VIC Premier’s Sustainability Awards – celebrating 20 years of leadership

Entries are now open for the Victorian Premier’s Sustainability Awards 2022.

The search is on for Victorians who are leading the way to a sustainable future with entries now open for the Premier’s Sustainability Awards.

2022 marks the 20^th anniversary of the prestigious awards program – one that continues to grow and reflect the action happening across industry, business and community from regional to metropolitan Victoria.

If last year’s winners and finalists are anything to go by, Victorians can expect to see projects demonstrating the leaps and bounds being taken in sustainability.

Rail Projects Victoria (RPV), a finalist for the Industry Leader award in the Premier’s Sustainability Awards 2021 – Sustainable places category, is testament to the progress being seen across the state.

RPV took a sustainable approach to complete the Ballarat Line Upgrade (BLU), reducing greenhouse gas emissions during construction while creating resilient and liveable infrastructure. As the first to be completed as part of the $4 billion Regional Rail Revival (RRR) program, the BLU set the standards high.

Rail Projects Victoria was a finalist in the Premier’s Sustainability Awards 2021 for taking a sustainable approach to complete the Ballarat Line Upgrade.

Key sustainability targets embedded in the BLU contract included getting 20 per cent construction energy from renewable sources, achieving a 25 per cent reduction in construction and operational GHG emissions, and having a 2.5 per cent minimum Aboriginal employment across the project. These were all achieved or exceeded. Through partnership with Aboriginal artists, cultural heritage values were integrated into the design.

This year’s Premier’s Sustainability Awards, delivered collaboratively by Sustainability Victoria on behalf of the Victorian Government, along with the Banksia Foundation and Keep Australia Beautiful Victoria, feature six categories aligned to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) – a globally accepted, robust and comprehensive sustainability framework.

“We know there are tremendous strides being taken to conserve energy, care for the environment and operate more sustainably, and we encourage you to showcase your efforts through this awards program,” Sustainability Victoria’s Interim CEO Matt Genever said.

“By recognising the innovative work being done in sustainability we aim to inspire others so that together we can progress faster towards our goal of a circular economy with net zero emissions.

“It’s so positive and uplifting to see how this awards program has gone from strength-to-strength over the past 20 years. Entries have increased six-fold which demonstrates how sustainability is being embraced across the state,” Mr Genever added.

Entries for the Premier’s Sustainability Awards close on 1 May 2022 at 5pm.

Visit sustainabilityawards.vic.gov.au for further information.