Whitehaven coal
Communities
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Whitehaven is focused on building local prosperity and community capacity and helping our regional towns thrive, so the benefits of our presence go beyond our workforce.
We believe local communities should be the disproportionate beneficiaries of our presence.
We are committed to quality, meaningful engagement with our community stakeholders and to building strong relationships through open engagement about our operations and projects.
Our dedicated community engagement team is responsible for engaging with our community stakeholders. The team can be contacted here.
We make a positive contribution to our local communities through job creation, by hiring local people wherever possible, partnering with local suppliers, and direct investment in local community organisations. In FY24, we invested $669 million in our North West NSW regional communities via procurement, salaries and wages, and corporate community partnerships and donations.
Community highlights
$462m
spent with regional suppliers in North West NSW1,2
FY23: $356m
FY23: $356m
$206m
paid in salaries and wages in North West NSW1,2
FY23: $172m
FY23: $172m
$1.25m
contributed in corporate community partnerships and donations1
FY23: $4.35m
FY23: $4.35m
$1.5b
paid in taxes and royalties
FY23: $1.4b
FY23: $1.4b
1. Data on 100% joint venture basis.
2. Includes local government areas: Gunnedah, Narrabri, Tamworth and Liverpool Plains.
For more information about how we work with and support our local communities, refer to our Sustainability Report 2024.
Supporting local business
We’re a proud participant in our local business communities.
To find out more about the local business chambers we are members of, click the links below.
Stakeholder Engagement and
Community Investment Strategy
We are committed to respectful and meaningful engagement with all stakeholders and to operating with openness and transparency.
We firmly believe the local community should be the main beneficiary of our presence and are focused on building local prosperity, improving quality of life, and ensuring our regional towns thrive – and our Stakeholder Engagement and Community Investment Strategy 2024-26 is our roadmap to achieving this.
Modelled on the International Association for Public Participation framework, the Strategy brings a new level of commitment to best practice community engagement and incorporates ideas and feedback raised by our stakeholders. Specifically, the Strategy: makes clear our commitment to the local community and region; explains our operations in context; incorporates feedback received over time; and communicates how we are addressing feedback by sharing some of our plans for future community activities and investment.
We’ll review our progress annually and make changes as required, while continuing to check-in regularly with the community. Send us your feedback at community@whitehavencoal.com.au
Our community and
social compact
75%
of workforce based
in regional areas
$412k
in donations and
sponsorships in FY20
$365m
spent with local suppliers
in FY20
