Each year we conduct a materiality assessment to ensure we are responding to the issues, risks and opportunities that have the greatest impact on our business, stakeholders and society.
We undertake our assessment in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Reporting Standards (GRI Standards). We identify topics by reviewing a broad range of primary and secondary sources, including direct stakeholder engagement and feedback. This year our direct engagement included reaching out to 80 of our key community stakeholders, as well as over 40 ESG and institutional investment analysts to get their view of our most material sustainability topics.
Each year we consider materiality in the context of emerging global trends, the UN Sustainable Development Goals and our overall corporate context. We prioritise topics according to their impact on our stakeholders, the communities in which we operate, and our ability to influence or address related impacts. They inform our sustainability agenda and programs, as well as our reporting.
Overall, the results of this year’s materiality assessment were largely consistent with previous years, particularly with regard to our most material issues. The continuing, multi-year upward trend in the materiality of our key responsible business topics (including executive remuneration, product and service responsibility, climate change, the future of work, emerging-tech ethics and maintaining trust) was the most significant finding of this year’s review.
All high and medium priority topics identified are included in our reporting and are listed in the matrix below. Detailed information on these topics, as well as how we are managing them, can be found throughout this Bigger Picture 2019 Sustainability Report. Where applicable, more information may also be found within our 2019 Annual Report.
For definitions of our material topics, please see our Report Glossary, available in the data and downloads section of our reporting website.
For more information on how we have measured Telstra’s impact in relation to each of these topics, please see our report, available on this website.
