Corporate Responsibility

Fairfax Media's commercial success and financial performance is vitally important to the company's ability to provide meaningful long-term benefits to the communities we serve throughout Australia and New Zealand.

In all aspects of our business, we maintain a strong focus on environment and corporate social responsibility (CSR). We believe it is important to play an active role in supporting local communities. We utilise our position as a community leader to support initiatives and causes which are aligned with our business objectives through measures including sponsorships, contra advertising, partnerships, fundraising campaigns as well as editorial exposure across our extensive network of media assets.

By driving conversations that matter and creating connections that count in the communities we serve, Fairfax uses its trusted voice to deliver powerful public good. Our journalism makes communities stronger - more civil, more open and transparent. We hold governments and the powerful up to public scrutiny and to account. At Fairfax, we strive to be accurate and fair-minded in our reporting. We have established internal processes which aim to ensure this happens. 

We embrace self-regulation of the media industry, which we actively support and fund. Our CSR strategy considers risks and the interests of our customers, employees, shareholders, communities and social and environmental aspects of our business processes and shareholder management, Fairfax can achieve the ultimate goal of creating both social and corporate value. Fairfax runs a combination of both centralised and decentralised CSR programs to ensure maximum benefits to our local communities, our customers and our employees. 

There are five strategic pillars in our CSR and sustainability strategy; Environment, Community, People and Culture, Editorial Integrity and Financial Viability & Sustainability. 

ENVIRONMENT

Fairfax performs a vital role in educating, informing and raising awareness in the community about important sustainability and environmental issues. At the same time, the Company's environmental strategies ensure positive action is taken to reduce energy consumption and manage our carbon footprint.

Fairfax's Environmental Policy sets out the Company's commitment to managing and improving environmental performance across all business activities, with key impacts being in the areas of waste generation, air and water emissions and recycled waste. 

Fairfax is a co-signatory to the National Environment Sustainability Agreement. The Company maintains a strong commitment to using sustainable technologies and newsprint from sustainable resources. 

COMMUNITY

Fairfax is committed to supporting and making a positive contribution to the hundreds of communities in which it operates. We do this in many different ways, each unique to our roles as a powerful community leader.

Fairfax newspapers and websites play an important role in encouraging fundraising. For example, Stuff.co.nz utilised a 'givealittle' page to encourage its readers to support the Red Cross Nepal Earthquake appeal in May 2015, raising NZ $54,717.

Fairfax also supports numerous charities through the provision of advertising support. In FY15, Fairfax and its divisions delivered multi-million dollar exposure for charities and community organisations.

Fairfax Media is proud to partner with key stakeholders to deliver world-class, mass participation events and experiences in Australia and New Zealand. In FY15, Fairfax attracted more than two million people through its expanding calendar of arts, business, food and wine, parenting and sports events. Extending our large-scale audiences into communities provides significant social and economic benefits. 

As well as connecting us to our readers, Fairfax Events enables the Company to build key partnerships with local charities. Our sporting events portfolio - including City2Surf (Sydney), City2Sea (Melbourne), City2South (Brisbane), the Swan River Run (Perth) and Round the Bays (Auckland) - works closely with Everyday Hero to promote participants raising money for charity.

In FY15, Fairfax Events raised around $7 million for charity and community initiatives across Australia and New Zealand.

  • The Sun-Herald City2Surf, the world's largest community run attracting more than 80,000 participants each year, raised more than $4.5 million for participating charities in August 2014.
  • The Sydney Morning Herald Half Marathon, Australia's largest 21km running event, in its 23rd year and attracting 12,000+ runners, who raised more than $875,000 for charity.
  • The Sydney Morning Herald Cole Classic of 3,600+ swimmers and SMH Sun Run of 5,000+ runners raised more than $140,000 in March 2015.
  • Fairfax food events, such as Night Noodle Markets, contributed more than $50,000 in cash donations to OzHarvest which provided more than 100,000 meals to vulnerable Australian. 

PEOPLE AND CULTURE

Fairfax works to actively build a diverse, innovative and highly engaged workforce. It is important in enhancing the quality and creativity that underpins our brands and businesses, and which makes Fairfax a good place to work.

Our business is underpinned by a robust culture, values and behaviours and open, transparent manager-led two-way communication. The Company has identified its people and culture as being critically important in delivering its business objectives, as well as attracting and retaining high quality staff. This includes promoting gender diversity, equality and inclusiveness in our workplace in all respects. 

Our culture and values are embedded and reinforced across all areas of the business, including in the performance management system and processes, learning and development programs, as well as recognition and reward programs to acknowledge success and achievements.

EDITORIAL INTEGRITY

Fairfax is proud of its 184-year history of providing quality independent journalism. Our journalists pursue the truth without fear or favour. All our journalists operate with a robust code of ethics. We maintain an uncompromising approach to media ethics and integrity, with our "Independent. Always." editorial position celebrating our point of difference and competitive advantage as a news media organisation, spanning print, digital, radio and social platforms.

Fairfax's multi-award winning journalism is recognised for its powerful role in influencing change and the social agenda, sparking public interest and debate and serving as a source of timely and reliable information for its audiences and communities. 

FINANCIAL VIABILITY & SUSTAINABILITY

Being financially sustainable is necessary to serve shareholders' interests and fulfil our corporate purpose, which is to grow shareholder value by engaging audiences, communities and businesses through compelling content and services, monetised across a range of business models.

Fairfax is successfully delivering its transformation plan as the traditional media landscape continues to evolve and digital trends continue, which presents short term risk and immense opportunity. The Company is taking necessary actions to address the challenges the media faces and to shape a new model and structure to sustain the important work we do.