The Department of Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business reports on the environmental impacts of its activities under section 516A of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.

As in previous years, the department continues to focus on optimising the occupancy rates and energy efficiency of its property portfolio. National headquarters buildings at 10, 12 and 14 Mort Street and 140–180 City Walk, Canberra, have achieved an overall occupancy rate.

Tenancies in states and territories continue to be reviewed and rationalised as leases expire. Any vacant space is made available to other Commonwealth agencies wherever possible.

The department has relocated its Hobart office to a smaller tenancy and has reviewed its ongoing business needs and researched efficient options to replace other leases that will expire in the next two years.

Environmental performance

The department’s environmental performance, with comparison to the previous year, is summarised in Tables 25 to 28.

Office and building energy use Improvements to the lighting at 14 Mort Street Canberra and rationalisation of the department’s property portfolio have continued to achieve energy savings, particularly in terms of energy use per person (full-time equivalent) which decreased by 11.30 per cent. Additionally, energy intensity per square metre improved by 16.45 per cent.

Greenhouse gas emissions from tenant light and power increased by 7.47 per cent, as a result of an administrative error by the department’s main energy provider leading to the previous purchase of 10 per cent Greenpower being discontinued in 2018–19. The provider has been advised and 10 per cent Greenpower will resume in 2019–20.

Table 25. Summary of office and building energy use, 2018–19

Information and communications technology energy use

The ratio of printers to computers has improved in 2018–19, by 41.66 per cent, as the requirement to print documents continues to reduce. The ratio of desktop devices (desktop computers and dockable laptops) to staff numbers has increased by 28.77 per cent as the department transitions to a rollout of dockable laptops for all applicable staff.

Table 26. Summary of ICT sustainability, 2018–19

Vehicle fleet and air travel

The size of the department’s vehicle fleet has decreased by 15.91 per cent since 2017–18, from 44 to 37. The department continued to provide a range of ICT services to the Department of Education and Training during 2018–19, and the vehicle fleet was involved in many of these services.

The operational efficiency and environmental impact of the vehicle fleet have improved: average fuel efficiency has improved by 14.28 per cent and final greenhouse gas emissions have reduced by 10.39 per cent.

Total flight distance travelled was 22.72 per cent higher in 2018–19. Greenhouse gas emissions were a proportional 25.78 per cent higher in 2018–19.

Table 27. Summary of vehicle fleet and air travel, 2018–19

Resource efficiency and waste

Total paper usage has again been reduced this year, from 6.54 reams per full-time equivalent in 2017–18 to 6.42 in 2018–19.

In 2018–19, 83.77 per cent of paper purchased was either 100 per cent post-consumer recycled stock or carbon neutral. A further 1.71 per cent had significant recycled content, leaving only 14.52 per cent coming from virgin stock without environmental standards.

In 2018–19, 11.68 tonnes of organic material was diverted from landfill to vermiculture — reducing emissions and producing beneficial worm castings and compost. This was lower than the total of 13.99 tonnes in 2017–18, and 30.41 per cent lower on a per person basis (kilograms per FTE).

Table 28. Summary of resource efficiency and waste, 2018–19

Looking ahead

The upgrade of the lighting and lighting control systems at 14 Mort Street completed in 2017–18 has reliably yielded the predicted results: reducing energy usage and emissions by 60 per cent per person. As a result of this success, a similar lighting upgrade is underway at the department’s largest Canberra tenancy, 140–180 City Walk, and comparable results are expected when the project is completed in late 2019.

The department is also undertaking an experimental replacement of fluorescent light tubes with LED tubes in its Newcastle and Orange tenancies, to test the effectiveness of this simple and inexpensive alternative.