Page 9 - Ausbil 2024 Annual ESG Report

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Coalface research
Field trips for coalface research are a crucial part of how we engage on ESG. We have undertaken many field trips over the years. Field trips by members of our ESG Team have covered Hong Kong (2011, 2012), China (2011, 2012, 2016), Bangladesh (2014, 2022), Cambodia (2018, 2019), and Thailand (2019). While the pandemic put these field trips on hold between 2020 and 2021, we were able to look again at primary research field trips as a critical information source in understanding modern slavery in 2023, with a return to Bangladesh to mark 10 years since the Rana Plaza tragedy where 1,138 garment workers died due to a building collapse. In 2024, field trips were closer to home, with visits to the Pilbara, data centres at NextDC in Sydney, and at a recycling centre.
In 2024, Ausbil participated in an ESG field trip to the Pilbara to seek better understand the concerns of traditional owners in relation to mining projects. The trip, which included meetings with both mining companies and traditional owner groups, gave Ausbil significant insights that can be used in company-specific engagements going forward. As part of the trip, Ausbil met with many companies, including Pilbara Minerals, Northern Star Resource, Woodside Energy Group, Mineral Resources, Fortescue, Liontown Resources, and Sandfire Resource. They discussed several ESG topics, including safety, rehabilitation, water use, modern slavery, carbon capture storage (CCS), mine closure plans, and safety performance.
Field trips for coalface research are a crucial part of how we engage on ESG
Annual ESG Report l March 2025
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