Shape Thriving Communities

Our ability to shape thriving communities is a fundamental element of our success. To do this we focus on what our customers want and those elements that make a liveable community including wellbeing, community connection, and opportunities for lifelong learning and prosperity. We focus on these three social impact areas because our proprietary customer and industry research tells us these are the areas that matter when our customers are deciding where to live, work, play and shop.

We coordinate our efforts in the community through a combination of mechanisms including:

• Customer engagement – maintaining high levels of communication with our local community to ensure we are responsive to their needs
• Community development – local community infrastructure and initiatives that enhance the communities in and around Stockland assets
• Community investment – our employee volunteering and giving program, and
• Stockland CARE Foundation – our charitable trust, which delivers infrastructure, programs and initiatives to Australian communities.

Customer engagement

As highlighted in our business unit summaries, we retained a high level of customer satisfaction across the group. In addition to surveying our customers on their level of satisfaction with the service we provide we also seek feedback from beyond the point of sale.

As Australia’s largest residential developer, we understand both the excitement and the challenges that come with living in a new community. Through the insights gained from our Liveability Index, we remain committed to investing in what matters most to our residents as we develop our new communities.

In FY18, we completed our annual proprietary Liveability Index survey receiving close to 2,500 survey responses from residents across over 40 residential communities. This research tells us how satisfied our residents are once they have moved into our residential communities, what we are doing well, and learnings that we can take forward for future developments. Insights from this research are used to inform strategic planning of each community and our national community design guidelines.

In FY18, we scored 78 per cent on our new Liveability Index modelling which is calculated using regression modelling. We also introduced a new question this year which asks residents if the community has met or exceeded their expectations, and 88 per cent of residents responded positively on this metric. The proportion of residents agreeing they are likely to recommend Stockland has also increased, which is an important metric because referrals are a key source of new business. We have now reset Liveability Index targets to be achieved by FY22. 

Case study: Early amenity delivers liveability at Aura

Our concerted efforts to provide opens space and community facilities early in the development lifecycle at our $5 billion Aura residential community (Qld) are delivering strong liveability results. 

Read the case study

Our community contribution overview

The table below provides an overview of our community contributions. In FY18, we invested over $6.9 million through our community development, community investment programs and the Stockland CARE Foundation, as verified by Corporate Citizenship. A further breakdown of these contributions by category is provided in our Community Data Pack. 

In addition to the items outlined above, we also facilitate community contributions through our stakeholders and through the provision of space, bringing our total community contribution to $7,776,317. More detail on these community contributions is provided in our Community Deep Dive.

Valuing our contribution

Over the past year, we also sought to quantify the social contribution of our Retirement Living portfolio and completed a Social Return on Investment (SROI). The SROI aimed to put a financial value on the social contribution that is made by us for our Retirement Living residents, the local community and state-level government. The SROI is 1:1.66. This means that for every $1 that we invest in our Retirement Living portfolio, it creates $1.66 in social value. 

Case study: Measuring the social value of Retirement Living

From talking with our residents, we know there is intrinsic social value created through living in a Stockland retirement village for those residents, the local community and state-level government. We set out to quantify how much value was created. 

Read the case study

Our community development activities and partnerships

Many of our community development activities are delivered with the assistance of our community partners. The following are examples of how our focus areas are delivered at our assets. More detail on our partnerships can be found in our Community Data Pack. 

Community connection through inclusive play with Touched by Olivia

We built six new inclusive playspaces in collaboration with our Stockland CARE Foundation partner Touched by Olivia. These playspaces are designed so that children of all abilities can play together, including those with physical disabilities, vision, hearing and mobility impairments, or spectrum disorders such as autism. In FY18, we built two inclusive playspaces at Stockland Green Hills (NSW), two at Stockland Wendouree (Vic), one at Stockland Rockhampton (Qld), and one in our Sienna Wood (WA) residential community. 

Healthy eating with Jamie's Ministry of Food

Our partnership with Jamie’s Ministry of Food continued to expand across our residential communities, retirement living communities and retail town centres. We delivered five- and seven-week cooking programs that teach members of the community how to prepare simple, healthy, fresh and affordable meals at the fixed kitchen at Stockland Wetherill Park (which closed in January 2018), and through community outreach pilots at our Willowdale (NSW) and Elara (NSW) residential communities, and our Hillsview (SA) retirement living community. At Hillsview, we invited prospective residents to the final two weeks of the program, resulting in reservations for two homes.

We continued to work with the Jamie’s Ministry of Food Mobile Kitchens in Queensland and Western Australia by providing funding, marketing, and logistics support. We also delivered ‘Learn Your Fruit and Veg’ school holiday programs in five of our retirement villages, and specially designed cooking demonstrations for Men’s Health Week in two of our villages in Victoria. Over 2,215 customers, residents and local community members have participated in the programs held in FY18. 

Focusing on local employment at Stockland Green Hills, NSW

The Green Hills Connectivity Centre, a collaboration between us and the primary contractor on our Green Hills redevelopment, sought to leverage the economic potential of the redevelopment to address the high level of youth unemployment in the Maitland area. The aim of the Connectivity Centre was to connect local job seekers with employment opportunities in the redeveloped Stockland Green Hills (NSW), and to upskill individuals in preparation for the workplace.

Over the two years of its operation, the Connectivity Centre placed more than 180 local people in jobs, exceeding its initial target of 100. Importantly, the majority of placements were in sustainable employment. The Connectivity Centre also ran workshops such as the Customer Service Workshop, Driver Learner and Driver Awareness workshops, and Interview Technique workshops, all designed to enhance the employability of local residents.

The Connectivity Centre wound up operations as the $421 million redevelopment project drew to a close. We will continue to work with our builder partners at our development projects to establish a broader local economic benefit resulting from our work.  

Stockland CARE Foundation

In FY15, the Stockland CARE Foundation made its inaugural commitment to Redkite and Touched by Olivia which were chosen as the first charity partners to receive financial and in-kind support from the Foundation for a minimum three-year period.

The Foundation has extended these partnerships into FY19. Since the launch of these partnerships, we have focused on embedding the Stockland CARE Foundation purpose, partners and programs into our offices and assets.

Supported by our state employee volunteer committees, our employees ran numerous events, fundraisers and volunteering activities throughout FY18. Some of the highlights of the year included:

• Foundation Fortnight, which is a concentrated two week period of targeted events and activations to promote awareness and raise funds for our Stockland CARE Foundation and its partners. FY18 was the third year for Foundation Fortnight, which was held from 2 October 2017 to 15 October 2017 at our state offices and selected assets. During the fortnight, our corporate, employee, partner and  community contributions to the Foundation exceeded $245,000. We have integrated supplier and contractor engagement into our annual Foundation Fortnight for FY19 (we did not host a fundraiser targeting suppliers and contractors in FY18 as originally intended).
  
  
• participation of retirement living communities in Family Day (formerly known as Grandparents Day). Family Day provided an opportunity to raise awareness about the CARE Foundation and its charity partners in a fun environment involving activities including face painting, petting zoos, craft tables, treasure hunts and food and drink. In FY18, 1570 residents and family members participated compared to 830 in FY17.
  
  
• fundraising and volunteering efforts that resulted in:
  • support for 100 families who will have access to Redkite’s full suite of programs and services
  • six new inclusive playspaces.  

Case study: Shipwreck Park brings inclusive play to Sienna Wood

Shipwreck Park at Sienna Wood (WA) opened in December 2017 and added to our growing network of inclusive playspaces, which contribute to the wellbeing of children of all abilities.  

Read the case study

Find out more

Read more about our partnerships in our Community Data Pack.

Find out more