth online and in person
Calm places: Provide physical spaces in our Villages that encourage and support the different domains of wellbeing.
Purposeful and equitable value chain
Why is this important to us?
How we buy goods and services and which companies we choose to work with has great potential for achieving positive impact across environmental, social and governance considerations.
We want to ensure that not only are our purchasing decisions aligned with our strategic goals and that we are not inadvertently creating harm to people or the planet, but that we are proactively using our money and procurement contracts to influence other organisations across our value chain too.
What have we done in FY23?
Our biggest modern slavery related supply chain risks are in the facilities management services we procure to operate our assets, such as cleaning, linen services and landscaping, goods procurement such as furniture and white goods and the construction contractors that contribute to our development projects. We have a Group Human Rights Policy that governs our approach to addressing modern slavery risks and a two stage modern slavery questionnaire process to evaluate supplier compliance with anti-slavery best practices.
What are our targets?
Manage the risks of modern slavery and support human rights
In FY23, we maintained a completion rate of over 97% for internal modern slavery training, ensuring that our staff across each region understand modern slavery and how to identify it in operations. We also reviewed the remuneration for casual employees across the Group, ensuring fair work practices within our workforce. CLV UK complied with modern slavery legislation and released its annual modern slavery statement. The statement is publicly available here.
In FY23, we joined Supply Nation to pursue greater supplier diversity, foster reconciliation, and forge partnerships with Indigenous owned businesses.
Where are we heading next?
In FY24 we will:
• finalise our engagement approach with high risk and key suppliers and remain dedicated to upholding compliance with UK Modern Slavery legislation.
Trusted Operator
Why is this important to us?
Trust is fundamental to our business model. As solely on-campus student accommodation providers the relationships we have with our university partners are key to the sustainability of our business. We work hard to understand their needs and then to work with integrity, transparency and accountability to deliver a seamless student experience that meets these needs. We also rely on our investors, joint venture partners, parents, caregivers and our student residents themselves, placing their trust in us to deliver high-quality student accommodation.
What have we done in FY23?
Engagement and transparent reporting are crucial to maintaining trust with our partners. In FY23, we compiled our sustainability report (this report) with reference to the Global Reporting Initiative’s universal standards (see GRI Index) and the requirements of the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (see Appendix Two). Our greenhouse gas emissions inventory methodology was this year aligned to the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corporate Reporting Standard. For the fourth consecutive year, we proactively disclosed
Where are we heading next?
In FY24 we will:
• renew our Group Sustainability Policy, to reflect the work we have done since releasing our ESG framework.
• build capability by joining the United Nations Global Compact, aligning ourselves with international standards for sustainable and ethical business conduct.
• refresh our Company values
What are our targets?
Maintain trust amongst all our partners
wider sustainability data to the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB) achieving a 3-star rating and a score of 80 / 100 placing us above the GRESB average. In the UK we completed our Gender Pay Gap Report against the requirements of the UK Equality Act 2010 and in Australia reported to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA).
Read more about our approach to responsible governance at Appendix 1.
Appendix 1: Governance at CLV
Governance structure Board of Directors
Board role and responsibilities
The Board of Directors is responsible for the strategy, risk, compliance, fund performance, capital allocation and overall corporate governance of CLV as defined by the Board Charter.
• considers and approves the strategy and business plans of the Fund;
• approves an annual budget and monitors the financial performance of the Fund;
• oversees the Fund’s corporate governance framework;
• monitors the adequacy, appropriateness and operation of internal controls of the Fund;
• monitors significant business risks and reviews how they are managed by the Fund;
• reviews the preparation of financial reports and statements and approves the financial reports;
• monitors the conduct of the relationship with key regulators to ensure the Fund’s obligations are being met;
• with the approval of the Investor Committee, appoints, removes, reviews the performance and determines delegations to the Group Managing Director and CEO (GMD/CEO) and otherwise approves transactions in excess of delegated levels;
• reviews the remuneration of the GMD/CEO and their Executive Committee direct reports within the terms of their employment contract on an annual basis;
• oversees and monitors a framework for the reward and recognition of staff;
• oversees the Fund’s ESG strategy and framework;
• oversees the Fund’s diversity initiatives and measurable objectives for achieving diversity in the composition of the Board, senior management, and the workforce generally;
• assesses its own performance and the performance of individual Directors;
• considers, approves and endorses major policies of the Fund including a code for ethical behaviour; and
• ensures that related party transactions are dealt with appropriately.
Board member nomination and selection
Candidates for Board positions are selected through an external competitive process against merit based criteria that considers the views of CLV’s investors and other stakeholders. Selection criteria includes desired qualifications, professional experience, other current significant positions and commitments, diversity and personal attributes that are aligned with CLV’s values. The Chair of the Board is appointed by the investors of CLV. The Chair and sitting Board Directors review and select Directors who are ultimately appointed by CLV’s investors.
Code of Conduct and supporting policies
Campus Living Villages is committed to the highest standards of ethics, integrity and compliance in all aspects of its business, across all of its villages, regional and corporate offices. Our Code of Conduct is the foundation on which this commitment is built. It provides information and answers to help us model our values and sets the standard for doing the right thing when acting on behalf of any CLV group company. The Code of Conduct extends to all employees, directors, contractors and consultants of CLV in the performance of their duties (or provision of their services) and is supported by a suite of policies, frameworks and guidelines that reflect CLV’s commitment to governance, anti-corruption, ethical conduct, diversity and inclusion, human rights, health and safety and privacy.
These are regularly reviewed and updated to ensure they continue to reflect our workplace expectations.
CLV has a Whistleblower Policy in place and offers an integrity / Speak Out Helpline powered by Convercent OneTrust for the reporting of critical concerns. Anything captured by this mechanism is reported through to the Executive Committee and the Board. Incidents raised internally are categorised according to CLV’s Incident Reporting and Response Guidelines. Level four incidents, the highest category, are reported quarterly to the Board Committee of Audit, Tax, Sustainability, Risk and Compliance along with a trends and insights report that summarises how these are being addressed.
Conflicts of interest
Board members are required to declare any conflicts of interest in accordance with the Corporations Act 2007 and general law requirements. Where a material personal interest in a matter exists, the conflicted Board member does not receive the relevant Board paper and absents themselves from the Board meeting during the consideration of the matter.
Education and development
Directors are encouraged to attend training and professional development courses as required. Speakers on relevant topics, that include sustainable development, are invited to Board strategy days to advance the collective knowledge, skills and experience of the Board. The performance of the Board as a group and of individual Directors is assessed on a periodic basis (at least once every two years).
Board composition
Joe Dicks Independent Non-Executive Chair
Joe has spent most of his 35-year professional life advising businesses on how to improve performance. His career spans corporate advisory, business restructuring, profit improvement, and risk & governance. He was previously a Board member of Melbourne Polytechnic.
Other positions and commitments: Tenure on Board as at 30 June 2023: Board member at Qudos Bank Limited 7 years Director of Agrifunder Pty Ltd.
Tracey Horton Independent Non-Executive Director
Tracey was recognised for distinguished service to the business and business education and was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2017. She was previously a Director of the Australian Industry Skills Committee, Director of Nearmaps and the Deputy Chair of Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Other positions and commitments: Tenure on Board as at 30 June 2023: Director of the GPT Group 0.25 years Chair and Director of IDP Education
Daryl Browning Independent Non-Executive Director
Daryl is a seasoned leader in property fund management, having served as the CEO of ISPT for 17 years. Under his guidance, ISPT expanded its assets and achieved the distinction of being the first Carbon Neutral property company.
Daryl’s achievements encompass successful transactions, capital raising and joint ventures. Prior to his role at ISPT, he held a position as one of four national directors overseeing Knight Frank’s operations in Australia. Daryl also brings valuable experience in chairing and actively participating in JV Boards and Committees.
Other positions and commitments: Tenure on Board as at 30 June 2023: Director of Chain Reaction 0.25 years
Challenge Foundation
Chair of the Investment Review Committee at City of Brisbane Investment Corporation (CBIC)
Tanya Cox Independent Non-Executive Director
Tanya has over 15 years of experience as a non-executive director and extensive experience in property, sustainability, finance and funds management. She was previously a Director of the Green Building Council of Australia and past Chair of the World Green Building Council.
Other positions and commitments: Tenure on Board as at 30 June 2023: Non-Executive Chair of the Australian 1 year Sustainable Built Environment Council (ASBEC)
Non-Executive Director of Cromwell Property.
Since 1986 John has held senior roles with the LendLease Group, Westfield Australia, Westfield USA and the Stockland Property Group with assignments both in Australia and offshore markets. John was COO of Westfield America from 2000 – 2006.
Throughout his career, John has been responsible for and has led mostly all disciplines across the major property asset classes. John has served as a Director of the National Property Council of Australia Board, Deputy Chair of the SCCA, various Directorships at Westfield and Lendlease and Stockland and was CEO of Stockland Commercial Property/ Stockland Trust prior to joining Campus Living Villages.
Tenure on Board as at 30 June 2023: 5.75 years
Committee of Audit, Tax, Sustainability, Risk and Compliance
The CLV Directors have established the Committee of Audit, Tax, Sustainability, Risk and Compliance and adopted a Charter setting out matters relevant to the composition, responsibilities and administration of the Committee. All members of the Board are also members of the Committee of Audit, Tax, Sustainability, Risk and Compliance.
Delegation of responsibility for managing and reporting impacts
The Board and the Committee of Audit, Tax, Sustainability, Risk and Compliance delegates responsibility for the management of CLV’s actual and perceived impacts on the economy,
environment and people to the Executive Committee (EXCO). The Group ESG Manager reports directly to EXCO and is in a dedicated position responsible for developing, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating CLV’s ESG strategy, policies, and implementation plans, which include climate-related objectives.
Environmental, Social and Governance matters are discussed as a standing agenda at weekly EXCO meetings. The Committee of Audit, Tax, Sustainability, Risk and Compliance is briefed quarterly on progress against our ESG framework. An ESG update is included in our quarterly Investor update report.
The Board considers and provides strategic direction on CLV’s material topics and reviews and approves this annual sustainability report.
John C. Schroder Executive Director
Appendix 2: Climate Resilience
Governance
Our Board oversees climate risk management and its potential to influence and inform corporate strategy and decision making.
The Board is supported by the Committee of Audit, Tax, Sustainability, Risk and Compliance which meets quarterly and has oversight of environmental, social and governance matters as well as risk management and internal controls.
Understanding our Physical Risks
Physical risks
Strategy
CLV has so far not used scenario analysis as a tool to examine pathways for emerging trends and to determine the physical and transition climate risks that we may likely face but we intend to do so in the short term. We have however considered where our assets are located geographically and identified low and medium to high physical climate risks associated with these locations.
Mitigation/opportunity
Extreme temperatures
More hot days and warm spells are projected across the locations in which CLV operates. This includes an increase in days over 35 degrees Celsius and a longer duration of warm spells, leading to higher operating costs (energy consumption and maintenance costs).
Although there may be a decline in rainfall in some areas, the intensity of heavy rainfall is expected to increase.
Extreme weather events
Extreme wind
Severe windstorms can cause widespread damage to buildings and infrastructure. Windstorms have considerable human and economic impacts and it is expected that the frequency and severity of storms is due to increase over the next 30 years. Increasingly destructive hurricanes will put more US buildings at risk for wind damage.
The Australian bushfires over 2019/2020 demonstrate the devastating financial and social impact harsher fire conditions can bring. The key risks are loss of life, loss of ecosystems and biodiversity, loss of animal species and damage to property.
The projected range of sea-level rise by 2030 is around 0.07 to 0.19 metres above the 1986–2005 level. This could lead to increased costs and delays to construction; flooding and damage to property.
Mitigation strategies include efficiency initiatives that assist in reducing energy consumption, and therefore electricity bills, for residents.
High quality and efficient air-conditioning units are being installed to help with thermal comfort during the hotter months of the year in Australia. Solar is being installed to offset the rise in energy consumption.
Where CLV designs and develops projects, new assets will keep Indoor Environment Quality (IEQ) front of mind, including thermal comfort.
Where appropriate, our assets include Water-Sensitive Urban Design and stormwater management strategies. Any new developments will be built with flood resilience front of mind.
Where CLV develops it will do so with resilience built into the design of new assets. Climate risk, including hurricane, is included in the insurance renewal process each year. This helps to reduce recovery costs should we be impacted by a major climate event.
The primary risk bushfires present to our portfolio is the impact of smoke on Indoor Environment Quality and health.
Strategy (continued)
Our ESG framework (see page 11) forms an integral part of our broader corporate strategy. A pillar of this framework is our response to managing the impacts of climate change by minimising CLV’s greenhouse gas emissions footprint by focusing on operational energy efficiency, electrification, renewable electricity and carbon removal offsets for residual operational emissions. We are also committed to reducing the footprint of our broader value chain by defining and measuring our scope 3 emissions and developing a net zero emissions pathway by the end of FY25.
Risk Management
Our Enterprise Risk Management Framework, Risk Appetite Statement and Risk Management Policy guide our approach to risk management in relation to climate change.
Our Executive Committee assists the Board by monitoring aspects of the risk framework including policies, delegation of approvals required, risk management reporting, operational control assessment and due diligence.
Extreme weather events are integrated into our business wide risk register and monitored through standard risk management processes. There are business continuity plans at every asset to minimise operational disruption and protect the safety and wellbeing of our staff and residents.
Metrics and targets
Our climate targets are:
In the planning and design of new developments, we currently consider stormwater as specified by the relevant authorities or experts.
We are committed to management accountability through a direct linkage of climate-related metrics to executive remuneration. We monitor and disclose the following metrics in our annual Sustainability Report (this report):
We will continue to review climate targets and indicators as we develop our maturity in this area.
Bushfires
GRI Content Index
FY23 Sustainability Report
AUSTRALIA
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