Hi all,

Focus on mental health & wellbeing
As I touched on earlier in the year during R U OK? Day, the construction industry can be known to “shout safety but whisper health”, and as a result, has some of the highest rates of mental ill health, including double the rate of suicide compared to the national average.

To better equip our people to have conversations about mental health, in November we had 19 Star Group team members participate in a two-day course to become mental health first aid accredited. The course provides participants with practical first aid skills for assisting someone experiencing mental health problems or in a mental health crisis – whether a co-worker, family member or others.

I’ve set a target for all our senior people leaders to complete this training by the end of 2024. A list of mental health first aid accredited team members will be made available to all staff via the intranet, and if you’re interested in participating, please reach out to Alex Pereira.

Improving our technology
Over November, a number of our people participated in workshops to identify areas for improvement in our systems and processes across the Group. A big thank you to everyone who got involved in head office, our Northern branch office, and on site. From here, we have commenced a deeper dive into the initial findings with the aim of pulling together an improvement plan that can be approved for implementation in 2024.

New business
On the new business front, for November, congratulations to our ACT branch, for picking up infrastructure upgrade works for the Australian National University’s data centre. This project further builds on our track record in the data centre sector while we tender on multiple major data centre opportunities in the greater Sydney area with a target to convert our first in 2024.

End of year reflections and thanks 
As my last update for 2023, I’ll end this message with some reflections and thanks. There have been plenty of highlights this year but to name a few:

• Major project wins in Sydney and regionally such as UNSW Health Translation Hub, One Circular Quay, Nepean Hospital Stage 2, West Camden Water Treatment Plant, Jindabyne Education Campus, BAE Systems Williamtown, and Shellcove Hotel.
• Completed several projects such as Campbelltown Hospital, Nepean Hospital Stage 1, Meadowbank TAFE, Sydney Metro Line Wide, Tronox Alpha Campese Quarry, 35 Honeysuckle Drive, RNSH Kolling upgrade, and NBN Asquith.
• Finalised our new Sydney Construction and E&I enterprise agreement.
• Launched our purpose, goals, and values, peer recognition awards and inaugural employee engagement survey.
• Welcomed new team members in several key roles, bringing fresh perspectives and expertise.
• Had a record year of participation at the Balmoral Burn with 49 participants, bringing Star Group’s total donations to our principal charity partner the Humpty Dumpty Foundation to approx. $235k including 20 pieces of lifesaving children’s medical equipment across 19 hospitals and health services around Australia
• Over 70 people participated for the first time as a Group in STEPtember, which saw them walking, running, golfing, and surfing among many other activities to promote well-being and inclusion. In doing so, we raised over $15,000 for the Cerebral Palsy Alliance, a tremendous achievement.
• Launched our Diversity & Inclusion Committee to champion initiatives to promote female and indigenous participation at Star Group.
• Received recognition for our capabilities at the NECA excellence awards.

2023 also hasn’t been without its challenges. Firstly, I’d like to thank our team involved in delivering the Coombabah STP project. When we talk about Trust as one of our values, our Coombabah team have demonstrated in spades the saying, “we meet our commitments and won’t stop until the job is done”. I’d also like to acknowledge the patience of and thank our Sydney major projects teams across Construction and E&I. With several projects finishing and delayed new project starts, 2023 has seen several colleagues on labour hire arrangements for extended periods of time.

In concluding, thanks to all our people for your continued commitment, engagement, and pride in working for Star Group. I hope you have a terrific and restful holiday period with your family and friends.

Cheers,
John 

John Andrews
Group CEO