Interim
Sustainability Report
2022 - 2023

Contents
 jcu.edu.au
1 | Interim Sustainability Report
Acknowledgement of Country	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
5
Message from the Vice Chancellor 	 	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
6
James Cook University Sustainability Statement 	
	
	
	
	
	
	
7
Introduction to the JCU Sustainability Report	
	
	
	
	
	
	
9
JCU achievements towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals	
	
	
	
10
2022 Success highlights	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
11	
2.0 Social Sustainability	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
12
2.1 SDG1 - No Poverty	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
12
2.1.1 JCU Institutional equity targets for students	
	
	
	
	
	
	
12
2.1.2 JCU monitoring course completions for students from low-socio-economic backgrounds 	
	
	
16 
2.1.3 JCU financial aid for students	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
17
2.1.4 Providing access to free or low-cost services for the community	 	
	
	
	
	
17
2.1.5 JCU Ideas Lab – local startup support	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
18
2.1.6 Research into poverty - JCU Research Ethical Development (RED) Symposium	
	
	
	
19
2.1.7 JCU participating in government policy	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
19
2.2 SDG2 Zero hunger	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
20
2.2.1 JCU food security services for students	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
20
2.2.2 Recycling organic waste on campus	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
21
2.2.3 JCU services for farmers and food producers	
	
	
	
	
	
	
21
2.3 SDG3 Good Health and Wellbeing	 	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
24
2.3.1 JCU Good Health and Wellbeing - Research	 	
	
	
	
	
	
	
24
2.3.2 Collaborations with Health Institutions	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
25
2.3.3 JCU Commitment to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health		
	
	
	
	
27
2.3.4 Health education at JCU	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
28
2.3.5 JCU Health Outreach Programs – for JCU students, staff and the local community	
	
	
	
29
2.3.6 Covid-19 in the Tropics	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
30
2.4 Diversity, Equity, Equal Opportunity and Inclusion at JCU	
	
	
	
	
	
32
2.5 SDG5 Gender Equality	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
32
2.5.1 Gender Equality at JCU	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
32
2.5.2 JCU gender balances in student enrolment and retention	
	
	
	
	
	
33
2.5.3 Respect Now Always - Statement of Commitment to the Elimination of Sexual Harassment and Sexual Assault	
33
2.5.4 Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) reporting		
	
	
	
	
	
34
2.5.5 Women in Earth and Environmental Sciences in Australasia (WOMEESA)	
	
	
	
	
34
2.5.6 Science in Australia Gender Equity (SAGE) and Athena SWAN framework – JCU Bronze Accreditation	
	
35
2.5.7 MOMA Changemaker Award – making opportunities for mothers in academia in 2023	
	
	
35
2.5.8 James Cook University support for parents		
	
	
	
	
	
	
36
2.6 SDG10 Reduced Inequalities	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
37
2.6.1 Reducing inequality in education at JCU	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
38

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2 | Interim Sustainability Report
2.6.2 Bullying, Discrimination, Harassment, and Sexual Misconduct Policy	
	
	
	
	
39
2.6.3 First-in family students	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
39
2.6.4 Supporting JCU LGBTQIA+ students and staff	
	
	
	
	
	
	
40
2.6.5 JCU Celebrates Indigenous Australians and Reconciliation	
	
	
	
	
	
41
2.6.7 JCU Indigenous Workforce Strategy	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
43
2.6.8 JCU Accessability - support for students and staff living with a disability	
	
	
	
	
44
3.0 Environmental Sustainability	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
44
3.1 SDG6 Clean water and Sanitation	 	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
44
3.1.1 Clean fresh water on JCU campus	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
44
3.1.2 Local freshwater creek surveys	 	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
45
3.1.3 Water-conscious irrigation and gardens	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
45
3.1.4 Water-conscious building design - bioswaes	
	
	
	
	
	
	
46
3.1.5 Water consumption and water usage tracking	
	
	
	
	
	
	
46
3.1.6 JCU water security partnership for Northern Australia		
	
	
	
	
	
47
3.1.7 Water quality monitoring and education on water conservation in the community	
	
	
	
48
3.2 TropEco	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
50
3.3 SDG7 Affordable and Clean Energy	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
52
3.3.1 Monitoring greenhouse gas emissions	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
52
3.3.2 Energy efficient actions towards reduced greenhouse gas emissions	
	
	
	
	
52
3.3.3 Trends in JCU resource use 2019 to 2022	 	
	
	
	
	
	
	
54
3.3.4 Research into affordable and clean energy		
	
	
	
	
	
	
55
3.3.5 A roadmap to carbon neutral	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
57
3.4 SDG11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities	
	
	
	
	
	
	
58
3.4.1 JCU campuses open access to the local community	
	
	
	
	
	
	
58
3.4.2 2022 Eddie Koiki Mabo Library Art Exhibition	
	
	
	
	
	
	
59
3.4.3 Serving Country Exhibition February to May 2023	
	
	
	
	
	
	
60
3.4.4 Falling From The Sky		
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
60
3.4.5 Sustainable transport at JCU	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
61
3.4.6 Working remotely – communication technology platforms	
	
	
	
	
	
61
3.4.7 Sustainable development	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
62
3.4.8 JCU Tropical Urbanism and Design Lab (TUDLab)	
	
	
	
	
	
	
63
3.4.9 Affordable housing for JCU Students	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
63
3.5 SDG13 Climate Action	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
64
3.5.1 Climate change awareness at JCU	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
64
3.5.2 Climate change research at JCU		
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
65
3.5.3 Cooperative planning and research for climate change disasters		
	
	
	
	
66
3.5.4 Climate change in the Tropics	 	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
67
3.5.5 Public education on climate change – seminars and events	
	
	
	
	
	
68
3.5.6 Coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef	 	
	
	
	
	
	
	
69
3.5.7 Sustainability and climate action at JCU Singapore	
	
	
	
	
	
	
71
3.6 SDG14 Life Below Water	 	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
72

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3 | Interim Sustainability Report
3.6.1 Life Below Water	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
72
3.6.2 JCU marine biology and marine science partnerships and community action	
	
	
	
74
3.6.3 JCU Sustainable Fisheries, Aquaculture and Marine Conservation	
	
	
	
	
76
3.6.4 Research into overfishing on the Great Barrier Reef	 	
	
	
	
	
	
77
3.7 SDG 15 Life on land	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
79
3.7.1 JCU protecting biodiversity	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
79
3.7.2 Rare and threatened species program - Green Gown Awards	
	
	
	
	
	
80
3.7.3 Habitat for wildlife on JCU campus	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
81
3.7.4 JCU environmental activities in the community	
	
	
	
	
	
	
81
3.7.5 Invasive species management	 	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
82
3.7.6 Public seminars for conservation and biodiversity	
	
	
	
	
	
	
82
3.7.7 JCU Tropical North Queensland Drought Hub - Sandpit to Seed funding	
	
	
	
	
84
3.7.8 Sustainable development land use in tropical Australia – research and partnerships	
	
	
	
85
4.0 Economic Sustainability	 	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
86
4.1 SDG8 Decent work and Economic Growth	 	
	
	
	
	
	
	
86
4.1.1 JCU is ranked #1 in Qld for graduate salaries	
	
	
	
	
	
	
86
4.1.2 JCU Sustainable investments	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
87
4.1.3 JCU Centre for International Trade and Business in Asia (CITBA)	 	
	
	
	
	
88
4.1.4 Student placements, Work Integrated Learning (WIL), projects and fieldwork	
	
	
	
88
4.1.5 JCU Tax Clinic in Cairns and Townsville	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
89
4.1.6 JCU workforce impact in regional and remote Queensland	
	
	
	
	
	
89
4.1.7 JCU Enterprise bargaining 2022		
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
90
4.2 SDG12 Responsible Consumption and Production	
	
	
	
	
	
	
91
4.2.1 Social and sustainable procurement at JCU		
	
	
	
	
	
	
 91
4.2.2 JCU Modern Slavery Statement 2022	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
93
4.2.3 JCU and the War on Waste	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
93
4.2.4 Tracking paper usage across campus	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
93
4.2.5 WARP IT – reusing furniture and equipment online platform	
	
	
	
	
	
94
4.2.6 Public seminars on sustainable procurement	
	
	
	
	
	
	
95
4.2.7 JCU Sustainablility research cluster 	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
96
4.2.8 Research into waste treatment solutions	 	
	
	
	
	
	
	
96
5.0 Sustainability in Teaching and Research		
	
	
	
	
	
	
97
5.1 SDG4 Quality Education	 	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
97
5.1.1 Quality education at JCU	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
97
5.1.2 Education partnerships with local schools	 	
	
	
	
	
	
	
98
5.1.3 Pathways to learning at JCU	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
98
5.1.4 JCU Indigenous Education and Research Centre Summer and Winter School	
	
	
	
99
5.1.5 Vocational training and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) at JCU		
	
	
	
99
5.1.6 JCU conferences for Quality Education	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
100
5.1.7 Lifelong learning at JCU	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
101
5.1.8 JCU Eddie Koiki Mabo Library - public access to lifelong learning resources	 	
	
	
	
101

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4 | Interim Sustainability Report
5.2 SDG9 Industry Innovation and Infrastructure	
	
	
	
	
	
                102
5.2.1 JCU is ranked world class for research	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
102
5.2.2 JCU Innovation Strategy 2020 - 2022	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
103
5.2.3 JCU Students studying innovation and entrepreneurship	
	
	
	
	
	
104
5.2.4 JCU promoting innovation in the community - Big Ideas Youth Challenge	
	
	
	
	
105
5.2.5 Resouces technology and critical minerals trailblazer program	
	
	
	
	
	
105
6.0 Sustainability Governance	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
              106
6.1 SDG16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions	
	
	
	
	
	
                106
6.1.1 JCU commits to a new Corporate Strategy	 	
	
	
	
	
	
	
107
6.1.2 JCU Policy for Sustainable Governance	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
107
6.1.3 JCU Annual Report 2022	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
108
6.1.4 JCU contributing to Government Policy and Legislation	
	
	
	
	
	
108
6.1.5 Voice to Parliament Referendum – Uluru Statement of the Heart		
	
	
	
	
109
6.1.6 University Council elections	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
109
6.1.7 JCU College of Business, Law and Governance – outreach activities	
	
	
	
	
109
6.1.8 Research in business and governance	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
110
6.1.9 Partnerships with bodies for stakeholder engagement	
	
	
	
	
	
110
6.1.10 CBLG Advanced Signatory for the Principles of Responsible Management in Education	
	
	
110
6.2 Sustainable Education at JCU	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
                111
6.3 SDG17 - Partnerships for the Goals	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
113
6.3.1 JCU Regional and International Partnerships	
	
	
	
	
	
	
114
6.3.2 Dialogue on the UN Sustainable Development Goals	 	
	
	
	
	
	
116
7.1 Future Plans	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
              118
Acknowledgements	 	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
              119
References	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
              120
Figures	
Figure 1.1: Sustainable development spheres from Elkington, 2004	
	
	
	
	
	
     9
Figure 2.1: Socio-economic status of JCU students enrolled at JCU from 2018 to 2023	
	
	
	
   13
Figure 2.2: Socio-economic status of students completing their courses at JCU from 2018 to 2023	
	
	
   16
Figure 3.2: Energy, water use, and waste and recycling produced per person at JCU from 2019 to 2022		
	
   54
Figure 4.2: JCU supplier analysis from givvable ESG report showing sustainability credentials of top 100 suppliers.		
   92
Figure 4.3: JCU supplier analysis from givvable ESG report showing alignment with the UN SDGs of the top 100 suppliers	
   92
Figure 4.4: Number of sheets of paper used by major user groups across JCU campuses, Oct 2022 to Sep 2023.	 	
   93
Figure 4.5: JCU impact report from the WARP IT portal showing items reused and savings to JCU.	
	
	
  94
Figure 6.1: JCU subjects mapped to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, compared with number of JCU students  
enrolled in subjects mapped to the UN SDGs.	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
112
Tables	
Table 1: HEPPP - Higher Education Participation and Partnerships Program - JCU Performance Measurement Dashboard 
 2022 Targets	 	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
14
Table 2: A snapshot of the JCU Community Health Outreach Programs delivered in 2022	
	
	
	
29
Table 3: JCU students volunteering activities at the JCU Tax clinic 2022-2023	
	
	
	
	
89

5 | Interim Sustainability Report
jcu.edu.au
Acknowledgement of Country
JCU acknowledges, honours and respects the Elders, Traditional Owners and Historical People1 in the 
communities where our campuses and study centres are located, who share their cultural insights, 
wisdom and knowledge with the University on a daily basis.
We pay our respect to the Elders, past, present and emerging of the Bindal People on whose lands 
our Bebegu Yumba campus lies, and the Wulgurukaba Peoples of the Townsville region. We also 
acknowledge the Yirrganydji Peoples where our Nguma-bada campus in Cairns is based and the 
other First Peoples of the region the Djabugay, Gunggandji and Yidinji Peoples. We also respectfully 
acknowledge the Yuibera Peoples of the Mackay region, the Muralag, Kala Lagaw Ya, Kalaw Kawaw Ya 
and Meriam Mir Peoples of the Torres Strait and the Kalkadoon Peoples of the lands around Mount Isa.
The University acknowledges the Indigenous Peoples of Australia as the longest continuous surviving 
cultures on the planet and is grateful for the contributions that Indigenous staff and communities have 
made to the diverse and inclusive environment of the University.
1Historical people is a term used by Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who live on land where they are not Traditional Owners. 
Through no fault of their own under Government legislation, Historical People were sent away from their communities. Some Historical People 
have played a major role in the areas where they live. It is important that these people who have contributed to self- determination also be given the 
courtesy and respect they deserve. It is usually the Traditional Owners who have been involved in their communities at the grass roots level, who 
would know which Historical People should be engaged.

6 | Interim Sustainability Report
jcu.edu.au
Message from the 
Vice Chancellor
It gives me great pleasure to present James Cook University’s 
(JCU) 2022-2023 Interim Sustainability Report, and to affirm our 
ongoing commitment to equitable and sustainable development. 
Sustainability is the cornerstone of society’s wealth, propelling 
collaborative efforts across governance, leadership, diversity, 
education, research, partnerships, and communication.
Since our original commitment to the UN Sustainable 
Development Goals in 2016, we’ve progressively aligned our 
mission with these global objectives. For JCU, 2023 has been 
marked by a renewed focus on our sustainability goals. We are 
especially proud of the many achievements of our staff and 
students in education, research, community outreach, and 
regional stewardship.
Looking ahead to 2024, our focus is on achieving a carbon-neutral 
future, concentrating on carbon management, sustainable 
transport, and energy efficiency. We’re dedicated to engaging the 
JCU community in our sustainability journey and look forward to 
sharing our progress.
Together, let’s continue shaping a positive future for people in the 
Tropics and beyond.
Simon Biggs
Vice Chancellor and President
James Cook University

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7 | Interim Sustainability Report
Introduction to the 
JCU Sustainability 
Report
 James Cook University Sustainability Statement
JCU is committed to working towards equitable and 
sustainable development in Northern Queensland, 
Northern Australia, the Tropics and worldwide. JCU 
believes sustainability is fundamental to a thriving 
society. This requires working collaboratively to build 
social, environmental, and economic systems and 
processes that seek to enhance the current and future 
quality of life of all living entities.
For this reason, JCU engages decision-makers, industry, 
and communities in the task of pursuing more 
sustainable ways of living.
This Statement applies to all members of the JCU 
community. JCU commits to working towards the 
achievement of sustainable development as follows:
•	 Foster a university wide culture of sustainability by 
embedding sustainability principles into governance 
policies, strategies, and procedures.
•	 Demonstrate leadership in sustainable practices 
and behaviour.
•	 Promote equity, diversity, inclusivity, and social 
justice within University operations.
•	 Ignite and support a passion for learning 
about sustainability through the embedding of 
sustainability into curriculum and learning and 
teaching practices.
•	 Build and apply research excellence to meet 
economic, environmental, social, and cultural 
challenges of sustainability.
•	 Engage and support students and staff in 
sustainability practices and strive for continual 
improvement.
•	 Pursue opportunities to improve organisational 
sustainability and embed sustainability principles 
into University procurement and investment.
•	 Develop strategic industry, community, government, 
and non-government partnerships to innovatively 
address sustainability challenges.
•	 Communicate the University’s sustainability values, 
activities and performance.
•	 Monitor, evaluate and report annually on the 
University’s sustainability activities and performance.

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8 | Interim Sustainability Report
In 2016, JCU became the first university signatory to the University Commitment to the Sustainable 
Development Goals. Through this commitment, JCU has agreed to:
•	 Support and promote the principles of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
•	 Undertake research that provides solutions to sustainable development challenges.
•	 Provide the educational opportunity for our students to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to 
promote sustainable development.
•	 Contribute to the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals by ensuring our campuses 
and major programs are environmentally sustainable and socially inclusive, and report on our activities in 
support of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

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9 | Interim Sustainability Report
Introduction to the JCU Sustainability Report
Sustainability can be defined as fulfilling the needs 
of current generations without compromising the 
needs of future generations, while ensuring a balance 
between economic growth, environmental care and 
social wellbeing. Sustainable development can be 
interpreted as incorporating three pillars: environment, 
social and economic sustainability. Sustainable 
development occurs at the intersection of these three 
pillars, as represented it this Venn diagram from 
Elkington, 2004. James Cook University’s efforts towards 
sustainable development at the intersection of these 
three spheres is actively making a liveable, viable, fair, 
and sustainable difference to life in the Tropics.
In the environment pillar, JCU aims to protect the 
biodiversity and environmental health of its campuses 
and the broader Tropics, reduce the use of water, 
energy and resources in its operations and reduce 
its output of waste and pollution. JCU’s social pillar 
goals are to create a campus environment free of 
discrimination of all kinds, a fair and equitable university 
and improve the lives of people in the Tropics through 
its outreach and research activities. JCU’s aims under 
the economic pillar are to create an economically 
viable university that supports the local community, 
creates fair and rewarding employment for its staff, and 
supports sustainable investment respecting human 
rights and avoiding carbon intensive industries.
In this first sustainability report for James Cook 
University, we aim to capture the achievements 
that JCU has made towards the 17 UN Sustainable 
Development Goals across our campuses in Australia 
and Singapore. We recognise the challenges and 
difficulties we face in reaching our sustainability goals 
in our current fiscally restrained situation, and regional 
and remote campus locations. JCU’s campus locations 
give the University its strong and unique sense of 
place, and a unique student population with rural and 
remote students. This location adjacent to two World 
Heritage Areas, incredibly beautiful landscapes, ancient 
and vibrant Indigenous cultures and amazing endemic 
biodiversity, gives the University a source of identity and 
strength, it provides our research foci, and inspires staff 
and students to do better to understand and protect 
the environment we live and work in.
2023 has been a year of re-focusing our sustainability 
priorities, to assess where we are now against our goals, 
and to decide where we want to be as a university in the 
future. We are proud of the sustainability achievements 
of our staff and students, in their research, community 
outreach and stewardship for our region, and we are 
excited for the plans and projects that are underway for 
future research and actions for the goals.
The next step in our sustainability journey as a 
university is to plan our roadmap to a carbon neutral 
future, and we are already well on the way to working 
out the steps we need to take to get to our goal. In 
2024 we will focus our efforts on carbon management, 
sustainable transport and energy efficiency in our 
utilities and all other services to reduce our greenhouse 
gas emissions as much as possible.
Communicating our goals to students and staff and 
increasing engagement in JCU’s sustainability journey is 
the main priority of the sustainability team and we look 
forward to reporting on the results of our efforts in 2024.
Figure 1.1: Sustainable development spheres from Elkington, 2004

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10 | Interim Sustainability Report
JCU achievements towards the UN Sustainable 
Development Goals
•	 #1 in Australia for Sustainable Education
•	 #5 in Australia for Environmental Impact
•	 #16 in Australia for Sustainable Institutions
•	 #17 in Australia for Sustainable Research
SDG 1
SDG 2
SDG 3
SDG 4
SDG 5
SDG 6
SDG 7
SDG 8
SDG 9
SDG 10
SDG 11
SDG 12
SDG 13
SDG 14
SDG 15
SDG 16
SDG 17
0
20
40
60
80
100
QS Sustainability Rankings 2023
Times Higher Education Impact Ranking 2023 - JCU results shown as dots

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11 | Interim Sustainability Report
2022 SUCCESS HIGHLIGHTS
JCU scholarships for students from 
low SES backgrounds helped 529 
students.
Student Rainbow Lounges opened 
on Townsville and Cairns campuses 
to support the JCU LGBTQIA+ 
community.
2022 JCU TropWATER-led project 
partnership won the Agriculture 
and Regional Development Award 
at the 2023 34th Banksia National 
Sustainability Awards.
Three highly energy-efficient buildings 
designed to meet LEED Gold standards 
now open on JCU campuses.
Over 100,000 patients from the local 
community seen at JCU health and 
allied health clinics in Townsville 
and Cairns, most from low SES 
backgrounds.
124 tonnes of waste recycled from 
JCU Townsville and Cairns campuses.
872 first in family students started a 
degree at JCU.
2000 trees planted on the Townsville 
campus in 2022.
76% of JCU graduates, and 49.6% of 
senior staff were female.
CU TropWATER long term seagrass 
research and trials resulted in 
commencement of seagrass 
restoration project in 2023.
CU water security northern Australia 
research partnership with NAUA 
completed co-design phase.
JCU joint winner for the Green Gown 
Awards Australasia – Sustainability 
Champion - Staff.
74,681kWh of solar energy generated 
at JCU.
New JCU Corporate Strategy 
launched.
JCU regional partnerships for making 
rural health matter in Australia.
JCU ranked #1 in Queensland for 
graduate salaries.
$20 million in research income from 
industry and commerce in 2022.

END POVERTY IN ALL ITS 
FORMS EVERYWHERE
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12 | Interim Sustainability Report
Social
Sustainability
2.0 Social sustainability can be defined as a concept of identifying and managing both positive and negative impacts 
of systems, processes, and organizations on the quality of life, equality, diversity and wellbeing of individuals and 
communities. JCU demonstrates adoption of the social sustainability values through education and research, health 
outreach and caring for students, staff and local communities and by making a difference to life in the Tropics.
2.1 Progress towards UN Sustainable Development 
Goal 1 - No Poverty
	
2.1.1 JCU Institutional equity targets for students
	
2.1.2 Monitoring course completions for students from 
low socio-economic backgrounds
	
2.1.3 JCU Financial aid for students
	
2.1.4 Providing free, or low-cost basic services – JCU Health 
Services
	
2.1.5 JCU Ideas Lab - local start-up support
	
2.1.6 Research into global poverty
	
2.1.7 JCU participating in government policy
 In this section
2.1.1 JCU Institutional equity targets for students
In Australia, the School Disadvantage Index is a 
calculated value for a school based on the average 
Index of Relative Socio-economic Disadvantage (IRSD) 
of the address of students that attend that school. The 
IRSD is a general socio-economic index published by 
the Australian Bureau of Statistics that summarizes 
a range of information about the economic and 
social conditions of people and households within an 
area. This index includes only measures of relative 
disadvantage. A low score indicates relatively greater 
disadvantage in general. A high score indicates a 
relative lack of disadvantage in general. Every year, 
JCU sets ambitious targets to enrol students from 
Queensland schools with low IRSD scores. Annual UniX 
Roadshows provide information to students in these 
locations about pathways, scholarships, and future 
career options.

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13 | Interim Sustainability Report
JCU also reports on its progress towards 
these targets through the Higher Education 
Participation and Partnerships Program (HEPPP)
•	 In 2022 JCU exceeded its target of 3,000 
enrolments of students from low SES 
backgrounds by 46 enrolments.
•	 702 Indigenous students were enrolled, 
missing the ambitious target of 800 students 
by 98 enrolments.
•	 9,930 students from rural and remote areas 
were enrolled, missing the target of 10,000 
students by only 61 enrolments. This followed 
a pattern of decreasing enrolments at James 
Cook University for this time. 
•	 In 2022, 23% of students enrolled at JCU 
were from a low SES background, which is an 
increase on previous years enrolments.
•	 In 2023, 23.9% of students enrolled at JCU are 
from a low SES background.
Figure 2.1: Socio-economic status of JCU students enrolled at JCU from 2018 to 2023
Domestic Enrolments by Socio-economic Status and Year

jcu.edu.au
14 | Interim Sustainability Report
PRE-ACCESS
Pre-Access: The activity primarily consists of outreach activities designed to build or enable aspirations for higher education (e.g. to schools, students or communities).
PERFORMANCE MEASURES
DEFINITIONS
Target 
2022
Final Result 
2022
Commentary on 2022 Full 
Year Result
% ratio of school visits to JCU 
HEPPP identified schools with an 
Australian Aboriginal and Torres 
Strait Islander school student body 
population greater than or equal to 
the Queensland (State) Indigenous 
population %.
As per the latest 2021 ABS Census data, 4.6% of all Queenslanders identified as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander.  This 
4.6% is used as the threshold for the school student population, and cross referenced against the latest My Schools data to 
evaluate each school visited.  Calculation: Total school visits to JCU HEPPP identified schools with an Indigenous student body 
of greater than or equal to 4.6% / (divided by) the Total JCU HEPPP identified school visits.  Represented as a percentage ratio 
to one (1) decimal point.  Source = Outreach, Careers and Wellbeing team (Kate Sheppard and Orr Thomason) for the list 
and number of school visits; and, My Schools dashboard data for the Indigenous student body population.
80.0%
100.0%
The target was met and exceeded 
by 20%.
% ratio of School visits to JCU HEPPP 
identified schools assessed as Low 
SES based on the school’s Index 
of Community Socio-Educational 
Advantage (ICSEA) percentile
A school with an ICSEA (Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage) percentile of less than or equal to 33 is assessed 
as ‘Low SES’.  This means the school is “more educationally disadvantaged” than 67% of schools in Australia.  The schools 
visited are cross-referenced and evaluated against the latest My Schools data.  Calculation: Total school visits to JCU HEPPP 
identified schools with an ICSEA percentile of less than or equal to 33 / (divided by) the Total JCU HEPPP identified school 
visits.  Represented as a percentage ratio to one (1) decimal point.  Source = Outreach, Careers and Wellbeing team (Kate 
Sheppard and Orr Thomason) for the list and number of school visits; and, My Schools dashboard data for the ICSEA 
percentile value.
50.0%
69.2%
The target was met and exceeded 
by 19.2%.
% ratio of School visits to JCU HEPPP 
identified schools in a Regional and 
Remote location
Calculation: Total JCU HEPPP identified school visits in a Regional or Remote location / (divided by) the Total JCU HEPPP 
identified school visits.  Represented as a percentage ratio to one (1) decimal point.  Source = Outreach, Careers and 
Wellbeing team (Kate Sheppard and Orr Thomason) for the list of schools and number of school visits.
90.0%
100.0%
The target was met and exceeded 
by 10%.
Access (incl. enrolments / 
commencements)
Access: The activity primarily consists of support for students to access higher education (e.g. pathway programs, admissions support, entry scholarships).
PERFORMANCE MEASURES
DEFINITIONS
Target 
2022
Final Result 
2022
Commentary on 2022 Full 
Year Result
Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait 
Islander Student Total Enrolments
Total Enrolments of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Students at the University.  Cognos A3 Course Demographics 
Dashboard.  Filters = (All Data) / Tabular View / Enrolments.  [Widget/Table: Domestic Enrolments by Indigenous Status and 
Year] = “Indigenous”.
800
702
The target was not met by -98 
enrolments.
Low SES Student Total Enrolments
Total Enrolments of Low SES Students at the University.  Cognos A3 Course Demographics Dashboard.  Filters = (All Data) / 
Tabular View / Enrolments.  [Widget/Table: Domestic Enrolments by Socio-economic Status and Year] = “Low”.
3,000
3,046
The target was met and exceeded by 
46 enrolments.
Regional and Remote Student Total 
Enrolments
Total Enrolments of Regional and Remote Students at the University.  Cognos A3 Course Demographics Dashboard.  Filters = 
(All Data) / Tabular View / Enrolments.  [Widget/Table: Domestic Enrolments by Regionality and Year] = “Regional/Remote”.
10,000
9,939
The target was not met by -61 
enrolments.  The fall in Indigenous 
enrolments also directly negatively 
impacted this measure.
Table 1: HEPPP - Higher Education Participation and Partnerships 
Program - JCU Performance Measurement Dashboard 2022 Targets

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Participation (incl. 
retention/success)
Participation: The activity primarily consists of support for existing higher education students to remain enrolled and engaged in their studies (e.g. academic support, mentoring, targeted wellbeing support, 
ongoing scholarships).
PERFORMANCE MEASURES
DEFINITIONS
Target 
2022
Final Result 
2022
Commentary on 2022 Full 
Year Result
Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait 
Islander Student Participation (%) UG
Total % of Undergraduate (excluding Enabling) Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students enrolled at the 
University, on the following campus locations: Townsville, Cairns, Mount Isa, Thursday Island and Mackay.  % Reported to 2 
decimal places.  % of Domestic Enrolments.  Source = Cognos [KPI / PI / OPT - Student Report].
6.76%
6.43%
The target was not met by -0.33%.  
Indigenous enrolments dropped 
sharply from 2021 to 2022 which 
negatively impacted the ratio.
Low SES Student Participation (%) UG
SES means ‘Socioeconomic Status’.  Total % of Undergraduate (excluding Enabling) Low SES students enrolled at the 
University, on the following campus locations: Townsville, Cairns, Mount Isa, Thursday Island and Mackay.  % Reported to 2 
decimal places.  % of Domestic Enrolments.  Source = Cognos [KPI / PI / OPT - Student Report].
25.00%
24.51%
The target was not met by -0.49%.  
The target is deliberately high 
(tough); however, the result is still far 
higher than nearly all universities in 
Australia.
Regional and Remote Student 
Participation (%) UG
Total % of Undergraduate (excluding Enabling) Regional and Remote students enrolled at the University, on the following 
campus locations: Townsville, Cairns, Mount Isa, Thursday Island and Mackay.  % Reported to 2 decimal places.  % of 
Domestic Enrolments.  Source = Cognos [KPI / PI / OPT - Student Report].
90.00%
87.41%
The target was not met by -2.59%.  
The target is one of the highest 
(toughest) in Australia, with a result 
far exceeding most Australian 
universities.
Attainment  
(incl. completion)
Attainment: The activity primarily consists of support for existing higher education students to complete their study and transition into employment (e.g. work-integrated learning support, career support).
PERFORMANCE MEASURES
DEFINITIONS
Target 
2022
Final Result 
2022
Commentary on 2022 Full 
Year Result
Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait 
Islander Student Career Support - 
number of eligible distinct students 
who attended career support sessions
Number of distinct eligible Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students who attended a JCU career support session.  All 
year levels.  Source = Cognos [special HEPPP student support program - drill through report].  On the “Overview” Tab, Pick 
[Careers] on the droplist.  Pick [Indigenous] on the Indigenous Status droplist.  NB: An “eligible” student is defined as: [UG & 
PG], [Domestic], at ATCSC.
20
12
The target was not met by -8 eligible 
distinct students.
Low SES Student Career Support - 
number of eligible distinct students 
who attended career support sessions
Number of distinct eligible Low SES students who attended a JCU career support session.  All year levels.  Source = Cognos 
[special HEPPP student support program - drill through report].  On the “Overview” Tab, Pick [Careers] on the droplist.  Pick 
[Low] on the SES droplist.  NB: An “eligible” student is defined as: [UG & PG], [Domestic], at ATCSC.
70
61
The target was not met by -9 eligible 
distinct students.
Regional and Remote Student Career 
Support - number of eligible distinct 
students who attended career 
support sessions
Number of distinct eligible Regional and Remote students who attended a JCU career support session.  All year levels.  
Source = Cognos [special HEPPP student support program - drill through report].  On the “Overview” Tab, Pick [Careers] on 
the droplist.  Pick [Regional/Remote] on the Metro or Regional/Remote droplist.  NB: An “eligible” student is defined as: [UG & 
PG], [Domestic], at ATCSC.
310
247
The target was not met by -63 eligible 
distinct students.

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2.1.2 JCU monitoring course completions for students 
from low socio-economic backgrounds
Each year JCU carefully tracks course completions for 
all groups of students, including students from low 
socio-economic backgrounds, Indigenous students, 
female students, and students from rural and remote 
areas. JCU sets ambitious targets each year to assist 
students to both participate in their studies and attain 
their course qualification, and then transition into the 
workplace through supporting students to remain 
enrolled and engaged in their studies through academic 
support, mentoring, targeted wellbeing support and 
ongoing scholarships. Attainment support includes 
supporting students to complete their study and 
transition into employment through work-integrated 
learning support (placements) and career support.
•	 In 2022, 19.6% of students completing their JCU 
course were from low-socio-economic backgrounds, 
and this proportion has increased over the years 
from 18% in 2018.
Figure 2.2: Socio-economic status of students completing their courses at JCU from 2018 to 2023

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2.1.4 Providing access to free or low-cost services for  
the community
JCU’s College of Healthcare Sciences, and College 
of Medicine and Dentistry operate the JCU Health 
General Practice, JCU Physiotherapy Clinic, JCU Speech 
Therapy Clinic, JCU Exercise Physiology Clinic, and JCU 
Occupational Therapy Clinic to provide low-cost or 
free vital health services to people in local community 
who would otherwise struggle to afford services. 
The JCU Dental Clinic is a wholly owned subsidiary 
of the university. These services are provided by JCU 
students on placements in these clinics, supervised 
by qualified practitioners, as a key part of the hands-
on, practical learning for their courses. In 2022, 177 
students provided essential dental services to over 
30,000 members of the North Queensland community. 
The JCU Dentistry students and staff made custom-
fitted mouthguards for 30 students from AFL Cape 
York House in November 2022 (see image below). 
The project was supported by the Healthier Smiles 
Community Service Grants, a joint initiative of the 
Australian Dental Health Foundation and
the Mars Wrigley Foundation. “The personalised 
mouthguards will go above and beyond the standard 
store-bought protection and will provide a whole new 
level of comfort and protection for these young Aussie 
Rules players,” JCU Professor in Prosthodontics and 
Operative Dentistry, John Abbott, said.
The mission of AFL Cape York House is to strengthen 
resilience, provide positive life experience and 
opportunities to Indigenous Australians through 
culturally appropriate education, sporting, and 
wellbeing pathways.
2.1.3 JCU financial aid for students
JCU has always supported students from low socio-
economic backgrounds, particularly from rural and 
remote areas of Australia to overcome financial 
barriers to attending university. The University 
supports the most vulnerable students through the 
JCU Access Fund, which provided over $412,000 to 
132 students in 2022, and $319,000 to 91 students in 
2023. 258 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students 
received scholarships in 2022 and 214 students were 
granted scholarships in 2023. These scholarships, 
which are administered by JCU, were funded by 
JCU, Commonwealth Government, industry and 
philanthropic partners totalling over $585,000 in 2022 
and over $400,000 in 2023.
International students from some of the world’s 
poorest countries are also supported to attend  
JCU The JCU International Merit Stipend, which is 
open to students from Africa and the Australia 
Award Scholarships administered by the Australian 
Department of Foreign Affairs provide opportunities 
for people from developing countries in the Indo-Pacific 
region to afford a university education. JCU has also 
raised the PHD stipend rate in July 2023 to the highest 
in Queensland in recognition of the rising cost of living, 
and indicating the very strong support for research at 
JCU. The increase for the Research Training Program 
Scholarships, JCU Postgraduate Research Scholarships, 
AIMS@JCU Scholarships and International Research 
Training Program Scholarships will be funded by the 
Graduate Research School.
The JCU Student Hardship Fund was established to 
support students who face unexpected short-term 
financial difficulty, such as the traumatic flood and fire 
events on the JCU Townsville campus in 2019. In 2022 
the Fund provided 29 students with financial assistance 
totalling $14,500. The JCU Indigenous Student Support 
Fund provides financial support for Indigenous 
Australian students experiencing financial difficulty and 
is supported by donations from the JCU community 
and the public.

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2.1.5 JCU Ideas Lab – local startup support
Throughout the year, the JCU Research and Innovation 
team host and co-host a range of programs and 
workshops for JCU staff, students and members of the 
general public in the JCU Ideas Lab on the Nguma-bada 
campus in Cairns. The JCU Research and Innovation 
team support local startups through their wealth of 
knowledge and experience.
On the 2nd to 4th of November 2022, the Northern 
Australian Regional Digital Health Collaboration 
(NARDHC) and JCU Research and Innovation team 
held an event for undergraduate and postgraduate 
health, IT, and business students, HDR candidates and 
professionals from the community. They participated 
in a 3-day simulator to design, prototype and validate 
digital health solutions. The event was developed 
and deployed by Dr Samantha J. Horseman, JCU 
Innovation Facilitator. The aim was to help transform a 
sustainability-focused technology idea into a business 
or not-for-profit opportunity. 
The ideas proposed were to address the UN 
Sustainable Development Goals with solutions across a 
variety of sectors including mining, financial technology, 
circular economy, gaming, telecommunications, and 
water. The most compelling idea won $10,000 in seed 
grant funding to help take their concept to market. 
The Sustainability Impact 10X program attracted 
participation from 3 JCU campuses - Cairns, Townsville, 
and Singapore.
The team from JCU Singapore won the Futuristic 
Technology Award for their idea at the JCU IMPACT10X 
Sustainability UN SDG Simulator. The Singapore team 
clinched the Futuristic Technology Award in the Simulator, 
with an idea that directly addressed Sustainable 
Development Goal 6 Clean Water and Sanitation.
Teams that participated in the program were afforded 
the opportunity to build upon their ideas as innovators 
and entrepreneurs, while being mentored by the JCU 
Research and Innovation Team. 
The Singapore team garnered interest from leading 
Information and Communication Technology provider 
Ericsson, the International Atomic Energy Agency, and 
NGO Com Net Mekong to collaborate on deploying 
their idea.
The Singapore team comprised of Dr Michele Chew, 
Associate Director of Research Connect at JCU in 
Singapore; Dr Jusak, Senior Lecturer of Internet of 
Things; and Dr Steven Kerrison, Senior
Lecturer of Cybersecurity. With their JCU Founders-in-
Residence Portfolio, the Singapore team will be the 
pioneers for the JCU Founders- in-Residence initiative in 
Singapore soon.

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2.1.6 Research into poverty - JCU Research Ethical 
Development (RED) Symposium
2.1.7 JCU participating in government policy
JCU Singapore – Volunteer Club – Community outreach for no poverty
The JCU’s Research for Ethical Development group (JCU RED) works to 
promote ethical development research and ethical development practice. 
Their work is both conceptual and applied and aims to contribute to 
scholarly and policy debates regarding the ethics of development work, 
and to inform practice through research conduct and collaborations. The 
first JCU RED symposium was held in 2022, and the convenor for this 
symposiums was Dr Kearrin Sims of The Cairns Institute.
The 2023 RED Symposium “A Broken Promise? The 2030 Agenda’s 
commitment to leave no one behind” was held at JCU’s The Cairns 
Institute on the 27-29th of September. The symposium examined 
progress towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals including 
Goal 1- No Poverty. In 2020, the share of the world’s workers living in 
extreme poverty increased for the first time in two decades; hunger 
and food insecurity is rising globally, and progress in many areas of 
gender equality is falling. As Oxfam’s 2023 inequality report notes, all 
of this is occurring at the same time as ‘the very richest have become 
dramatically richer and corporate profits have hit record highs’.
JCU provided submissions to the Federal Government review of the Australian Universities 
Accord  – supporting measures to relieve financial pressure on students. The Accord 
Interim Report outlines a vision for the future of Australia’s higher education system. The 
Report reflects high-quality, thoughtful submissions and extensive engagement with a 
wide range of stakeholders, including JCU.
The Accord contains five recommendations for priority action and raises issues for further 
discussion to inform the Review’s Final Report. Section 3.3.5 of the Accord – Improving 
affordability for students, relates to SDG1 – No Poverty, and discusses how to ensure 
that student contributions are fair and affordable, debt for education is manageable for 
students, repayments are not overly burdensome, HELP debt forgiveness, student loan 
fees on FEE-HELP loans and considers a new funding model and considers a new funding 
model based on student attributes rather than student numbers..
The JCU Singapore Volunteer Club partnered with Habitat for 
Humanity Singapore for Project HomeWorks in 2022, where both 
staff and student volunteers helped with the cleaning, decluttering, 
and painting of homes for the elderly and financially under-privileged 
Singaporeans. Having the opportunity to improve home conditions 
for vulnerable families was an eye-opening experience for our 
volunteers, and a rewarding one as well.

END HUNGER, ACHIEVE FOOD 
SECURITY AND IMPROVE 
NUTRITION AN DPROMOTE 
SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE
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2.2 Progress towards UN Sustainable Development 
Goal 2 - Zero Hunger
	
2.2.1 Student food pantry, SecondBite MOU and 
partnership with Coles
	
2.2.2 Recycling organic waste
	
2.2.3 JCU services for farmers and food producers 
Agriculture Technology and Adoption Centre (AgTAC) 
Tropical North Queensland Drought Hub;
JCU Centre for Tropical Water and Aquatic Ecosystem 
Research (TropWATER);
 
JCU Centre for Sustainable Tropical Fisheries and 
Aquaculture (CSTFA);
JCU Tropical Futures Institute Aquaculture Research Centre
In this section:
2.2.1 JCU food security services for students
JCU has a long history of providing care for students 
experiencing financial hardship and many staff have 
volunteered their time to provide students with meals, 
snacks, essential toiletries and sanitary items. In 
particular the staff of the JCU Wellbeing and Outreach 
services in the Nguma-bada campus library in Cairns 
have provided a food pantry for students for many 
years, assisting them with their basic needs, while also 
providing counselling, personal support and learning 
support services. The Pathways team in the Eddie Koiki 
Mabo Library, Bebegu Yumba campus, Townsville, 
have similarly provided a food pantry for their students, 
helping overcome barriers for students studying 
pathway courses.
The JCU Indigenous Education and Research Centre have 
long provided Indigenous students with a warm and 
welcoming, culturally supportive learning environment, 
providing essential support in many forms including 
free food and drinks, working on closing the gap in 
educational outcomes for Indigenous students.
In 2022 JCU signed a Memorandum of Understanding 
with SecondBite, a food rescue organisation, who in 
partnership with Coles supermarkets, rescues tonnes 
of unwanted food from being discarded each year 
and provides food for disadvantaged people. This 
formalised a long relationship between SecondBite and 
JCU assisting students experiencing food insecurity on
campus. Volunteers on the Cairns campus collect food 
from Coles at Clifton Beach twice a week and deliver 
bread, fruit and vegetables to the student kitchen 
the ‘Food Lab” where it is enthusiastically received by 
students in need.

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2.2.2 Recycling organic waste on campus
2.2.3 JCU services for farmers and food producers
JCU has established community gardens on the 
Bebegu Yumba campus, Townsville, the Rotary 
Sunshine Community Garden, and on the Nguma-
bada campus, Cairns, where students are able to learn 
about growing their own food in a tropical climate. 
The gardens are managed by the Estate Directorate 
and have student gardening clubs which hold events 
throughout the year. The gardens have a wide range 
of established tropical fruit trees, fruiting vines and 
shrubs and are a haven for wildlife.
JCU’s staff and student kitchens have green organic 
waste bins for users to dispose of their kitchen 
scraps and JCU waste contractor JCU cleaning and 
waste service providers collects the organic waste 
and delivers it to the community garden compost 
system on the Cairns campus, and to the groundswell 
major composting system on the Townsville campus. 
An average of 39kg of compost is delivered to the 
groundswell composting facility in Townsville each 
week, from the university kitchens alone, approximately 
2000kg per year. All green waste generated from 
gardens on campus is mulched or composted on 
site and the compost generated in the Townsville 
groundswell is enriched with bioinoculants and 
produces a rich soil for use in the campus landscaping 
plant nursery.
Agriculture Technology and Adoption Centre
(AgTAC) Agriculture research 
focused on solving industry-relevant 
problems by working closely with 
industries both locally and globally 
in true partnering arrangements. 
JCU’s primary technology-enabling 
capabilities are directly applied to 
the agriculture sector, including Data 
Science, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning.
Dr Eric Wang, a JCU Senior Lecturer, Electronic Systems 
and IoT Engineering, together with the Department of 
Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) are developing 
a near-infrared spectrometer (NIRS) to determine 
how much meat is in mud crab claw, The handheld 
instrument is designed to be taken on fishing boats and 
can quickly grade live crabs, allowing fishers to optimise 
their catch and return low-grade crabs to the water.
Dr Brian Collins has developed an irrigation rapid 
assessment tool (i-RAT) that is providing valuable 
economic and environmental guidance to sugarcane 
growers. Dr Collins said “i-RAT harnesses the power 
of computer modelling and combines it with the 
knowledge and experience of local cane growers and 
advisors to enable rapid comparisons of thousands of 
combinations of farm management scenarios, which is 
not possible to test in the field.”
Tropical North Queensland Drought Resilience and 
Adoption and Innovation Hub
Drought has significant 
impact on the wellbeing of 
people and communities 
across Tropical North 
Queensland, affecting 
agriculture industries 
including beef, sugar, 
vegetable, dairy, citrus and tropical fruit. The TNQ 
Drought Hub is one of 8 hubs across Australia 
supporting farmers and communities to become 
more drought resilient. Hub partners are providing co-
contributions of $18.5 million over 4 years. Through the 
Hub, farmers, Indigenous landholders, communities, 
researchers, and business have come together and 
co-designed approaches and solutions for drought 
resilience in Tropical North Queensland. 
Projects include:
•	 Gathering data to assist in identifying future drought 
impacts and how they can be mitigated.
•	 Developing insurance products against drought 
impacts.
•	 Developing proven water and energy efficiency 
measures to a new group of farmers.
•	 Improving opportunities for work-integrated 
learning for tertiary students.
JCU has key research and development partnerships with the agricultural and food sector in Australia 
and Singapore.

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Cooperative Research Centre for Developing 
Northern Australia
In July 2022 Professor Allan Dale, Professor of Tropical 
Regional Development at the JCU Cairns Institute and 
Chief Scientist for the Cooperative Research Centre 
for Developing Northern Australia (CRCNA) chaired 
the Developing Northern Australia Conference in 
Mackay. The conference brought together leaders, 
decision makers, industry representatives and 
community members to discuss the challenges of 
northern Australian development including agriculture 
and water supply and a vision of a sustainable and 
inclusive northern Australia. Keynote speakers included 
representatives of the Aquaculture industry and 
Centrefarm Aboriginal Horticulture Limited, a company 
established to benefit Aboriginal landowners in the 
Northern Territory, developing regional economies 
focused on primary industries.
JCU TropWATER
The JCU Centre for Tropical Water and Aquatic 
Ecosystem Research (TropWATER) is a team of JCU 
researchers and postgraduate students who provide 
industries, communities and government with science-
based solutions to better manage, protect and restore 
our tropical water ecosystems. 
In 2023 a TropWATER-led water quality monitoring 
project won the Agriculture and Regional Development 
award at the 34th Banksia National Sustainability 
Awards. Under the project that was carried out in 2022, 
scientists work with growers in the Russell-Mulgrave 
River catchment to monitor water quality to help 
farmers understand their irrigation, fertiliser, pesticide 
and sediment surface losses.  The project provides 
paddock-scale data to empower farmers to confidently 
adopt improved land management practices that 
improves water quality while ensuring a profitable 
farm. The initiative involves scientists working closely 
with growers to develop tailored solutions relevant to 
their farms.
Developed through the National Environmental Science 
Program’s Tropical Water Quality Hub and administered 
through the Cairns-based Reef and Rainforest Research 
Centre (RRRC), TropWATER’s project’s outstanding 
success has led to significant further investment and 
works in the catchment.
Tropical Futures Institute – Aquaculture Innovation Centre
JCU recognises that Tropical region of the world face 
unprecedented challenges due to the population 
growth and an associated demand for high-quality 
seafood. This population expansion will continue to 
pressure wild fisheries resources and dictate ever 
higher efficiencies from aquaculture production. JCU 
Singapore has formed an aquaculture partnership with 
industry and academic partners focusing on sustainable 
production of aquaculture species and international 
business and trade in Asia. The JCU Tropical Futures 
Institute Aquaculture Innovation Centre has 
partnerships with industry and Government including 
the Singapore Food Agency, and local producers, to 
support Singapore’s ‘30 by 30’ target for food security, in 
which the country aims to build the agri-food industry’s 
capacity and capability to produce 30 per cent of its 
nutritional needs locally by 2030.

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Tropical Futures Institute public seminar 2022 – Food 
innovations and health aspects
Food innovations are urgently needed to foster healthy 
diets for the growing and ageing world population. In 
Singapore, urban aquaculture seafood, plant-based and 
cultivated meats (e.g., cell- based fish) will play a critical 
role in sustainably tripling domestic food production 
by 2030, as highlighted in the Singapore Food Story. 
The Singapore Food Story is a Singapore Food Agency 
strategy to secure the food supply for Singapore by 
diversifying sources of food imports, increasing local 
production to 30% by 2030 and growing food overseas. 
Currently Singapore imports 90% of its food from over 
180 countries.
Health benefits of food innovations include reduced 
risk of foodborne illness and possibly food allergies, 
which are under investigation as part of food safety 
assessments. Academics of the JCU’s Tropical Futures 
Institute are pioneers in this field. Contributors to the 
session were Dr Wasamon Nutakul (SciTech Specialist, 
The Good Food Institute Asia Pacific, Singapore); 
Mr Mihir Pershad (Founder, CEO, Umami Meats, 
Singapore); and James Cook University, Singapore 
Emerging Leader Dr Thimo Ruethers (Research Fellow 
— Human Health & Ageing, TFI). The seminar was 
moderated by Professor Andreas Lopata (Personal 
Chair in Biochemistry, James Cook University, Australia, 
Professorial Research Fellow — Human Health 
& Ageing, Tropical Futures Institute, James Cook 
University, Singapore).

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2.3.1 JCU Good Health and Wellbeing - Research 
James Cook University is a leading institution in the field 
of medicine for Tropics, with a focus on public health, 
infectious disease and tropical medicine. By advancing 
the knowledge and practice of medicine for tropics, 
JCU contributes to combating infectious diseases, 
strengthening health systems, reducing maternal 
and child mortality, developing vaccines, discovering 
drugs and improving environmental health. JCU also 
collaborates with various partners and stakeholders 
across Australia and the Asia-Pacific region to address 
the pressing health and development issues relevant 
to tropical and remote communities. Through its 
innovative and impactful research and teaching in 
health-related disciplines, JCU plays a vital role in 
creating a brighter future for people of the tropics and 
the planet in general.
Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine 
(AITHM) - The AITHM is a flagship research institute 
of James Cook University based in the Tropics of 
Northern Australia. Australia’s only dedicated tropical 
health and medicine research institute, AITHM is 
focused on solving problems of importance to the 
Tropics, developing vaccines and novel drugs, leading 
to improvements in health systems and healthcare 
delivery, improved biosecurity, and enhanced health 
outcomes for Australians and our neighbouring 
tropical nations. Both the JCU College of Medicine 
and Dentistry (CMD) and  the College of Public Health, 
Medical and Veterinary Sciences (CPHMVS) contribute 
to the work of the Australian Institute of Tropical Health 
and Medicine. AITHM’s research program confronts 
Australia’s major health security risks, tackles its worst 
health outcomes, develops better ways to deliver health 
services to remote communities and contributes to the 
development of northern Australia. The emphasis is on 
working ‘in-with-and-for’ communities across northern 
Australia and the wider tropics. 
ENSURE HEALTHY LIVES 
AND PROMOTE WELL-
BEING FOR ALL AGES
	
2.3.1 J JCU Good Health and Wellbeing research
	
2.3.2 Collaborations with health institutions
	
2.3.3 JCU commitment to Indigenous health
	
2.3.4 Health education at JCU
	
2.3.5 JCU health outreach programs
	
2.3.6 Covid-19 in the Tropics – JCU State of the Tropics 
Report and research
In this section:
2.3 Progress towards UN Sustainable Development 
Goal 3 - Good Health and Wellbeing

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Some of AITHM’s current projects include:
•	 Associate Professor Catherine Rush and Associate 
Professor Jeffrey Warner — Using expertise 
in microbiology and immunology to focus on 
infectious diseases (including melioidosis and TB) 
predominantly in Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Far 
North Australia.
•	 Professor Patricia Graves — Monitoring, evaluating 
and investigating lymphatic filariasis, scabies and 
malaria in Vanuatu, Fiji, Samoa, PNG and Tonga.
•	 Distinguished Professor Alex Loukas — 
Developing anti-helminth subunit vaccines and 
diagnostics, and treating inflammatory and 
metabolic diseases in Thailand.
•	 Professor Tom Burkot — Working with PacMOSSI 
to prevent current and emerging arboviral and 
parasitic diseases (dengue, chikungunya, Zika and 
malaria) transmitted by Aedes and anopheline 
mosquitoes throughout the Pacific Island countries.
•	 Professor Emma McBryde — Using a model of 
disease transmission to evaluate and optimise 
COVID-19 vaccine roll-out strategies in the 
Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia.
•	 Associate Professor Paul Horwood — Using novel 
techniques of sample collection and analysis to 
conduct viral discovery in wildlife to assess the 
potential of zoonotic risk in Cambodia and Laos.
JCU Health Research Centres and Institutes:
•	 Anton Breinl Research Centre for Health Systems 
Strengthening
•	 Centre for Molecular Therapeutics (CMT)
•	 Centre for Nursing and Midwifery Research
•	 Centre for Rural and Remote Health (CRRH) 
Centre for Tropical Bioinformatics and Molecular 
Biology (CTBMB)
•	 Queensland Research Centre for Peripheral 
Vascular Disease (QRC-PVD)
•	 WHO Collaborating Centre for Vector-borne and 
Neglected Tropical Diseases
2.3.2 Collaborations with Health Institutions
Collaboration is a key aspect of research excellence, 
innovation and advanced teaching practices, especially 
in the field of health. James Cook University is 
committed to fostering collaborative research projects 
with local and national health institutions across 
Australia and the world. JCU researchers collaborate 
with partners from industry, government, not-for-profit, 
and academia, to address the health challenges and 
opportunities in the Tropics and beyond.
Some of the benefits of collaboration include sharing 
expertise and resources, enhancing research quality 
and impact, increasing funding opportunities, and 
building networks and reputation.
The Northern Queensland Regional Training Hubs
is a partnership between private and public 
hospital and health services, GP clinics and James 
Cook University. This medical training network 
is committed to improving the health services of 
rural and remote communities in the northern 
Queensland region and provides doctors in-training 
with valuable experience. This network of hospital 
and health services works together with James Cook 
University to strengthen medical specialist training 
in Cairns, Central West, Mackay, Northwest, Torres 
Strait and Cape York, and Townsville.

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Murtupuni Centre for Rural and Remote Health 
The Centre for Rural and Remote Health (CRRH) James 
Cook University is part of the Australian Rural Health 
Education Network (ARHEN), a national network of 15 
University Departments of Rural Health (UDRH) funded 
by the Commonwealth Department of Health under 
the Rural Health Multidisciplinary Training Program. 
The CRRH’s region covers the outback, remote and 
rural areas of Northwest, Lower Gulf, Central West and 
the Western Cape Queensland and spans more than 
600,000 square kilometres – more than 50%  
of Queensland.
Tropical Futures Institute – Healthy Ageing Research Pillar 
With every country in the world experiencing growth 
in both the size and the proportion of older persons in 
the population, JCU has a clear commitment to finding 
solutions for a better future. The Healthy Ageing 
Research collaborations in public health, healthcare 
and support services provide an important opportunity 
for aged care industry stakeholders and the health 
sector to contribute to the development of strategies, 
innovation and investment that benefit healthy ageing 
processes in the tropics.
WHO Collaborative Centre for Vector-borne and 
Neglected Tropical Diseases
JCU collaboration established in 2017. The Centre was 
established in 2017 to support the control of vector-
borne and neglected tropical diseases. The Centre 
supports the development and expansion of;
•	 Surveillance programs
•	 Research capacity building
•	 Control programs training, monitoring and 
evaluation throughout the western Pacific.
 Support the scale up and evaluation of WHO 
recommended vector control methods and other NTD 
control and elimination strategies.
•	 Develop innovative and sustainable NTD 
surveillance strategies, particularly post-elimination 
surveillance according to WHO priorities.
•	 Demonstrate sustainable early detection, 
prevention and management of lymphatic 
filariasis-related morbidity through integrated 
service delivery with other primary healthcare 
interventions according to WHO priorities.
Participate in collaborative operational research under 
WHO’s leadership, including early detection, prevention 
and management of chronic morbidities and effective 
tools for vector control.

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Closing the gap between the health of Aboriginal and 
Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous 
Australians is a national priority. In collaboration with 
both ACRRM and RACGP, JCU General Practice and Rural 
Medicine is delivering a GP training program committed 
to developing a general practice workforce that works 
effectively with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander 
peoples towards improving their health outcomes. Two- 
thirds of Queensland’s approximately 100,000 Aboriginal 
and Torres Strait Islander people live within JCU General 
Practice and Rural Medicine region, which means there 
are a variety of opportunities for registrars to develop an 
extended scope of practice in Aboriginal and Torres Strait 
Islander health. JCU General Practice and Rural Medicine 
offers registrars the opportunity to undertake training 
in a range of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health 
Service settings.
Culturally appropriate healthcare - James Cook University 
(JCU) General Practice and Rural Medicine provides 
registrars with a range of Aboriginal and Torres Strait 
Islander health educational activities including:
College Online Cultural Awareness Module - RACGP or 
ACRRM online Cultural Awareness modules must be 
satisfactorily completed within the first two months of 
commencing the term.
Cultural Awareness Training Workshops - Cultural 
Awareness Training Workshops are delivered locally 
within the JCU General Practice and Rural Medicine 
regions by our Cultural Educator and in partnership with 
local community members.
Anton Breinl Research Centre Building on the strengths 
of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities 
to improve health and wellbeing outcomes is a priority 
issue and this stream spans the domains of health 
research in collaborative research to “close the gap”. 
Research projects include:
•	 Women’s action for Mums and Bubs (WOMB): a trial 
of community women’s groups to improve Aboriginal 
and Torres Strait Islander maternal and child health.
•	 Reducing dementia risk in Aboriginal and Torres Strait 
Islander communities
•	 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Worker 
skills recognition and up-skilling project
•	 Strengthening systems for Indigenous healthcare 
equity (CRE-STRIDER)
2.3.3 JCU Commitment to Aboriginal and Torres Strait  
Islander Health

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2.3.4 Health education at JCU
JCU proudly trains thousands of healthcare graduates 
that are job-ready for the challenges of healthcare 
in rural and remote Australia and around the world. 
Medicine, dentistry, healthcare, and allied healthcare 
students complete many months of hands-on 
placements in rural and remote healthcare centres 
across regional Australia, from Tasmania to the Torres 
Strait, and even overseas. In 2022 JCU health outreach 
services saw over 100,000 local Queenslanders, in 
health and allied healthcare clinics at JCU Bebegu 
Yumba Townsville and Nguma-bada campus clinics in 
Cairns. The vast majority of these patients were from 
low socio-economic backgrounds, and JCU health 
services form a vital and important provision of care 
relieving pressure on local Government health services. 
JCU students on placement provide care for many of 
these appointments, becoming an important part of the 
journey to better health for many local Queenslanders. 
JCU has outlined its commitment to healthcare 
education for rural Australia in a new guide: Making 
Rural Health Matter.

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2.3.5 JCU Health Outreach Programs – for JCU students, staff and the local community
James Cook University is also committed to engaging with and contributing to the 
communities it serves, both locally and globally. JCU has initiatives and programs 
that enable its staff, students, and alumni to give back to the community in different 
ways. One way the University gives back to the community is through general 
health and wellbeing support services for students, staff and the local community. 
JCU Health provides bulk-billed general health services to students with a Medicare 
card and student card, and is located on the Bebegu Yumba campus in Townsville. 
The JCU Dental clinics in Bebegu Yumba Townsville campus and Nguma-bada 
Cairns campus are free for Healthcare card holders, and offered discounted 
services for students, staff and the community. Free sexual health services are 
available for students in both Townsville and Cairns through the Queensland 
Government Sexual Health Service.
The James Cook University Counselling and Wellbeing team provide free, 
confidential counselling by qualified counsellors to JCU students on campus or 
by telephone, to improve students’ mental health outcomes. JCU offers a free 
Employee Assistance Program for staff and their immediate family members. It 
provides professional, confidential counselling and support 24/7, managed by an 
independent company, LifeWorks.
In 2022 JCU released its Mental Health and Wellness Strategy (2022-2026) 
acknowledging the responsibility to support mental health and wellness as part of 
the University’s core business. The Strategy has been designed in collaboration with 
students, staff, and stakeholders. It presents an integrated model which:
•	 Recognises diversity, voice, and reconciliation,
•	 Develops student and staff agency,
•	 Supports actions and commitments that are culturally informed, sustainable, and 
connected to community
CLINIC NAME
CLINIC APPOINTMENTS
NUMBER OF JCU STUDENTS PROVIDING SERVICE
NOTES 
JCU Dental Clinic Cairns
20,169
157
79% of patients were healthcare card holders from
low SES backgrounds
JCU Dental Clinic Townsville
9,229
20
81% of patients were healthcare card holders from
low SES backgrounds
JCU Occupational Therapy 
Clinic
840
24 students completed over
450 hours of placement at the clinic.
Additional 46 patients seen for
chronic condition coaching in 2022
JCU Physiotherapy Clinic
2386 total community appointments for 
the musculoskeletal clinic, Better Balance 
clinic, and Massage clinic
All 3rd and 4th year Bachelor of Physiotherapy students
Additional student volunteering supporting community sporting events: the 
Challenge Games and the Indigenous rugby league
carnival in Townsville.
JCU Speech Pathology Clinic
70 children appointments per week
25 adult appointments per week
50 second- and third-year students, supported by fourth 
years students from the Bachelor of Speech Pathology and 
qualified practitioners
2 Clinical educator workshops held for professional speech pathologists with 
20 participants.
JCU Psychology Clinic
713 patient appointments
10 Master of Psychology (Clinical) students completed 
placements, 5510 hours of
supervised placement.
90% of patients are from underrepresented groups including from low SES 
backgrounds.
JCU Exercise Physiology Clinic
3995 occasions of service
2022 - 58 students on placement across SES, BCEP and MCEP 
degrees
2022 - 277 patients seen
2022 - 3515 placement hours.
JCU Interprofessional Clinic
637 appointments
8 x 3rd and 4th year students on placement in 2022.
The Clinic provides low-cost student led individual and group services including 
rehabilitation and education.
JCU Health General Practice
65,252 patient presentations
30 student placements, over 984 supervised placement 
hours
25% of appointments were student patients, 25% of appointments were 
member of the community from low SES backgrounds.
JCU Counselling
970 JCU student appointments
No student volunteers –
qualified counsellors conduct appointments
Table 2: A snapshot of the JCU Community Health Outreach Programs delivered in 2022

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2.3.6 Covid-19 in the Tropics
The State of the Tropics 
project is an alliance of 
11 institutions in the 
Tropics led by JCU, with 
the aim of answering 
the question, Is life in the 
Tropics getting better? 
The 2022 State of Tropics 
Report – Covid-19 in 
the Tropics, edited by 
Professor Simon Biggs, 
Shelly Templeman 
and Ann Penny, looks 
at the effects of the 
Covid-19 pandemic across different regions of the 
Tropics, considering both fragility and resilience within 
societal systems. It presents a broad-ranging statistical 
analysis of a set of indicators relating to pandemic 
data collated from existing datasets. These datasets 
derive from several authoritative and multi-lateral 
sources, including various United Nations agencies, 
the World Bank, the Food and Agriculture Organization 
and other repositories. The report considers direct 
health outcomes, impacts on allied health, education 
and literacy, travel and tourism, unemployment, GDP 
and environmental outcomes. It also includes case 
studies discussing the personal impacts Covid-19 has 
had on people and communities. Covid-19 focused 
attention on the inequalities that persist around the 
world, even in the most advanced nations. Two years 
on, Covid-19 continues to affect communities, and the 
full effects may not be realised for many years. This 
report provides an initial assessment of the impacts of 
Covid-19 on the health, economics, environment, and 
community resilience across the Tropics. Below is a 
summary of some of the major findings of the report:
Covid-19 cases, mortality, and vaccination rates in 
the Tropics
•	 Caseloads have varied considerably among 
nations. On average, non-tropical regions reported 
around 8% of the population infected. Caseloads 
have generally been lowering in the Tropics than 
in the rest of the world. South America has been 
hardest hit, with over 11% of the population 
infected by March 2022. Vaccination rates vary 
among tropical regions. Central and Southern 
Africa, and Northern Africa and the Middle East 
both have vaccination rates below 15% compared 
to 68% in the rest of the world.
Impacts on allied health
•	 Restrictions placed on the provision of other 
healthcare services during the Covid-19 pandemic 
increased risks to those with underlying medical 
conditions. Increased pressure on public health 
systems resulted in an additional 4 million children 
missing out on basic immunisations in 2020. A 
decline in mental well being also resulted from the 
stresses of the pandemic.
•	 Extreme weather posed challenges for Covid-19 
management in some tropical settings. Climate 
change heightens these challenges and will make 
responses to these crises even more difficult.
Education and literacy
•	 The Covid-19 pandemic has increased literacy 
poverty. The number of 10-year-olds without 
basic literacy skills has increased by 17% since the 
beginning of the pandemic. Many schools in low 
and middle-income nations through the tropics 
provide regular school meals to alleviate malnutrition. 
School closures meant this was not available to 
many students. To overcome this, some countries 
transitioned to alternative approaches to ensure that 
students had continued access to adequate nutrition.
Travel and tourism
•	 Eight of the 10 nations most heavily dependent 
on tourism as an export earner are in the tropics. 
Of these, the Maldives is considered the most 
vulnerable, with 79% of total exports coming from 
tourism. Four of the 10 tourism-vulnerable countries 
are in the Caribbean.
Trade, unemployment, and GDP impacts
•	 Unemployment increased globally by 15% between 
2019 and 2021. The tropics’ unemployment rate 
increased from 6.6 to 8.1% over this period, an 
increase of 22% overall.
Covid-19 impacts on tropical environments
•	 CO2 emissions in the tropics decreased by almost 
6% over this period, with emissions in Central 
America decreasing by 17%. The decrease in CO2 
emissions in the rest of the world was lower despite 
having higher overall emissions. Wildlife trafficking 
and tropical deforestation increased in Brazil, 
Colombia and Cambodia.

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2022 Covid-19 research and event highlights
•	 International Conference on Business, Economics, 
Management and Sustainability (BEMAS) July 2022. 
“Re-imagining economic resilience and urban 
futures in the post Covid-19 era”. BEMAS 2022 
aimed at uncovering the path to post-Covid-19 
economic recovery and emphasised the importance 
of building resilient economies capable of dealing 
with complex external financial and public health 
shocks and disturbances. The conference provided 
an excellent opportunity to learn from nearly 
70 presentations, with insights shared by key 
regional leaders, hundreds of researchers, and 
entrepreneurs from all four corners of the globe 
during three memorable days.
•	 Covid-19 Prevention Strategies for Victoria 
Students within Educational Facilities: An AI-Based 
Modelling Study. Oyelola Adegboye, a Senior 
Lecturer in Biostatistics, and Associate Professor 
Theophilus Emeto at JCU’s College of Public Health 
& Tropical Medicine were part of a research 
team which at JCU’s College of Public health and 
Tropical medicine were part of a research team 
examining Victoria’s attempt to prevent Covid-19 
from spreading in school age children. The 
scientists analysed all Covid-19 cases in patients 
aged 0–19 years in Victoria, more than 240,000 
in total. The study indicates effective contract 
tracing programs, mandatory face covering 
requirements, comprehensive testing policies, and 
vaccination requirements in the education sector 
are significantly associated with the prevention of 
Covid-19 in schools.
•	 Study of Effectiveness of Rapid Antigen Tests - In a 
world first, James Cook University researchers have 
developed a new way to rate the effectiveness of 
Rapid Antigen Tests (RATs). Published in Talanta 
Open journal, the study was led by Associate Prof 
Schaeffer and involved JCU PhD candidate Casey 
Toft, Master’s candidate Rebecca A. Bourquin, Dr 
Alanna Sorenson, Associate Prof Paul Harwood and 
the Doherty Institute’s Dr Julian Druce. The study 
highlights the wildly varying accuracy of RATs and 
has prompted calls by the JCU team and others for 
better quality assurance of the tests. JCU researchers 
used a fluorescent protein to develop a new 
reference standard to check RAT performance. 10 
RATs were selected by the team for evaluation, who 
used a Covid-19 fluorescent protein to determine 
the lowest detectable amount of Covid-19 protein 
for each test. Out of the 10 RATs analysed, only two 
returned consistently positive readings at the lowest 
concentration of Covid-19 protein used.

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Diversity, Equity, Equal 
Opportunity and Inclusion  
at JCU
2.4 James Cook University plays a vital role in advancing gender equality by promoting equal opportunity and 
diversity, integrating gender perspectives and analysis into our teaching and learning activities, generating and 
disseminating knowledge and evidence on gender issues through our research and innovation activities, and 
engaging with the wider society and community on gender equality through our outreach and advocacy activities.
ACHIEVE GENDER 
EQUALITY AND EMPOWER 
ALL WOMEN AND GIRLS
2.5 Progress towards UN Sustainable Development 
Goal 5 - Gender Equality
	
2.5.1 Gender Equality at JCU
	
2.5.2 JCU gender balances in student enrolment and 
retention
	
2.5.3 JCU Respect Now Always - Statement of Commitment 
to the Elimination of Sexual Harassment and Sexual 
Assault
	
2.5.4 Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) reporting
	
2.5.5 Women in Earth and Environmental Sciences in 
Australasia (WOMEESA)
	
2.5.6 Science in Australia Gender Equity (SAGE) and Athena 
SWAN framework – JCU Bronze Accreditation
	
2.5.7	MOMA Changemaker Award
	
2.5.8	JCU support for parents
In this section:
2.5.1 Gender Equality at JCU
James Cook University has a comprehensive suite of 
policies and procedures for staff and students to prevent 
and respond to bullying, discrimination and harassment 
supported by:
Equity Contact Officers – for staff and students to contact 
regarding discrimination attributes and areas, including 
harassment and bullying queries and concerns. 
Student Equity and Wellbeing Unit – counselling, and 
support services for students. 
JCU Staff Gender Equity Training – online training module 
for JCU staff educating staff about gender equity.
JCU also has a suite of initiatives involving staff and 
student communities designed to prevent and respond 
to sexual harassment and sexual assault and supporting 
gender equality support gender equality as a foundation 
for respectful relationships. This work is led by the Vice 
Chancellor Professor Simon Biggs through the Chief of 
Staff, Vanessa Cannon, and is operationalised university 
wide. Examples of which include: 
JCU Respect Program - online training modules, 
workshops and events addressing sexual harassment 
and sexual assault
Sexual Misconduct Officers - provide a single point of 
contact for a person who has been subject to Sexual 
Harassment or Sexual Assault, or to the manager or 
person supporting that person.

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2.5.2 JCU gender balances in student enrolment and retention
JCU celebrates diversity through an inclusive and 
supportive environment for students of all genders. 
More than 60% of the University’s students are female 
(figure right) and course retention by female students is 
currently higher than male students (figure below). 
In 2022, out of 1,439 students starting a degree at JCU, 
972 were female, and 626 of these students were the 
first in their family to start a tertiary qualification.
Figure 2.3: JCU student enrolments, percentage of male and female students 
from 2018 to 2023 (above)
Figure 2.4: JCU student course retention comparing male and female students 
from 2018 to 2023 (left)
2.5.3 Respect Now Always - Statement of Commitment to 
the Elimination of Sexual Harassment and Sexual Assault
James Cook University is committed to fostering a 
community that features, at its core, respect, inclusion 
and safety for all. We support gender equality as 
a foundation for respectful relationships and an 
underpinning principle for change. This means a 
strong and enduring commitment to the elimination 
of sexual harassment and sexual assault. The urgent 
need to foster safe, respectful communities free of 
discrimination, sexual harassment and sexual assault, 
has gained momentum worldwide. Our University 
recognises that need and is determined to do all we can 
in our community and in the communities we serve. 
As an institution dedicated to education and research, 
and committed to the communities we serve, we have 
a special responsibility to critically reflect, and create the 
change that is required, in order that men and women 
enjoy equal respect free from sexual violence in all its 
forms.
We recognise that our values of Excellence; Authenticity; 
Integrity; Sustainability; Mutual Respect and Discovery can 
only be fully realised when the contributions of all in our 
community are recognised, supported, and respected. 
We recognise that institutional structures and individual 
behaviours within society, and within our own University, 
need to change and that change can be immensely 
challenging. Change requires examining deeply held 
beliefs and assumptions, and sustained effort.
We recognise the material circumstances of peoples’ 
lives matter, and that the institutions of our society 
need constant attention to ensure just and equitable 
outcomes. Without vigilance, there is risk that some 
people – by virtue of their identity, ethnicity, sex, 
abilities, resources, or age – are routinely believed, 
supported and served whilst others are routinely 
marginalised, disbelieved and forgotten. In 2017, JCU 
appointed Elizabeth Broderick AO, former Australian Sex 
Discrimination Commissioner, to review our University’s 
response to sexual harassment and sexual assault. 
We are committed to strengthening our University by 
implementing every recommendation of the Broderick 
Review. We know that the progress we have made to 
date, and the progress we need to make, is not possible 
without the generous and courageous sharing from 
those who have experienced sexual harassment and 
sexual assault, and the commitment of all members of 
our community. We are committed to strengthening 
gender equality and playing our part to create the 
safe and respectful environment that our community 
deserves and look to a future when the scourge of sexual 
violence is comprehensively defeated.
Enrolments by Gender and Year
Course Retention by Gender

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2.5.4 Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) reporting
2.5.5 Women in Earth and Environmental Sciences in 
Australasia (WOMEESA)
James Cook University complies with the Australian 
Government Workplace Gender Equality Agency 
(WGEA) reporting commitments and submits staff 
reviews as required under the Workplace Gender 
Equality Act 2012. The University monitors and aims 
to continually improve gender equality outcomes 
in staff recruitment including the representation 
of women and underrepresented groups in 
senior academic and leadership roles and the 
measurement and elimination of gender pay gaps.
In the WGEA Scorecard 2022: The State of Gender 
Equality in Australia it states that Australia’s gender 
pay gap is 22.89%, and that 7 out of 10 employers 
have a pay gap that favours men and women are 
paid an average $26.6K less than men per year 
in Australia. JCU has reported to WGEA in 2022 a 
gender pay gap of 13.4% favouring men, well below 
the national average. In management at JCU 49.6% 
of staff were female and 50.4% of staff were male in 
2022, with an increase of 7 female managers.
Figure 2.5: Extract from JCU’s report from its 2022 submission to WGEA, 
showing staff gender breakdown by employment group
WOMEESA formed during the Inaugural Dorothy Hill 
Women in Earth Sciences Symposium (Nov 2017) 
identifying a need to bring together women in Earth 
and Environmental Sciences throughout Australasia. 
WOMEESA is guided by a strategic plan and is 
determined to encourage more women to stay in 
Science, Technology Engineering, and Mathematics 
(STEM) fields as the sector strives to become more 
gender diverse. Dr Melanie Finch, a JCU Geoscience 
lecturer and the President of WOMEESA, said on 
average, universities in Australia had a gender split of 
about 40 per cent women and 60 per cent men in their 
undergraduate geoscience classes, which stayed the 
same into the most junior levels of academia and in 
entry level jobs in mining and environmental science. 
James Cook University is committed to fostering a 
community that features, at its core, respect, inclusion 
and safety for all. We support gender equality as 
a foundation for respectful relationships and an 
underpinning principle for change.

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2.5.6 Science in Australia Gender Equity (SAGE) and Athena 
SWAN framework – JCU Bronze Accreditation
James Cook University is a member of SAGE and 
was awarded Bronze accreditation in 2020. SAGE 
is a national program promoting gender equity 
and diversity in science, technology engineering, 
mathematics and medicine (STEMM). It is based on 
the principles of the UK’s Athena SWAN Charter, an 
evaluation and accreditation framework that addresses 
the improvement of gender equity policies and 
practices in STEMM.
Gender Equity Action and Research (GEAR) Report on 
GEAR Forums - November 2022
GEAR Forums provide an opportunity for the GEAR 
team to update women in the JCU community on JCU’s 
actions towards gender equity, and to provide a space 
where women are welcome to raise and discuss equity 
issues that are important to them and share their views 
and experiences. Forums were scheduled quarterly 
during 2022. GEAR Forums are confidential, with the 
GEAR Coordinators producing a de- identified report 
that summarises the kinds of issues discussed across 
the Forums. GEAR Forum reports are used to inform 
the ongoing work of JCU in achieving gender equity. 
On the 15th and 17th November 2022, approximately 
40 JCU women joined two GEAR Forums. Each forum 
began with an update on JCU’s Gender Equity Action 
Plan. There was then space for open discussion to talk 
through whatever issues women wanted to raise.
2.5.7 MOMA Changemaker Award – making 
opportunities for mothers in academia in 2023
Associate Professor Melissa Crowe and Dr Diana 
Mendez achieved international recognition for their 
work in the Cohort Doctoral Studies Program with 
First Place for Making Opportunities for Mothers in 
Academia (MOMA) Changemaker award in the category 
of University/Institution. The award was bestowed 
by the International Association of Maternal Action 
and Scholarship (IAMAS) and presented at the IAMAS 
conference in Chicago on 12th March 2023. The award 
recognises the outstanding achievements supporting 
mother scholars to undertake and complete research 
degrees. The Cohort Doctoral Studies Program 
has supported 30 mothers of school-age children 
or younger to complete a research degree and is 
currently supporting a further 32 mothers. The 
majority of these mother scholars are working part or 
full time in addition to studying and raising a family. 
The success of the mother scholars is evidenced in 
the 135 peer-reviewed publications, $2.7 million grant 
income and 5 joint mother publications that have 
been produced by this group.

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International Women’s Day
James Cook University celebrates International 
Women’s Day on the 8th of March each year in Australia 
and Singapore. In Townsville in 2023 Dr Louise Floyd, a 
JCU Associate Professor of Law, addressed an audience 
of over 100 at an International Women’s Day Breakfast 
at The Ville Casino.
The JCU based Centre for International Trade and 
Business in Asia (CITBA) recognised and celebrated 
the extraordinary achievements of its leading women 
researchers, highlighting the challenges they face and 
their invaluable contributions to research, education, 
and leadership within Academia.
2.5.8 James Cook University support for parents  
There are two childcare facilities located on the JCU 
Bebegu Yumba Townsville campus, UniCampus Kids 
and Unicare Centre, and these are available for staff 
and students. In Cairns, there are several childcare 
centres located near the JCU campus and in the 
surrounding suburbs – contact details for these centres 
are available at Cairns Campus.
JCU has a comprehensive policy and procedure 
to support mothers and parents in the workplace 
including the Parental Leave Procedure providing paid 
parental leave to staff. Full-time staff mothers (other 
than casual) are entitled to up to 26 weeks continuous 
paid parental leave. Flexible working arrangements and 
remote working are also options available to parent 
staff at JCU to assist with keeping a work/life balance.

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REDUCE INEQUALITY 
WITHIN AND AMONG 
COUNTRIES
	
2.6.1 Reducing inequality in education at JCU 
	
2.6.2 Bullying, Discrimination, Harassment, and Sexual 
Misconduct Policy
	
2.6.3 First in family students
	
2.6.4 Supporting JCU LGBTQIA+ students and staff
	
2.6.5 JCU Celebrates Indigenous Australians and 
Reconciliation
	
2.6.6 JCU Indigenous Workforce Strategy
	
2.6.7 JCU Accessibility support for students and staff 
living with a disability
In this section:
2.6 Progress towards UN Sustainable Development 
Goal 10 - Reduced Inequalities

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James Cook University offers inclusive and equitable 
quality education for all students, regardless of their 
background, identity, or ability, by providing access to 
scholarships, grants, loans, and other financial assistance. 
It fosters a culture of diversity and inclusion within the 
University community, by respecting and celebrating the 
differences among students, staff, and faculty, and by 
addressing any forms of discrimination, harassment, or 
violence. JCU actively engages in social responsibility and 
community outreach activities that benefit Indigenous 
and Torres Strait Islander students, rural communities, 
women, youth, and people with disabilities.
James Cook University has an extensive program in 
place to encourage diversity, and reduce inequality 
in the University and in communities, examples of 
which include:
•	 Diversity messages in our recruitment advertising, 
such as, “We are enriched by and celebrate our 
workplace diversity and welcome applications from 
candidates of all backgrounds and abilities”.
•	 Extensive event calendar where JCU students and 
staff come together to acknowledge, celebrate 
and raise awareness of the diverse groups that 
make up our community, including Harmony 
Day, International Women’s Day, NAIDOC Week, 
Disability Action Week, IDAHOBIT (International 
Day Against LGBTQIA+ Discrimination).
•	 Diversity training for all staff. 
•	 Policies and procedures to ensure that all students 
and staff work, research, study, live and socialise in 
an environment based on inclusivity, respect, free 
from discrimination, bullying, harassment, including 
hazing and vilification, and sexual misconduct. This 
aligns with the JCU Corporate Strategy goal for an 
inclusive and respectful environment that fosters a 
sense of belonging and wellbeing.
To reach this goal JCU has developed support 
programs for staff and students including the 
Indigenous student support program, Indigenous 
Student Success Program, Accessability support for 
students experiencing a disability, Chaplaincy and 
counselling and wellbeing programs.
In the 2021 Higher Education Participation and 
Partnerships Program (HEPPP) report JCU set targets 
to increase engagement with HEPPP
identified schools, and increase indigenous, low 
socioeconomic (SES) and regional, rural and remote 
(RRR) enrolments, participation and completion.
•	 In 2022 Indigenous students comprise 
approximately 6% of JCU’s domestic students,
•	 24% of JCU undergraduate students identified as 
low SES, and
•	 88.1% of undergraduate enrolments are identified 
as RRR.
These students can disadvantage that can strongly 
impact their ability to complete their studies. JCU 
provides generous scholarships and bursaries, however 
an ongoing focus on providing support to the poorest 
and most vulnerable students is needed, to make sure 
they receive the support they need to complete their 
studies at JCU.
The current cost-of-living crisis is causing renewed 
financial hardship pressure on students and making 
attending university more difficult for students from 
lower SES backgrounds. Further effort by JCU to address 
equity, health and wellbeing outcomes for staff and 
students needs to focus on setting targets and tracking 
the enrolment and graduation of students in the bottom 
financial quintile, and from underrepresented groups 
(low SES, Indigenous, students with disabilities, women, 
LGBTQIA+ students, refugees, and international students 
from developing countries) to tackle inequality with our 
university community.
2.6.1 Reducing inequality in education at JCU

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James Cook University’s commitment to diversity, 
equity and inclusion is stated in policy, procedure 
and statements from the University. The Bullying, 
Discrimination, Harassment, and Sexual Misconduct 
policy establishes the expectation that all members 
of James Cook University Council, Students, Staff 
and Affiliates (the University Community) work, 
research, study, live and socialise in an environment 
based on inclusivity and respect, free from Bullying, 
Discrimination, Harassment, including Hazing and 
Vilification, and Sexual Misconduct. This policy is 
supported by the Code of Conduct for Staff and 
Students. In 2023 the policy was revised to be 
more specific about types of discrimination based 
on personal characteristics, including ethnicity, 
immigration status and transgender status.
First-in-family students is a cohort that require 
additional support and guidance as they 
sometimes may feel like they lack the social 
and cultural capital that other students have, or 
they may experience difficulty in navigating the 
academic expectations, policies, and procedures of 
the university.
As over 70% of JCU domestic enrolments in 2022 
were students who were the first in their family to 
attend a university. JCU is proud to serve the rural 
and remote communities of Northern Australia, 
and being the first experience of a university within 
so many families across this region.
In 2022, 626 first-generation were female students, 
from a total of 872 first-generation students 
starting at degree at JCU.
2.6.2 Bullying, Discrimination, Harassment, and Sexual 
Misconduct Policy
2.6.3 First-in-family students
Figure 2.6: JCU domestic student enrolments showing percentage 
of first-in-family students.
Domestic Enrolments by First in Family Status and Year

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JCU is focused on ensuring its students have access to 
inclusive and respectful environments in line with the 
University’s values of Authenticity, Integrity, Excellence 
and Respect. Professor Maree Dinan-Thompson, Deputy 
Vice Chancellor Education, hosted the official launch of 
the Rainbow Lounge at the Bebegu Yumba (Townsville) 
campus on 17 May 2023. The opening was attended by 
JCU staff representatives, JCU Student Association (JCUSA) 
and the LGBTQIA+ community. The Bebegu Yumba 
(Townsville) Rainbow Lounge is located in Building 
34.020, and the Nguma-bada (Cairns) Rainbow Lounge 
was opened in 2022 and is located in Building A4.006 and 
are open during university hours.
LGBTQIA+ students and staff are supported at JCU 
through the JCU Pride Ally Network, Student Equity and 
Wellbeing unit, Equity Contact Officers to report issues 
and sexual misconduct officers to report or make a 
complaint about sexual harassment or assault. The 
contribution the LGBTIQA+ community brings to diversity 
and inclusion at JCU is celebrated on IDAHOBIT Day each 
year at JCU hosted by the Student Services Directorate 
and the JCU Student Association featuring free music, 
food and information for staff and students.
JCU established a bright permanent reminder of the 
University’s stance supporting the LGBTQIA+ community 
and against discrimination of all kinds with Progress Pride 
Flag artwork bordering the main pedestrian crossing on 
the Nguma-bada Cairns campus in October 2022, and 
the Bebegu Yumba Townsville Campus shortly after. The 
Progress Pride Flag markings are a first for JCU campuses 
and the installation occurred as Cairns celebrated the 
annual Cairns Pride Festival with events from the 14th to 
23rd of October 2022.
2.6.4 Supporting JCU LGBTQIA+ students and staff

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Eddie Koiki Mabo Timeline
Eddie Koiki Mabo (known as Koiki) is remembered for his 
commitment and tireless effort to educate others about 
the rights and culture of Aboriginal and Torres Strait 
Islander peoples. Koiki famously challenged the Australian 
legal system and won his people’s case for land ownership. 
The Mabo case (1992) was one of the most significant 
turning points for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander 
peoples in the fight for native title (see image top right).
Koiki had a strong and long-lasting connection with James 
Cook University, spending several years working, teaching, 
and learning on campus. His time at the University defined 
the trajectory of his life; it was here that he began his 
journey to challenge land ownership laws on Mer (Murray 
Island) in the Torres Strait.
The JCU Townsville library was officially renamed in 2008 
as the Eddie Koiki Mabo Library to honour the memory of 
Eddie Koiki Mabo and his achievements. JCU has published 
a timeline of our shared history with Eddie Koiki Mabo and 
the University’s actions towards Indigenous recognition 
and Reconciliation on campus, including a visual timeline 
wall in the library (image right). Each year a public lecture, 
The Mabo Lecture is held to pay tribute to Eddie Koiki 
Mabo. In 2022 the Mabo lecture was presented by Stan 
Grant on the 3rd of June.
Returning Indigenous artefact’s to Traditional Owners
In October 2022 JCU returned Djungan and Djabugay 
artefact’s stored in the University’s Material Culture 
Collection to representatives of the Indigenous community, 
as part of a long-term project to repatriate Aboriginal 
and Torres Strait Islander cultural heritage materials. 
JCU returned a boomerang and a stone axe-head to 
representatives of the Djabugay community, along with 
six photographic slides that show Dan Coleman making 
a rainforest sword and a basket at Kuranda. At the 
same event, representatives of the Djungan community 
accepted a group of bark paintings which were donated 
to the Material Culture Collection in 1977 by the Australian 
Heritage Gallery.
2.6.5 JCU Celebrates 
Indigenous Australians and 
Reconciliation

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JCU is continually 
seeking to 
enhance its 
relationship with, 
and improve 
equity, health, 
and wellbeing 
outcomes for 
the Australian 
Aboriginal 
and Torres 
Strait Islander 
community. JCU 
has developed a Reconciliation Action Plan describing the 
University’s reconciliation journey from 1977, incorporating 
the JCU Reconciliation Statement committing to work 
towards achieving genuine and sustainable reconciliation.
Reconciliation is an honest and critical understanding of 
Australia’s shared history, and how it has informed the lives 
of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples 
and other Australians today. Reconciliation involves other 
Australians and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples 
building and preserving mutual, positive, and respectful 
relationships. It involves optimising these JCU recently 
celebrated the bestowing of Indigenous names for all 
campuses by local Traditional Owners, and unveiling signs at 
the entrance of each campus with their new names.
Professor Ngiare 
Brown is the 
first female and 
first Indigenous 
Chancellor of 
James Cook 
University. She 
was elected as the 
sixth Chancellor 
of the University 
in January 2023, 
commencing in 
April 2023. She is 
also the second 
member of the University’s alumni to take up the role. A 
proud Yuin nation woman from the south coast of New 
South Wales, Professor Brown is a senior Aboriginal medical 
practitioner with qualifications in medicine, public health, 
and primary care, and has studied bioethics, medical law 
and human rights.
Indigenous Education and Research Centre (IERC) provides 
leading Indigenous education research and engagement 
through successful and sustainable programs and services. 
JCU will also host a new Australian Research Council (ARC) 
Centre of Excellence for Indigenous and Environmental 
Histories and Futures (CIEHF) on the Townsville campus in a 
collaboration of researchers from 30 organisations.
JCU Reconciliation Action 
Plan 2020-2022

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In 2021 James Cook University launched its 
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Workforce 
Strategy 2021-2025 developed in the context of JCU 
continually seeking to enhance its relationship with 
the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community. 
James Cook University aims to have a strong 
workforce of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander 
people at all levels of our organisation. JCU will 
provide career growth opportunities, competitive 
pay and benefits, and a safe work environment for 
all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees.
James Cook University is committed to ensuring that 
students living with a disability and/or health condition 
have equal opportunities to access, engage and 
participate in all levels of our university. Students who 
have a documented disability or a short- or long-term 
health condition, can register with AccessAbility to 
access a range of support services and assistance to 
support them to succeed at JCU.
There are a range of services and on campus facilities 
for students with a documented disability, injury, illness, 
short or long-term health condition. Students and staff 
can discuss their situation and the options available for 
them in an appointment. Listed below are some of the 
facilities and services offered by JCU:
Facilities on campus
•	 Assistive Technology Room Services
•	 Alternative Formatting
•	 Software
•	 Volunteer Note Taker Scheme
•	 Mobility Aids
•	 Assistive Equipment
•	 Access on campus and support services 
The University’s Student Disability Policy and Student 
Disability AccessAbility Support and Plans Procedure 
sets out James Cook University’s approach to:
•	 Establishing a diverse student community that is 
representative of the broader community, and
•	 Creating an environment where all students have 
the opportunity to develop their unique abilities and 
realise their potential.
The purpose of the policy and associated procedures 
is to create an inclusive, empowered student 
community, by ensuring education and training 
is accessible to all people experiencing disability. 
James Cook University strongly encourages people 
experiencing any form of disability to share their 
perspectives and experiences and participate in 
higher education. The student disability reasonable 
adjustments procedure states that JCU staff and 
affiliates will support admission and enrolment 
enquiries from prospective students (or their carer) 
seeking admission to a course offered by JCU and who 
have a disability, injury, or health condition.
JCU also provides access to University Specialist 
Employment Partnerships (USEP), a free employment 
service that supports graduating or graduated 
students with a disability and/or health condition 
(including mental health conditions) who are seeking 
graduate employment.
2.6.7 JCU Indigenous Workforce Strategy
2.6.8 JCU Accessability - support for students and staff 
living with a disability
The principles used in the development of this 
workforce strategy are:
•	 mutual respect and understanding of the important 
place of the First Peoples of Australia;
•	 our shared history unites us in our collective 
responsibilities to right the wrongs of the past; and
•	 what we do together, and for each other, 
enhances our collective cultural awareness as an 
educational institution.

ENSURE AVAILABILITY AND 
SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT 
OF WATER AND SANITATION 
FOR ALL
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Environmental 
Sustainability
3.0 Environmental sustainability is maintaining an ecological balance in Earth’s natural environment and conserving 
natural resources to support the wellbeing of current and future generations. The link between environmental 
sustainability and socio-economic development is central to sustainable development. Resources from natural 
ecosystems are vital to the livelihoods, health, and wellbeing for people across the Tropics. Degradation of ecosystems 
and biodiversity loss can lead to loss of livelihoods, increase in poverty and reduced economic development.
3.1 Progress towards UN Sustainable Development 
Goal 6 - Clean Water and Sanitation
	
3.1.1 Clean fresh water on JCU campus
	
3.1.2 Local freshwater creek surveys
	
3.1.3 Water-conscious irrigation and gardens
	
3.1.4 Water-conscious building design
	
3.1.5 Water consumption and water usage tracking
	
3.1.6 JCU Water security partnership for Northern Australia 
	
3.1.7 JCU Water quality monitoring and education on 
water conservation in the community
 In this section
3.1.1 Clean fresh water on JCU campus
James Cook University provides chilled freshwater in 
water fountains in every building and gathering place to 
encourage students and staff to refill their water bottles. 
JCU has installed several state-of-the-art Elkay EZH20 
bottle filling stations that have a visual bottle fill record, 
allowing users to see how many plastics bottle have 
been saved from landfill by using the filling station. Water 
filling stations are provided at different heights to be accessible to all, including wheelchair 
users. JCU events no longer provide attendees with disposable plastic bottles and either 
encourage attendees to bring their own and provide chilled water for refills or give 
attendees a reusable JCU branded bottles such as the school student visiting the campus 
in the image above.

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JCU Bebegu Yumba Townsville and Nguma-bada campus have seasonal intermittent 
creeks that flow strongly in the wet season and stop flowing in the dry season. 
Gonndaloo and Wadda-mooli creeks on the Bebegu Yumba campus in Townsville 
are surveyed in January and April each year. Freshwater biodiversity is surveyed, 
and water quality assessed to monitor pH and nitrites. Fish, reptile, amphibian and 
crustacea, insect and aquatic plant species are recorded.
Fish migrations
The Townsville campus has installed several Fish Ladders to
ensure the uninterrupted passage of native fish to their spawning grounds during
the wet season. Each year the fish ladders are monitored for effectiveness and 
maintenance. Additionally, water berms have been installed in campus creeks to slow 
flow, assisting migratory species in their journey, as well as decreasing bank erosion.
Water-conscious irrigation systems have been installed 
across the Bebegu Yumba Townsville JCU campus. 
This has included introducing over 380 waterwise 
R-Van Rainbird irrigation heads.  These heads have a 
more controlled and heavier flow than our previous 
head, allowing for a more targeted use and effective 
infiltration.  In addition, our Townsville sporting 
fields and select gardens have had in-line fertigation 
systems installed, which utilise wetting agents and bio-
inoculants, to promote healthier soils and plants, and 
decrease our required water.  In 2021 water-conscious 
gardens and irrigation systems were established at the 
new Burralga Yumba student accommodation, The 
Science Place, Eddie Koiki Mabo Library and Central 
Plaza on the Bebegu Yumba campus. This has saved 
the campus a considerable amount of water and 
included establishing 64 plants, across 17 threatened 
species. Various other campus gardens, such as our 
Heath Garden, also showcase Northern Australia’s 
drought tolerant garden options, and are used as a 
living laboratory by our ecology classes. More effective 
and coordinated use of mulch and bio-inoculants have 
also been adopted to further increase the soil health, 
and so decrease its water dependency further, without 
sacrificing botanic diversity. 
 
In the Estate Directorate Nursery, the hardening area 
overhead irrigation has been replaced by targeted 
and adjustable drippers. This has decreased water 
usage by 9.4%, while increasing our plants health. The 
Nguma-bada campus mostly has gardens of remnant 
native rainforest vegetation which does not require 
irrigation and instead relies of the high rainfall of the 
region. Rainfall is collected from the rooves of The 
Cairns Institute Building and JCU Ideas Lab and collected 
in a 20,000L underground water tank. The tank is then 
used for irrigation of garden beds on the Nguma-bada 
campus in the dry season.
3.1.2 Local freshwater creek surveys
3.1.3 Water-conscious irrigation and gardens

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Bioswales have been built on the Nguma-bada 
Cairns campus near the JCU Ideas Lab and John Grey 
Residential Hall to ensure stormwater runoff from 
the buildings are naturally filtered before entering 
the storm water drains. This helps to prevent any 
pollutants from entering the drain and entering the 
environment. JCU Design Guidelines state that all 
new builds must conform the highest sustainability 
ratings, Gold LEED or 5 Green star ratings. These 
ratings specify that the buildings be water-conscious 
to a high standard, including water-saving faucets, 
water conscious landscaping, reuse of laboratory 
wastewater for toilets or gardens, and use of licensed 
bore water or captured rainwater for gardens. 
Irrigation fittings are a high water-saving standard. 
JCU has large rainwater tanks on both the Townsville 
and Cairns campuses for garden use, including the 
community gardens where it is used to water fruit 
trees and vegetable beds. Gardens are generally 
planted with native hardy plants accustomed to the 
tropical climate, and soil additives to improve the 
water-holding capacity of the soil are used with a thick 
layer of mulch to reduce necessary watering.
3.1.4 Water-conscious building design - bioswales
3.1.5 Water consumption and water usage tracking
JCU carefully tracks water usage on its campuses in 
buildings and grounds each year and monitors usage 
for leaks and wastage. JCU reports water consumption 
to the Tertiary Education Facilities Management 
Association each year for their benchmarking survey 
of Australian Universities. In 2022 JCU consumed 
771,037kL of water, and harvested 6,875kL of bore 
water from bores under license from the Queensland 
Government, following sustainable water extraction 
guidelines. Bore water and rainwater were used for 
irrigation and grounds. Rainwater is harvested on the 
Cairns campus, stored in underground rainwater tanks 
and used for irrigation in the D3/D4 precinct. Recycled 
wastewater from reverse osmosis systems int eh 
D2 Dentistry building are used to flush toilets in the 
building to conserve water.

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3.1.6 JCU water secturity 
partnership for Northern 
Australia
Three universities with headquarters in the north have 
partnered with the Cooperative Research Centre for 
Developing Northern Australia (CRCNA) to develop a 
comprehensive program of research focused on water 
security in Northern Australia.
James Cook University (JCU), Charles Darwin University 
(CDU), and Central Queensland University Australia 
(CQU) have formed the Northern Australia Universities 
Alliance (NAUA), and partnered with the CRCNA to 
jointly deliver flagship research activities which address 
water infrastructure and security knowledge gaps.
Some of the areas the CRCNA are interested in 
addressing through this co-investment include 
improving governance models around water 
resource allocations, including First Nations’ interests, 
addressing water security to better support agricultural 
diversification and water trading opportunities and 
improving water service delivery to remote and regional 
areas, including First Nations’ communities. The NAUA 
partners will collaborate on undertaking a program of 
stakeholder engagement and research needs analysis 
in 4 focal catchments (Nodes) in order to design, 
develop and cost a cohesive and impactful 3.5-year 
research program that delivers on the core priorities of 
those stakeholders in those 4 focal catchments. These 
have been identified as:
•	 •Wider Tindal Basin, NT
•	 Douglas Daly and Roper River, NT
•	 Lower Fitzroy Basin/ Gilbert River, catchment QLD
•	 Kimberley-Ord Irrigation Scheme, WA
The research will involve the project team gaining a 
better understanding of the constraints to agricultural 
and water resource development, engaging with key 
stakeholders and government agencies to better 
understand the issues they believe are priorities 
for further research and then to develop a suitable 
research plan to address the issues identified during 
this process.

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Sediment hotspots for the Great Barrier Reef.
New research by JCU TropWATER suggests the effectiveness 
of water quality catchment models – used to identify sediment 
hotspots in Great Barrier Reef catchments – can be enhanced 
by incorporating river sediment tracing and independent water 
samples.
Led by James Cook University TropWATER, in collaboration with 
CSIRO, Queensland Department of Environment and Science and 
Griffith University, the research highlights how multiple lines of 
evidence are critical in improving confidence in model outputs for 
both policymakers and managers.
Lead author JCU TropWATER’s Dr Zoe Bainbridge said while the 
spatial model has been continually refined over the past two 
decades, local field data from the catchment helps to validate the 
model and accurately identify sediment hotspots. The study is 
part of the Landholders Driving Change (LDC) project managed by 
the NQ Dry Tropics Natural Resource Management body, funded 
through the Queensland Government (Major Integrated Project) 
and the partnership between the Australian Government’s Reef 
Trust and Great Barrier Reef Foundation. This research was 
published in Science of The Total Environment under a CSIRO-JCU 
Catchment Water Quality Science Partnership, and an Advance 
Queensland Research Fellowship.
3.1.7 JCU Water quality 
monitoring and education 
on water conservation in the 
community.
JCU TropWATER- community water quality monitoring in 
the Bowen, Broken and Bogie River Catchments in North 
Queensland.
Graziers and scientists are working together to understand 
how, when and where sediment moves from the land into the 
Bowen, Broken and Bogie catchments – building a more accurate 
understanding of the local water quality.
Over the past four wet seasons, JCU TropWATER scientists Zoe 
Bainbridge and Steve Lewis have worked with local graziers and NQ 
Dry Tropics’ Landholders Driving Change project team to run the 
LDC Community Water Quality Monitoring Group, collecting and 
analysing water samples across nine river and creek sites during 
high rainfall events.
Latest results: The 2021-2022 wet season.
Despite limited rainfall in the Collinsville region this wet season, 
more than 50 water samples were collected by graziers during local 
streamflow events and delivered to TropWATER to be analysed for 
phosphorous, nitrogen and sediment content. The water quality 
data collected from this project is paired with historical water 
quality and sediment source tracing data, giving an improved 
understanding of the sediment sources and transport processes 
within these catchments. These valuable datasets are being used 
by the Paddock to Reef Program’s catchment modellers to improve 
the spatial model representation of water quality across the Bowen 
Broken and Bogie catchments, including how this relates to land 
management changes within the catchment.
TropWATER’s Zoe Bainbridge and Steve 
Lewis with Rebecca Lathwell, of Havilah

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JCU TropWATER education programs for the 
community
JCU TropWATER offers a short course in aquatic 
environment monitoring skills which will improve 
understanding and value-adding from the 
perspectives of field staff, recent graduates and 
experienced professionals. Indigenous ranger 
training for river and wetland health protection. 
TropWATER provides several Land and Sea 
Indigenous ranger training programs in northern 
Australia. These training programs have resulted in 
many major on-ground monitoring and restoration 
projects which has not only contributed to restoring 
environmental values, but also returned cultural 
values into coastal wetland landscapes.
 The STEM Waterways Citizen Science Project is 
designed to enable school teams to learn to: study 
aspects of waterways in depth, identify areas of 
scientific importance and interest, engage in good 
STEM practices and gain access to technologies and 
experts in order to create viable data and information 
that is a valuable contribution to local, and potentially 
global knowledge on these essential systems. IScientists 
from JCU TropWATER, partnering with Cairns Regional 
Council and the Dawul Wuru Aboriginal Corporation 
invite teams from high schools in the region to form 
their own STEM Waterways Citizen Science Project.

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3.2 TropEco
TropEco is the University’s sustainability program supporting students and 
staff to create a culture of sustainability at JCU. 
The program supports participation through activities including:
•	 Student internships - for individuals to make a more significant contribution 
through sustainability projects.
•	 Staff team challenges - friendly competitions between work groups 
performing sustainability actions.
•	 War on waste - facilities to help people reduce, reuse and recycle as much 
personal waste as possible.
•	 Community gardens - promoting local food production and self-sufficiency.
•	 Green bike program - reconditioning old bicycles and encouraging use of 
active transport.
TropEco Monitoring Resource consumption.
TropEco staff carefully monitor resource use on campus at JCU:
•	 Water consumption, water reuse and recycling.
•	 Energy consumption, renewable energy production.
•	 Waste production to landfill.
•	 Recycling volumes of co-mingled recycling and specialist recycling sources 
including e waste, batteries.
•	 Green waste and compost recycling.
•	 Paper use and printing rates, paper and 
cardboard recycling 
JCU TropEco and the Estate Directorate produce 
annual reports to the Australian Tertiary 
Education Facilities Management Association 
(TEFMA) on this data. TEFMA conducts an 
extensive annual benchmarking survey of its 
member institutions to gather comparative costs 
and performance data for a range of facilities 
management operations.

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TropEco Achievements 2022:

3.3.1 Monitoring greenhouse gas emissions
	
3.3.2 Action to reduce greenhouse gases.
	
3.3.3 Trends in JCU resource use 2019 to 2022
	
3.3.4 Research into affordable and clean energy
	
3.3.5 A roadmap to carbon neutral
In this section:
3.3 Progress towards UN Sustainable Development 
Goal 7 - Affordable and Clean Energy
Figure 3.1: Hierarchy of preferred actions towards carbon neutrality
ENSURE ACCESS TO 
AFFORDABLE, RELIABLE, 
SUSTAINABLE AND MODERN 
ENERGY FOR ALL
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James Cook University’s greenhouse 
gas (GHG) emissions have been 
measured annually since 2017 and 
has been submitted in emission 
reports to the National Greenhouse 
and Energy Regulator (NGER). 
James Cook University measures 
its corporate value chain emissions 
(scopes 1, 2, and 3) with the view 
to strategically position actions 
towards emissions reduction 
following a prioritized hierarchy, left.
3.3.1 Monitoring greenhouse gas emissions
3.3.2 Energy efficient actions towards reduced 
greenhouse gas emissions
JCU recognises the serious threat of climate change and the 
devastating impact that climate change will have on ecosystems 
and communities living in the Tropics. The University’s regional 
location away from choices in energy providers and complex 
pre-existing energy infrastructure in capital cities, presents 
unique challenges for moving to reduce greenhouse gas 
emissions and move to a carbon neutral future. JCU is making 
progress towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions in spite of 
its currently fiscally restrained environment and has made some 
great achievements in energy management.

9 Campus District Cooling System - JCU has an award-
winning energy management system including 
the Campus District Cooling System on both the 
Cairns and Townsville campuses. The cooling 
system had the largest water tank in the southern 
hemisphere at the time of construction at 12.5 
megalitres (above). Water is chilled at night in the 
huge CDC tanks which then provide chilled water 
(4oC) to JCU’s air conditioning systems through a 
network of underground pipes. This makes JCU’s air-
conditioning system highly energy efficient, saving 
CO2 emissions and millions of dollars in energy costs.
	
9 Monitoring air-conditioning, lighting, energy use with 
timetabled occupancy - JCU’s energy management 
system includes software allowing careful 
monitoring of energy use and cooling to match 
timetabled room occupancy and daily weather 
conditions for maximum efficiency. Teaching spaces, 
laboratories and lecture rooms are only cooled for 
scheduled classes saving a great deal of energy.
	
9 Transition from fluorescent tube lighting to 
energy-efficient LED panels – JCU is transitioning its 
fluorescent lighting to energy efficient LED panels 
and has recycled over 3 tonnes of fluorescent tubes 
in 2022 and 2023.
	
9 Solar PV installations on all new builds – Solar PV 
systems currently exist on Rotary International 
House, The Science Place, The JCU Ideas Lab, and 
Burralga Yumba. This adds to the sizeable solar 
power generated by existing installations at the 
Daintree Rainforest Observatory and Orpheus Island 
Research Station. These research stations are now 
nearly fully powered by renewable energy, only 
requiring backup power from generators for a few 
hours per day.
	
9 Construction of a new solar carpark on the Burralga 
Yumba Townsville Campus, commencing in 2024.
	
9 High energy efficient building design on all new 
builds - LEED Gold and 5 Green Star. JCU’s The 
Science Place was a landmark achievement in 
sustainable development, the first educational 
building in Australia to achieve the standard 
of LEED Gold, under the Leadership in Energy 
and Environmental Design (LEED) international 
sustainable building certification program.
•	 Energy-efficient design appropriate to the 
tropical environment
•	 Reflective roofing that reduces heat gain and air 
conditioning use
•	 A 25kW solar power system that generates 
renewable energy.
•	 Sensor lighting that reduces output when natural 
daylight is available.
•	 Recycled plastic fibre in place of steel reinforcement 
in concrete paths.
•	 Energy metering that supplies usage data to building 
management systems.
•	 Sustainable certified wood used in construction.
•	 Extensive indoor air quality testing and management.
•	 Low-emission materials including flooring, 
adhesives, sealants and paints.
JCU has implemented campus Master Plans with 
principles of space rationalisation and an energy- 
efficient, consolidated urban arrangement of key 
buildings which will further aid emissions reduction. A 
consolidated campus is more geared towards public 
and active modes of transport and less towards private 
cars which will reduce emissions in internal travel.
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Figure 3.2: Energy, water use, and waste and recycling produced per person at JCU from 2019 to 2022
Figure 3.3: Energy, water use, and waste produced by floor area at JCU from 2019 to 2022
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3.3.3 Trends in JCU resource use 2019 to 2022
James Cook University carefully 
tracks energy use on each of its 
campus to monitor trends in 
energy use over time. The figures 
right and below provide a snapshot 
of the current use in energy per 
person and JCU, and per square 
meter of usable floor area.
On average in 2022, a person at JCU 
used:
•	 13.76GJ of energy,
•	 76.8kL of water and produced:
•	 49kg of waste and
•	 8kg of recyclable waste for the 
year.
Resource use decreased 
significantly during the Covid-19 
lockdown in 2020 and has been 
steadily increasing since 2021 with 
the return of students and staff to 
campus. The reduction in student 
enrolments and the size of the 
overall JCU community has reduced 
the total quantity of resource use, 
however the per person usage has 
increased over this time.

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3.3.4 Research into affordable and clean energy
Recycling Lithium-Ion batteries
 JCU PhD Candidate Emenike 
Okonkwo is researching a better 
method to recycle batteries that 
is both environmentally friendly 
and more cost effective. Every 
year, only about 10 per cent of 
Australia’s lithium-ion battery waste 
is recycled. The CSIRO estimates 
this is a lost value of more than $603 million. Lithium-
ion batteries continue to be used in everything from 
mobile phones to electric cars. After a life span of about 
3- 10 years, these batteries become ‘spent’, but they still 
contain valuable metals such as lithium, manganese, 
cobalt and nickel.
But battery recycling in Australia is still facing challenges. 
Emenike says his research is developing both a cost 
effective and environmentally friendly method for 
extracting these precious materials from spent lithium-
ion batteries. “The idea was to incorporate everyday 
waste materials into this process for recycling so that 
we could overall reduce the cost of recycling and have a 
method that is more eco-friendly,” he says.
Solar Power Infrastructure Research
Researchers from James Cook University are joining 
a multi-national effort to design and build a ground-
breaking green energy network for the Asia-Pacific. 
Renewable energy company Sun Cable has assembled 
nine corporate and research institutes to develop 
what will become the world’s largest solar energy 
infrastructure project, exporting renewable energy 
generated in the Northern Territory to Darwin and 
Singapore via a high voltage cable - known as the 
Australia- Asia PowerLink.
The research group, known as the Asia Green Grid 
Network (AGGN), will drive innovation to make the 
technologies required for such a massive project a reality.
The solar cable project will eventually be capable 
of supplying up to 15 per cent of Singapore’s total 
electricity needs by 2040 – equivalent to almost $800 
billion worth of electricity each year. The project is 
estimated to create 870,000 jobs in the Asia-Pacific 
while abating 3070 megatonnes of carbon dioxide per 
annum. JCU College of Science and Engineering former 
Associate Dean, Dan Christie said JCU would be tasked 
with solving some of the research challenges the  
project presented.
Renewable Energy Education and Research at JCU
JCU Electrical Engineering students 
study renewable energy systems 
and research into low carbon 
generation technology. Adjunct 
Associate Professor Ahmad Zahedi 
with the College of Science and 
Engineering is a lecturer in power 
engineering and renewable energy 
systems. Associate Professor Zahedi’s research includes 
Smart Grid & Smart Grid technologies, distributed 
renewable energy generation systems, the impacts 
of large-scale penetration of solar PV and wind 
generation on dynamic performance of power system 
and renewable energy education and Plug-in Hybrid 
Electric Vehicles (PHEV). Associate Professor Zahedi 
is the lecturer for JCU engineering subject EE5500 - 
Sustainable Power Generation and Distribution, which 
aims to introduce the concepts behind sustainable 
electricity systems as well as the main renewable and 
low-carbon generation technologies.
 The subject covers a wide range of power generation 
and distribution systems such low-carbon networks, 
introduction to low carbon thermal generation (nuclear, 
Carbon Capture and Storage, bio diesel, biomass), Wind 
Energy: introduction to the technology, Renewable 
Energy: system level integration challenges (operational 
reserves, impact on conventional generation, capacity 
credit), introduction to multi-generation (cogeneration, 
Combined Heat and Power (CHP), waste heat recovery, 
tri- generation, heat storage, heat networks.

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Dr Yang Du, a lecturer with the 
College of Science and Engineering, 
is a researcher in renewable energy 
integration, power electronics 
and smart grids, and also teaches 
JCU engineering students in these 
topics. One of the subjects, EE4400 
- Power Engineering 2, provides 
the theoretical and practical background knowledge 
required to understand, design and carry out planning 
for electrical power systems. The subject examines 
the engineering and economic aspects of distributed 
renewable energy technologies such as solar, wind, 
and the other commercially available renewable energy 
technologies. It focuses on solar energy resources, solar 
photovoltaic (PV) materials and electrical characteristics, 
photovoltaic systems, and their applications. In relation 
to wind energy, the focus is on wind resources, wind 
power, and wind turbine technologies, modelling 
and simulation of wind power operation. This subject 
concludes with a lecture on smart grid, its characteristics 
and benefits to both utilities and electricity consumers.
Dr Elsa Dos Santos Antunes, a 
lecturer in Mechanical Engineering 
with the College of Science and 
Engineering, is a researcher in 
new smart materials, including 
understanding production of 
value-added products from 
biomass pyrolysis, production of value-added 
products from Biomass Pyrolysis and investigating 
new catalyst for biodiesel production from 
Biomass Pyrolysis. Dr Elsa Antunes recent research 
publications include Bio-oil and biochar from the 
pyrolytic conversion of biomass: A current and future 
perspective on the trade-off between economic, 
environmental, and technical indicators (2022) in the 
journal Science of the Total Environment. The study 
examines evaluating biomass as an energy source 
using Techno- economic analysis (TEA) and life-cycle 
assessment (LCA) and including the impacts of many 
environmental indices on the assessment.

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3.3.5 A roadmap to carbon neutral
James Cook University is currently developing a 
roadmap to carbon neutral to lead the University into 
a more sustainable future. The roadmap will detail the 
steps that the University will need to take to reduce 
our current greenhouse gas emissions from utilities 
and all other services as much as possible. This body 
of work is being carried out by the Estate Directorate, 
being led by Dr Emmanuel Acheampong, TropEco 
Strategic Planning Officer. James Cook University 
will continue to commit to sustainability initiatives 
that, among other outcomes, will result in significant 
emissions reduction with its associated positive 
effects on the environment. Numerous activities 
carried out on JCU campuses and research stations 
emit greenhouse gases directly or indirectly. These 
emitting sources broadly cover utilities, equipment, 
transportation, third party services, and waste. JCU, as 
a champion of sustainability initiatives, is committed to 
make significant contributions to emissions reduction 
through teaching, learning, research, and operations. 
In the JCU community staff and students are carrying 
out sustainability initiatives in their own small spaces, 
which is an encouraging movement in the right 
direction. These initiatives together have a significant 
impact on emissions reduction.
The steps to reach these goals will be outlined in the 
roadmap to carbon neutral, the sustainable transport 
plan and also the campus master plans for Townsville 
and Cairns. There are several other supporting plans 
including the Waste and Recycling Procedures, and the 
Natural Asset Management Plans. The plans include 
the current campus consolidation and pedestrian 
prioritisation works, renovating existing infrastructure 
to be more energy-efficient, and a plan to increase 
the renewable energy production on campus with the 
construction of a solar carpark on the Bebegu Yumba 
Townsville campus, commencing in 2024.
JCU students and staff will be encouraged to participate 
in sustainability campaigns and initiatives to raise 
awareness about the roadmap to carbon neutral and 
everyone’s role in the university’s sustainability journey. 
Effective communication and sustainability leadership 
will be key to the success of sustainability engagement 
outcomes. Part of the communication process will be 
the development of a sustainability induction program 
for students and staff to better educate our JCU 
community about sustainability and the impact that 
the actions of each individual can have on reaching our 
sustainability goals.

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MAKE CITIES AND HUMAN 
SETTLEMENTS INCLUSIVE, SAFE, 
RESILIENT AND SUSTAINABLE
3.4 Progress towards UN Sustainable Development 
Goal 11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities
	
3.4.1 JCU campuses open access to the local community
	
3.4.2 Eddie Koiki Mabo Library art space exhibition 2022
	
3.4.3 Serving Country exhibition 2023
	
3.4.4 Falling from the Sky collaborative art exhibition
	
3.4.5 Sustainable transport at JCU
	
3.4.6 Working remotely - communication technology 
platforms
	
3.4.7 Sustainable development – Gold LEED rating 
buildings at JCU
	
3.4.8 JCU Tropical Urbanism and Design Lab (TUDLab)
	
3.4.9 Affordable housing for JCU Students
In this section:
3.4.1 JCU campuses open access to the local community
James Cook University campuses are part of the local 
community, visitors are welcome to the campus to 
enjoy open green areas, gardens and walking paths, 
and access to places of learning and entertainment 
such as the Eddie Koiki Mabo Library, art galleries, 
and special collection, cafes and eateries. The 
local community is encouraged to get involved in 
JCU through University Open Days, attending JCU 
community healthcare clinics, campus tours, and public 
lectures and seminars on topics of interest
to the public. JCU involves the community in 
partnerships with local businesses, government, 
community groups and not-for-profit organisations 
working with JCU students to increase their connection 
with the community. JCU students complete hundreds 
of hours of work placement in
local schools, hospitals, businesses and industries 
and are an important part of the north Queensland 
workforce. JCU holds many events for local school 
children to experience JCU, including University 
Experience Days and programs for high school 
students to have hands-on experience of different 
career opportunities.

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JCU values the arts and local heritage of the local 
communities in which the campuses are located.
•	 In 2022 JCU spent $5,160,292.00 on supporting 
and maintaining Arts and Australian and regional 
heritage on JCU campuses.
JCU campuses all have been bestowed a local 
Indigenous name through consultation with the local 
Traditional Owners and Indigenous communities, to
recognise and respect Aboriginal and Torres Strait 
Islander knowledge and the significance of JCU’s place 
in northern Queensland. Each year the university 
holds Art exhibitions and events open to the public 
to celebrate Indigenous cultural heritage and local 
artists and performers. JCU campuses are open for the 
celebration of cultural events including NAIDOC week, 
Harmony Day, and welcomes the local community to 
use the campus facilities.
JCU Nguma-bada Cairns campus hosts the World 
Mountain Bike championships and the Crankworx
World Tour mountain bike events on its extensive 
network of mountain bike trails. These events draw 
thousands of visitors from around the world to the JCU 
campus for a week of racing and entertainment.
An exhibition of the artworks of Gail Mabo, Eddie Koiki 
Mabo’s daughter, was held on the first anniversary of 
the naming of the Eddie Koiki Mabo Library. Library and 
Information Services staff endeavour to hold an annual 
Indigenous art exhibition in commemoration from May 
21st for three weeks to coincide with National Sorry Day 
(May 26), National Reconciliation Week (May 27 to June 
3), and Mabo Day (June 3).
The event enabled Library and Information Services 
staff, students and visitors the opportunity to 
participate in the JCU Reconciliation Action Plan in a 
broad public manner. As a vibrant celebration, the 
exhibition nlivened our public space and generated 
conversation not only about the art but also the 
building name, the man behind it, the importance of 
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and to 
recognise and value cultural diversity as an asset which 
enriches the life of the university community.
The 2022 Eddie Koiki Mabo Library Art Exhibition 
showcased the work of Arone Meeks.
2022 marks the 30-year anniversary of the Mabo case, 
one of the most significant turning points for Aboriginal 
and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the fight for native 
title. To celebrate, JCU Library hosted the exhibition 
“Tribute” Arone Meeks. The “Tribute exhibition featured 
artworks from the late Arone Meeks (b.1957 - d. 2021), a 
nationally and internationally acclaimed and celebrated 
Queensland artist and proud Kuku Midiji man. This 
event was collaboratively curated by independent 
Cairns-based artist Geoff Dixon and the Manager of 
Special Collections Bronwyn McBurnie and included 
selected paintings and prints created by Arone Meeks in 
the years between 2001 – 2021.
3.4.2 2022 Eddie Koiki Mabo Library Art Exhibition

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A long-running exhibition featuring photographs of 
Indigenous veterans inspired and educated James 
Cook University students in 2023. Ten photo banners 
from the Serving Country exhibition, each featuring a
veteran, were displayed at JCU’s Indigenous Education 
and Research Centre on the Bebegu Yumba Campus 
in Townsville.
JCU Deputy Vice Chancellor, Indigenous Education and 
Strategy, Professor Martin Nakata said the exhibition 
was a powerful reminder of the service of Indigenous 
people across many generations in defence of 
Australia. “The men and women featured in this 
display each have an inspirational story to tell that was 
forged by hard work, mateship and sacrifice,” he said.
“From conflicts in South Africa and Gallipoli through 
to Afghanistan and Iraq, Indigenous Australians have 
always been there to answer the call to defend our 
nation. 
“We are honoured to host part of this exhibition at JCU, 
and we hope the exhibition inspires our students.” 
More than 200 veterans were photographed by 
Belinda Mason and Dieter Knierim for the exhibition, 
which has been featured at various locations across 
Australia since 2014.
Held at The Cairns Institute, Lux Gallery, and JCU Library 
Nguma-bada campus, the theme “Falling from the Sky” 
evokes the plight of bats in Cairns that fell to their death 
in the hot summers a few years ago. The exhibition 
focuses on negative impacts of climate change 
and environmental pollution that have produced a 
threatening environment for birds and other non-
human forms of life. Falling from the sky was a science-
inspired and arts-delivered exhibition featuring works 
of art by students from Smithfield State High School, 
St Monica’s College, Trinity Bay High School and 20 
professional artists. “Falling from the Sky” featured 
25 works by 20 Australian and international artists, 
including Aly de Groot, an award-winning contemporary 
fibre and eco-artist, textile artist Marion Gaemers, 
Maharlina Gorospe-Lockie, an artist and anthropologist, 
and Carolyn Cardinet, who refers to herself as an 
“accidental ARTivist (accidental artist)”. 
As climate change will have an impact on the future 
of children around the world Robyn also invited local 
schools to encourage their students to submit artwork 
for the exhibition. In total, the three Cairns high schools 
submitted 29 works of art, some of which were 
collaborative projects between several students.
3.4.3 Serving Country Exhibition February to May 2023
3.4.4 Falling From The Sky – collaborative art exhibition 
with JCU and local schools

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JCU campuses have ample bike parking and shower 
facilities, a wide network of paths and bike lanes, 
low-cost bike mechanic services and a Bicycle Users 
Group (Townsville campus) to provide support to 
cyclists. Students and staff are encouraged to travel by 
bicycle to the Townsville and Cairns campuses. Secure 
bike parking facilities are available next to the Eddie 
Koiki Mabo Library, the Medical Precinct (behind the 
Padua Lecture Theatre) and at The Science Place in 
Townsville. Swipe card access is required to use this 
parking. JCU’s award winning Green Bike Fleet program 
repairs secondhand bikes and sells them at low cost 
to JCU students. The program provides affordable 
and convenient transport, saves energy, reduces 
carbon emissions, improves health, improves resource 
efficiency, and reduces waste. To date the project has 
refurbished and sold over 400 bikes. JCU has partnered 
with Beam electric scooter to encourage students and 
staff to use scooters to travel around campus and 
reduce private car use on campus.
A survey of JCU staff commutes in 2023 found that 
staff use 8 different modes of transport to travel to Uni, 
the most common being car, followed by cycling, then 
motor cycling or scooter. JCU is developing a sustainable 
transport action plan to further encourage sustainable 
transport and increase the number of students and 
staff using public transport to travel to uni.
The main public transport provider in the region, 
Sunbus, added 5 electric buses to their Cairns
fleet, allowing the local JCU community to travel to 
the university by electric vehicle. An electric vehicle 
charger operated by Yurika is located on the Bebegu 
Yumba campus Clinical Practices Building as part of 
the Queensland Government’s Electric Superhighway 
program. This enables JCU students and staff driving 
electric vehicles to University to charge their vehicles 
on campus. JCU Estate Directorate staff and cleaning 
contractors use electric buggies to travel around 
campus and carry tools and equipment.
JCU developed a Remote Working Procedure to allow 
staff more flexibility to work remotely, following the 
Covid-19 lockdown. Working remotely reduces staff 
commute and allows staff to improve their work/life 
balance. JCU recognises the importance of, and the 
benefits of, Remote Working Arrangements (RWA) in 
the attraction and retention of staff. JCU acknowledges 
the need to balance this benefit to staff with the 
creation of a vibrant on-campus experience and a 
positive workplace culture. JCU has also invested in high 
quality remote digital meeting tools including Microsoft 
Teams and Zoom to enable staff and students to 
collaborate across the large distances between JCU 
campuses and colleagues in Australia and overseas.
3.4.5 Sustainable transport at JCU
3.4.6 Working remotely – communication technology 
platforms

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JCU has invested in several 
important initiatives to create 
more environmentally 
sustainable campuses and 
actively pursue its commitment 
to sustainable development. 
LEED Gold is a standard under 
the Leadership in Energy and 
Environmental Design (LEED) international sustainable 
building certification program. The Science Place on 
JCU’s Bebegu Yumba campus in Townsville was the first 
educational building in Australia to achieve the standard of 
LEED Gold. On JCU’s Nguma-bada campus in Cairns, the 
JCU Ideas Lab was also designed and constructed to meet 
LEED Gold standards, as a partner to The Science Place 
for innovation and sustainable development. The most 
recently completed JCU building designed and constructed 
to meet LEED Gold standards is the new Burralga Yumba 
student accommodation complex on JCU’s Bebegu 
Yumba campus in Townsville.
New buildings at JCU are built on brownfield sites, cleared 
land from the demolition of older buildings to preserve 
the existing bushland on campus. This is reflected in the 
Townsville and Cairns campus master plans.
JCU TUDLab assists the 
development industry, 
governments and non-
government organisations by 
providing solutions for improving 
the sustainability of tropical 
urban areas. The JCU TUDLab 
pulls together the capacity and 
multidisciplinary expertise of James Cook University 
researchers with strong links to local governments and 
industry. The TUDLab bridges academic knowledge and 
real-world planning and design endeavours. Research 
projects include Urban Heat, Urban Water, Urban 
Design and Regional Regeneration, and Migration and 
Liveability. In 2022 TUDLab’s Associate Professor Lisa 
Law hosted regional Queensland high school students 
to consider the role of science and urban planning in 
building a city resilient to hazards. The group focused 
on building a medium-density neighbourhood on a 
10-ha site just north of the James Cook University Cairns 
Campus. They heard from experts on mapping the 
site with drones (Karen Joyce), acid sulfate soils (Paul 
Nelson), urban hydrology (Han She Lim), and ecology 
(Brandan Espe and Myles Menz). The TUDLab has 
formed partnerships with the Cairns Regional Council 
and Cassowary Coast Regional Council and many local 
business including architects and town planners. Figure 
above show’s Associate Professor Lisa Law at the JCU 
tent at the 2022 Cairns City Council Ecofiesta, educating 
the public about sustainable city design through a fun 
interactive game.
3.4.7 Sustainable development
3.4.8 JCU Tropical Urbanism and Design Lab (TUDLab)

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James Cook University offers on-campus 
accommodation for students at an affordable price 
with options to suit the needs for a wide variety of 
students. JCU believes living on campus for students 
reduces the cost and environmental impact of a 
commute so provides accommodation in association 
with several accommodation providers. The new 
Burralga Yumba accommodation facility on the 
Bebegu Yumba Townsville campus opened in 
2022. Derived from the Birrigubba language of the 
Bindal People, Burralga Yumba means Brolga Place, 
in recognition of the dancing burralga, or brolga. 
Burralga Yumba offers brand-new purpose-built 
student accommodation where students can thrive. 
The seven storey, 403-bedroom building is located in 
the heart of the campus.
Designed to provide contemporary and affordable 
student accommodation in a secure, safe, and 
environmentally sustainable environment, this fully 
self-catered facility features a master chef style kitchen 
and dining with gas cooktops, ovens, and individual 
(and lockable) fridges and freezers. It has a range of 
high-quality communal facilities including study rooms, 
a sports lounge, a theatre room and a music room. The 
facility is managed by UniLodge and an on-site manager 
and administrative support team. Residential assistants 
help to provide pastoral care to students. This new 
facility also increases the number of disability accessible 
rooms on campus for students living with a disability.
James Cook University also supports Aboriginal and 
Torres Strait Islander student to afford accommodation 
while studying at JCU through the Indigenous Student 
On- Campus Accommodation Scholarships, study 
support, provision of social and cultural activities 
including the residential life program.
JCU Brisbane has partnered with Amber student, a 
leading provider of quality student accommodation 
to enhance the experience of international students 
studying in at JCU Brisbane. This collaboration aims to 
enhance the overall experience of our international 
students by offering quality, affordable, and safe 
housing options near our campus.
3.4.9 Affordable housing for JCU Students

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TAKE URGENT ACTION TO 
COMBAT CLIMATE CHANGE 
AND ITS IMPACTS
3.5 Progress towards UN Sustainable Development 
Goal 13 - Climate Action
	
3.5.1 Climate change awareness at JCU
	
3.5.2 Climate change research at JCU
	
3.5.3 Cooperative planning and research for climate 
change disasters
	
3.5.4 Climate change in the Tropics
	
3.5.5 Public education on climate change – seminars and 
events
	
3.5.6 Coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef
	
3.5.7 Sustainability and climate action at JCU Singapore
In this section:
3.5.1 Climate change awareness at JCU
Figure 3.4: Predicted climate change impacts on the Australian climate from the Bureau of Meteorology State of the Climate 2022 report.

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James Cook University is a tropically focused university 
with campuses from Singapore to Brisbane. The 
tropical region of Australia is predicted in the Australian 
Bureau of Meteorology’s State of the Climate 2022 
report to experience increased likelihood of intense 
rainfall events, heatwaves and sea level rise, and fewer,
but more intense cyclones (see image above). These 
events have the potential to impact the University’s 
buildings and infrastructure, research and teaching 
business continuity. For example, more frequent 
marine heatwaves on the Great Barrier Reef could 
lead to further and more extreme coral bleaching 
events, impacting the University’s world-class marine 
research reputation, teaching activities and viability of 
the Orpheus Island Research Station. JCU currently has 
policy and procedure for managing business continuity 
risks, critical incidents and emergency events. The 
impact of climate change is not currently specifically 
included in these documents, and it is recommended 
that these impacts be considered to improve the 
University’s climate change preparedness level. JCU 
maintains a Riskware Enterprise Risk Management 
(ERM). Register, a comprehensive record of all risks 
across the University landscape, which also needs to be 
updated to include climate change risks.
 JCU has a comprehensive Emergency Management 
Plan including external threats such as cyclones (Code 
Brown). Future planning for response, management 
and post- incident recovery for severe climatic events 
needs to be informed from lessons learnt from recent 
experiences, including the Townsville floods in 2019 
(see right). The Master Plan - Townsville Campus 
recognizes that currently there are significant flood 
issues across the campus which need to be addressed. 
Workplace health and safety policies and procedures 
designed to protect students and staff engaged in 
work and learning activities outdoors may also need 
to be updated for increased risks of events such as 
heatwaves and intense rainfall.
All new JCU buildings are built to the highest 
sustainability ratings, LEED Gold or 5 Green Star, which 
significantly reduce their environmental impact and 
resilience to increased intensity of weather events. 
These buildings have sustainable architecture that 
minimizes resource and energy use and heat gain. 
Older, less sustainable buildings that are less resilient to 
climate change are planned to be decommissioned and 
demolished and the construction materials will then be 
recycled at an average rate of 90%. New JCU buildings 
such as the Technology Innovation Complex follow 
local council guidelines regarding flood zones. Designs 
have been modified including raising building ground 
levels to take into account 1 in 100-year flood events. 
The Master Plans for the campuses also recognize 
the need for weather protected/shaded connections 
between buildings, which will become increasingly 
important with the likelihood of more heatwaves and 
intense rainfall events. As climate change impacts not 
only the University’s business continuity but also the 
wellbeing of the JCU community, JCU needs to have well 
communicated resilience strategy to reassure future 
students that it recognises the risks and is adequately 
prepared to respond to events.
3.5.2 Climate change research at JCU
The Centre for Tropical Environmental and 
Sustainability Science (TESS) is based at JCU. The TESS 
mission is to promote cutting-edge ecological and 
environmental research in the Tropics, and the wise 
management, conservation and sustainable use of 
tropical terrestrial and coastal ecosystems, in Australia 
and internationally. The TESS research Theme 2 - 
Environmental change and archaeology is focused on 
the reconstruction of past environments using various 
geochemical, isotopic, microfossil and sedimentary 
proxies, and the derivation of millennial to decadal 
scale length records of events and environmental 
changes, such as tropical cyclones, floods, droughts, 
landslides, bushfires, sea levels, temperature, rainfall, 
sea surface salinity, vegetation, terrestrial run-off, and 
sedimentation in marine environments, along with 
broad regional climate variations such as the El Niño- 
Southern Oscillation (ENSO).

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Agroecology modelling – JCU research into hot and  
dry years
In 2022 a James Cook University scientist found years 
that are both hot and dry have increased markedly in 
Australia over the past 30 years.
Dr Brian Collins is an Agroecological Modeller at JCU’s 
College of Science and Engineering. He says that years 
that are both hot and dry can be more damaging 
to the environment and human health than either 
phenomenon individually.
“For example, we know interactions between heat and 
drought have major implications for crop production, 
and tree mortality can significantly increase due 
to the compounding effect of drought and hot 
temperatures and increased risk of bushfires,” he said. 
Dr Collins analysed temperature and rainfall records 
for Australia between 1889-2019 using advanced 
statistical techniques. “The results showed a general 
cooling-wetting trend over 1889-1989. From 1990-2019 
there was not much change in rainfall, but there was a 
significant change in the frequency and severity of hot 
extremes across the country,” said Dr Collins. He said 
in contrast to the previous cooling period, his analysis 
showed annual average maximum daily temperatures 
had significantly increased across 89 per cent of the 
country since 1990. “This means the frequency of 
Compound Hot-Dry (CHD) extremes significantly 
increased between 1990 and 2019 in more than 40 per 
cent of the country, mostly located in the north, south-
east and southwest,” said Dr Collins. He said between 
1930–1959 most areas across Australia had only 1–2 
annual CHD extreme events with some not having any. 
But the frequency of such extremes increased to an 
average of 5.3 annual events in 1990–2019 with nearly 
50% of areas studied experiencing more than eight 
years with CHD events over the 30-year period.
3.5.3 Cooperative planning and research for climate 
change disasters
Centre for Disaster Studies 
– Townsville Bushfire 
Preparedness Case Study 2022. 
In 2021, Queensland Fire and 
Emergency Services (QFES) 
commissioned the JCU Centre 
for Disaster Studies (CDS) to conduct a community-
based survey within the Townsville peri-urban 
communities of Bluewater, Nome and Horseshoe Bay 
(Magnetic Island). Supported by the local Rural Fire 
Service (RFS) in each of these localities, this research 
was designed to explore current community and social 
variables relating to bushfires. JCU researcher Dr Yetta 
Gurtner produced the report in 2022 and found that 
there is a need to better educate and promote bushfire 
risk, survival and evacuation planning - particularly if 
there are dependants in the household, or for anyone 
with significant medical or physical mobility issues 
(aging demographic). Additional increased social
networking and engagement within the local 
community could facilitate and provide opportunities 
for open dialogue between neighbours regarding 
bushfire risk, preparedness (particularly property 
maintenance) and mitigation (enhancing community 
self-sufficiency and resilience).

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JCU Cyclone Testing Station
The JCU Cyclone Testing Station conducts wind engineering 
research into the performance of houses and other buildings 
in response to cyclones and other severe wind events. The 
knowledge gained is used to improve building regulations 
and standards to ensure that buildings are safe. For over 30 
years, the Cyclone Testing Station has been at the forefront 
of damage investigations after cyclones and other severe 
wind events. The aim of these investigations has been to 
understand what building products and systems performed 
well, as well as identifying areas for improvement in building 
regulations and standards. The Station has conducted these 
damage investigations in Queensland, Northern Territory, 
Western Australia and New South Wales, as well as Tonga, 
Vietnam, and USA. Findings from these investigations help 
to improve building materials and standards to minimise 
further loss and suffering.
3.5.4 Climate change in the Tropics
Effect of climate change on mosquito borne diseases: 
climate change and other environmental factors 
are fanning the geographical distribution of Aedes 
mosquitos, which now play a growing role in the 
transmission of diseases such as dengue, Zika and 
chikungunya in Pacific Island countries and the wider 
area of South East Asia. A collaborative study between 
AITHM and the University of New South Wales (UNSW), 
which set out to identify the frequency of arboviral 
(mosquito-borne) disease outbreaks in 22 Pacific Island 
countries, discovered major inconsistencies in how 
these outbreaks are reported – which may jeopardise 
efforts to contain the diseases.
“We found that data on outbreaks are not routinely 
reported, nor are they reported in a consistent 
manner,” said JCU Associate Professor of Virology 
and Viral Diseases, Paul Horwood, one of the study 
leaders. The human cost of explosive outbreaks can be 
devastating for countries with fragile health systems,” 
added epidemiologist Dr Adam Craig, co-supervising 
author from UNSW. “In 2016-17, the Solomon Islands 
experienced the largest dengue outbreak on record 
in the Pacific. It swept through the capital, Honiara 
and affected more than 12,300 people, resulting in 
877 hospitalizations and 16 deaths.” These species 
of mosquito are now spreading rapidly across South-
East Asia, bringing increased disease risk to Singapore, 
Southern China and PNG.
Brain Health in the Tropics – a virtual conference - 
Responding to mental health 
challenges in uncertain times - July 
2022 – Creating Futures, supported 
by James Cook University. In July 
2022, Creating Futures delivered a
series of four free lunch time 
sessions on Brain Health. The 
sessions were presented by 
Professor Zoltan Sarnyai, Head 
of the Laboratory of Psychiatric Neuroscience at JCU. 
The effects of climate change can be direct or indirect, 
short-term, or long-term. Acute events can act through 
mechanisms similar to that of traumatic stress, leading 
to well-understood psychopathological patterns. In 
addition, the consequences of exposure to extreme or 
prolonged weather-related events can also be delayed, 
encompassing disorders such as posttraumatic 
stress, or even transmitted to later generations. The 
lectures summarised the current research findings 
in this highly important new field which can help not 
only health care professionals but also policymakers 
dealing with the potential devastating consequences 
of global warming. Working with partners in the Pacific, 
Creating Futures aims to support on ground health 
professionals and community members with skills 
development, information, training, leadership courses 
and networking opportunities.
Community perceptions of human-assisted adaptation 
in the Great Barrier Reef - Dr Gillian Paxton, JCU Cairns 
Institute seminar series, June 2022. While reducing 
global greenhouse gas emissions is urgently needed, 
it will no longer be enough to guarantee the long-term 
survival of the Great Barrier Reef as we know it. The 
Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program (RRAP) is a 
multi-institutional collaboration seeking to create a suite 
of innovative and targeted technological measures to 
help the Great Barrier Reef adapt and survive in a future 
marked by climate change.

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3.5.5 Public education on climate change – seminars 
and events
TESS seminars feature international, Australian, and 
local JCU researchers whose work falls within Tropical 
Environmental and Sustainability Sciences. Speakers 
are typically established or postdoctoral researchers.
TESS Seminar Series 2023
•	 Research priorities for adapting forest restoration to 
future climate change – Professor Susan Laurence, 
Kali Middleby PhD candidate, JCU. Limiting the 
rise of global warming under 2oc will necessitate 
a rapid reduction in greenhouse gas emissions 
and the additional sequestration of carbon from 
the atmosphere. Tropical forest preservation 
and restoration will be crucial to meet this goal. 
However, current, and future changes in climate 
such as climate warming, heatwaves, drought and 
their promotion of wildfires, threaten the potential 
of tropical forests to sequester carbon. Furthermore, 
the synergisms of these phenomena with existing 
disturbances such as cyclones, invasive grasses, and 
land use, encompass a suite of challenging scenarios 
that will require adaptive solutions. The seminar 
discussed impacts of current and future climate 
scenarios on tropical forests and present the results 
of ongoing restoration research in order to establish 
how we should prioritise restoration research 
priorities for coming decades.
•	 Interactions between dugong biology and the 
biophysical determinants of their environment - 
Emeritus Professor Helene Marsh, JCU. Dugongs 
perceive their environment largely through touch, 
hydrodynamic reception, and hearing; vision and 
taste are less important components of their 
sensory repertoire. The important elements of 
their biophysical environment include the drivers of 
the distribution, abundance, species composition, 
biomass of seagrass communities, and the 
environmental parameters that influence dugongs 
directly such as water depth, light, temperature, 
tides, waves, currents, coastline features, and 
predation risk. The most profound effects of 
climate change on dugongs are likely to be short 
and long-term changes to the distribution, species 
composition, and biomass of seagrass habitats, 
which, in turn, will affect their life history parameters, 
movements, and habitat use.
•	 The need for bold nature retention targets to 
drive effective biodiversity conservation in the 
Anthropocene – Professor James Watson, University 
of Queensland. Humanity is exerting unprecedented 
pressure on the natural environment, driving a 
biodiversity extinction and climate crisis and placing 
strain on natural resources. Understanding the 
spatial distribution and growing dominance of 
different human pressures is vital for ambitious 
global goals such as the United Nations Sustainable 
Development Goals (SDGs) and Kunming-Montreal 
Global Biodiversity Framework. We still have time 
to ‘bend the curve’ back for biodiversity but this can 
only happen when with an evidence-based strategy 
based on what species and ecosystems need in 
the face of expanding human pressures and the 
changing climate.
TESS seminar series 2022
•	 How has climate change affected Queensland’s 
Mulga and Mitchel grass over the past 50 years? 
- Dr Brian Roberts. This work exposes the floristic 
change and climatic trends over half a century. A 
definite conclusion is difficult as the processes are 
still ongoing, and the authors found appropriate 
to summarize the factual findings rather than to 
attempt to closeup the 50-years of dynamic study. 
Some of the findings over the course of the study 
are mean annual temperature has increased by 
about +0.20oC for the half century; the generally 
expected trend toward more drought- resistant 
plants has not been detected by the vast number of 
observations (up to 2021); and annual rainfall has 
decreased by an average of 1.0mm per decade over 
the past 13 decades.
•	 CAFNEC and Community Power for Change – Lucy 
Graham, Cairns and Far North Environmental 
Centre (CAFNEC) is going from strength to strength 
after operating in FNQ for 41 years. FNQ holds some 
of the most incredible environments in the world 
and like most precious things, has depended on the 
protection and stewardship of people. Lucy Graham, 
CAFNEC Director, highlighting the important work 
that CAFNEC volunteers and members are doing 
to take action and protect our environment and 
people, discussing climate action, biodiversity, 
conservation, citizen science and more.

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New research in 2022 shows global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial 
levels will be catastrophic for almost all coral reefs – including those 
once thought of as refuges. Associate Professor Scott Heron from James 
Cook University was part of the study. He said the team of scientists 
used the latest generation of climate model projections to predict future 
thermal exposure of shallow-water coral reefs around the globe. “We 
identified thermal refuges – places where it’s thought coral reefs have a 
good chance of surviving warming oceans due to things like consistent 
upwelling of cool deep waters,” said Dr Heron. He said the scientists 
found that the refuges will provide almost no escape. Only 0.2%, or one 
fifth of one percent, of coral reefs globally are projected to avoid frequent 
bleaching-level heat stress under a 1.5°C climate warming scenario.
“This means corals worldwide are at even greater risk from climate change 
than previously thought, especially as limiting warming to 1.5°C is looking 
increasingly unlikely,” said Dr Heron.
Dr Heron added that the scientists 
wanted to highlight that climate 
change effects are already impacting 
ecosystems in many areas of the world 
and will worsen, even at the 1.5°C 
of global warming set as a target in 
international agreements. This includes 
potential impacts of heat stress this 
year on the Great Barrier Reef and off 
Western Australia.
Algae protecting coral reefs from bleaching.
JCU scientists have found macroalgae (seaweed) can help protect some 
corals from bleaching, and the removal of the canopy-forming seaweed 
should be carefully timed to help coral reefs thrive. Associate Professor 
Scott Heron said such findings were becoming increasingly important. 
“With the escalating frequency and intensity of anomalously high 
temperature events, climate-driven coral bleaching and mortality is now 
occurring somewhere in the world every year. This is the biggest risk to 
reef ecosystems over the coming decades. “It’s in no way a theoretical 
problem – broad-scale coral bleaching events have already had major 
effects on the Great Barrier Reef in 2016, 2017, 2020, and again in 2022,” 
he said. Research officer Hillary Smith said “Our study suggests that the 
timing of removing macroalgae on the Great Barrier Reef may maximise 
benefits. Algae removal before the annual mass spawning period in 
September/October will reduce competition for space between algae and 
baby corals.
“Conversely, it seems that allowing some regrowth of the algae canopy 
prior to the maximum summer heat in February and March will give 
some protection to mounding corals”. The study was published in 2022 in 
the Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology.
3.5.6 Coral bleaching on the Great 
Barrier Reef

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Research into impacts on local business.
In 2022 JCU researchers have been examining how businesses 
operating on the Great Barrier Reef have been trying to adapt to a 
warming climate – with many becoming involved in action against 
climate change. James Cook University PhD candidate Henry Bartelet 
led the study. He said coral reefs are increasingly affected by climate-
induced disturbances, magnified by increasing ocean temperatures. 
About half the operators surveyed became involved in action 
against climate change. The researchers also found one unexpected 
response that they had not included in the survey questions – some 
businesses had chosen to educate visitors about climate impacts.
Coral bleaching – JCU analyses impact on 
management of the Great Barrier Reef.
New JCU research in 2022 shows mass bleaching did little to change 
the issues addressed or key players involved in management of the 
Great Barrier Reef. PhD candidate Amber Datta from James Cook 
University’s ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies led the 
study.
She said researchers looked at key issues discussed by a range of major 
parties playing a role in management of the reef, such as industry 
groups, NGOs, as well as government organisations; before and after 
two coral bleaching events in 2016 and 2017. Ms. Datta said mass 
coral bleaching events have caused some action, such as new coral 
restoration programs. Yet overall, their results showed that the events 
primarily reinforced existing priorities and did not change the relative 
influence of different parties. Meeting documents indicated this may 
be because the Great Barrier Reef has a very established management 
system, and those involved chose to utilise existing forums rather than 
create new ones in the face of crisis. “This implies that extreme climatic 
events may fail to unseat the entrenched status quo.”

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3.5.7 Sustainability and climate action at JCU Singapore
The Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) 
Committee at James Cook University in 
Singapore came up with the following initiatives 
in 2022:
•	 World Water Day (awareness)
•	 Participation in Earth Hour
•	 Environmental & Safety talks
•	 Participation in “Old Shoe New Future” 
program organised by ActiveSG.
•	 Green DNA Certification issued by Singapore Environment Council 
the University. 
JCU Singapore has also attained the Green DNA
Certification, which recognises the University’s enduring sustainability 
journey. In addition, the University has also received the Eco Office 
certification and the EcoF&B certification, which recognise the 
sustainability efforts and eco-consciousness among staff and the 
Campus’s F & B operators respectively.
Yellow flame Awards JCU Singapore
At the 2022 School Green Awards, JCU Singapore 
received the Yellow Flame Award! This is our third 
Yellow Flame Award, reflecting our blossoming 
environmental efforts across various activities and 
initiatives, as well as on campus facilities. The School 
Green Awards (SGA) is a voluntary environmental 
program which serves as a platform for students to 
develop and showcase their environmental efforts, 
through customised activities which will help them 
gain better understanding of the environment. 
The Singapore Environment Council (SEC) is an 
independently managed, non-profit and non-
governmental organisation (NGO) and an institution of 
Public Character (IPC).
SEIGOP 2023 Conference at James Cook University, 
Singapore addresses key global challenges
The SEIGOP 2023 Conference provided a platform for 
academics, researchers, industry practitioners and 
students to share their research on sustainability, 
organisational psychology, and more with other 
global experts.
The inaugural Sustainability, Economics, Innovation, 
Globalisation and Organisational Psychology (SEIGOP) 
2023 Conference took place at James Cook University 
(JCU), Singapore from 1–3 March, attracting various 
experts to discuss the latest research and innovations in 
these key areas.
The conference brought together leading academics, 
researchers, practitioners, and policymakers to share 
their insights on the challenges and opportunities 
associated with sustainability, economics, innovation, 
globalisation, and organisational psychology. The 
event was organised by the Centre for International 
Trade and Business in Asia (CITBA) at JCU, Singapore.
Over the course of the three-day conference, 
participants engaged in lively discussions and 
shared their latest research findings and innovative 
solutions to some of the most pressing challenges 
facing businesses, governments, and societies 
around the world. Professor May Tan-Mullins — 
Dean International at JCU in Singapore, and Advisor 
to the Organising Committee — said, “The SEIGOP 
2023 conference provides a platform for experts 
from around the world to share their insights and 
collaborate on solutions to some of the world’s most 
pressing challenges. By bringing together experts 
from diverse fields, we hope to foster interdisciplinary 
dialogue and facilitate the exchange of innovative 
ideas and best practices. It was a truly exciting event, 
and we look forward to the productive outcomes that 
will emerge from this conference.”

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CONSERVE AND SUSTAINABLY 
USE THE OCEANS, SEA AND 
MARINE RESOURSES FOR 
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
3.6 Progress towards UN Sustainable Development 
Goal 14 – Life Below Water
	
3.6.1 Life below water - research 
	
3.6.2 JCU marine biology and marine science partnerships 
and community action
	
3.6.3 JCU sustainable fisheries, aquaculture and marine 
conservation
	
3.6.4 Research into overfishing on the Great Barrier Reef
	
3.6.5 Large-scale seagrass restoration project with JCU 
TropWATER
In this section:
3.6.1 Life Below Water - research at JCU
JCU is very active in the field of freshwater Ecology 
and conservation and its flagship research Institute, 
JCU TropWATER, has many active freshwater research 
projects being undertaken by JCU postgraduate 
students and JCU researchers.
Biodiversity of freshwater turtles in Northern Queensland 
Coastal Queensland is home to Australia’s highest
freshwater turtle diversity with seven genera 
comprising a total of 16 species. Due to their restricted 
distributions and specialised physiologies (i.e., bimodal 
respiration) these turtles are vulnerable to water quality 
degradation and loss of habitat. This project led by 
Jason Schaffer (TropWATER), with Professor Damien 
Burrows and Cecilia Villacorta-Rath aimed to determine 
the distribution, habitat requirements and population 
demographics (age class structure, abundance) of 
northern Queensland freshwater turtles. The study 
discovered an iconic species of turtle, Irwin’s Turtle, 
locally known as the lost bum-breathing turtle, which 
had not been seen for 25 years, in the lower Burdekin 
river, using DNA detection in water samples.

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JCU Research – change in tidal wetlands 
Researchers analysing more than one-million satellite 
images have discovered 4,000 square kilometres of 
tidal wetlands have been lost globally over twenty years 
– but ecosystem restoration and natural processes 
are playing a part in reducing total losses. Dr Nicholas 
Murray, Senior Lecturer and head of James Cook 
University’s Global Ecology Lab, led the study. He said 
global change and human actions are driving rapid 
changes of tidal wetlands —tidal marshes, mangroves 
and tidal flats — worldwide. The scientists found that 
almost three-quarters of tidal wetland loss globally has 
been offset by the establishment of new tidal wetlands 
in areas where they formerly did not occur – with 
notable expansion in the Ganges and Amazon deltas. 
“Most new areas of tidal wetlands were the result of 
indirect drivers, highlighting the prominent role that 
broad-scale coastal processes have in maintaining tidal 
wetland extent and facilitating natural regeneration. 
This result indicates that we need to allow for the 
movement and migration of coastal wetlands to 
account for rapid global change,” said Dr Murray.
Partnerships with farmers for protecting wetlands 
In one of the most sugarcane-dominated catchments 
in Queensland, JCU’s Dr Adam Canning worked with 
Ingham farmer John Cardillo and Greening Australia in 
leading a project that has the potential to be scaled up 
across the Great Barrier Reef catchment. Together, they 
have converted 15 acres of flood-prone cane paddocks 
into Melaleuca plantations. These paddocks back on to 
Palm Creek, which is fed by the Herbert River and flows 
down into the Great Barrier Reef.
Canning is investigating the amount of carbon stored 
by these plantations compared to non- restored areas, 
and their role in capturing nutrients from farm run-
off mobilised during high rainfall to reduce nutrient 
pollution to the Reef. “Planting Melaleuca plantations on 
flood-prone farms has dual benefits,” he says. “They are 
powerful carbon sinks and can help improve water
quality. But if agricultural land is restored, it could 
be at a loss to farmers so, we need to think about 
how restoration can have co-benefits for farmers.” 
The restoration project examines how farmers 
could generate income while offering farmland to 
be converted into wetlands, specifically when the 
paddocks back onto key waterways.

Dieback in tropical mangroves
Breakthrough research by James Cook University scientists in 2022 
has solved the mystery of the catastrophic death of 40 million 
mangrove trees around the Gulf of Carpentaria in 2016 – and the 
discovery could help scientists predict, and possibly prevent, future 
events. The latest research reveals that the devastating mass death of 
tidal mangrove forests was a result of an unusually low sea-level due 
to large-scale swings in El Nino – Southern Oscillation events.
Lead author Dr Norm Duke from JCU’s TropWATER Research Centre 
said the mangroves had not recovered seven years on, making the 
mangrove dieback event an ongoing coastal catastrophe.
“The key factor responsible for the mass dieback appears to have 
been the sudden 40- centimetre drop in sea level that lasted for 
about six months, coinciding with no rainfall, killing vast areas of 
mangroves,” he said.
“Essentially, the trees died of thirst.” The study shows that strong El 
Niño events – often associated with coral bleaching on the Great 
Barrier Reef – are also a threat to vital mangrove ecosystems. 
The dieback’s exact cause has been revealed after a four-year 
research partnership between James Cook University, Charles 
Darwin University, and Carpentaria Land Council Aboriginal 
Corporation Indigenous Rangers in the Gulf, funded by the Australian 
Government’s National Environmental Science Program and the 
Northern Territory Government.
Women Warriors of the Torres Strait 
The Great Barrier Reef Census
The Women Warriors of the 
Torres Strait – an all-female 
crew of Traditional Owners, 
rangers and scientists led 
by the Torres Strait Regional 
Authority (TSRA) Sea Team 
and James Cook University 
–set sail as part of the Great 
Reef Census to survey the 
northernmost section in 
the Torres Strait, Northern 
Australia. The Women 
Warriors of the Torres Strait Great Reef Census voyage is funded by 
the TSRA and supported by partners including the Citizens of the 
Great Barrier Reef and JCU. 
James Cook University is one of the major delivery partners for the 
Great Reef Census, an annual citizen science initiative led by Citizens 
of the Great Barrier Reef. Within just three years, the program has 
significantly expanded survey coverage across the Great Barrier 
Reef, helping to capture a broad scale snapshot of reef condition and 
provide timely information to reef managers and scientists that help 
to target protections.
3.6.2 JCU marine biology and 
marine science partnerships and 
community action
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Infographic below from Citizens of the Great Barrier Reef The Great Reef Census Impact Report. https://citizensgbr.org/

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3.6.3 JCU Sustainable Fisheries, Aquaculture and Marine 
Conservation
Centre for Sustainable Tropical Fisheries and 
Aquaculture.
The team provides world class, multidisciplinary, 
solutions-focused research for local, state, federal 
and international resources managers, both in 
government and the private sector. The University 
offers a teaching and industry-outcome R&D portfolio 
delivered by internationally renowned experts. With a 
comprehensive undergraduate offering in aquaculture 
and fisheries sciences, through to graduate coursework 
and higher degree research options, JCU trains the next 
global leaders in aquatic food production. Through 
the Centre for Sustainable Tropical Fisheries and 
Aquaculture (CSTFA), JCU also partners with industry, 
NGOs, and government to tackle grand challenges 
associated with sustainable production of seafood.
JCU researchers work closely with commercial, 
recreational, charter and indigenous fishers, and 
provide advice on management of fished resources to 
relevant management agencies locally, nationally and 
internationally. JCU staff hold key positions on national 
and international advisory panels and management 
bodies actively advising policy and management. JCU’s 
location provides for close links with world leading 
marine and fisheries research and management 
agencies, and with fishing industry groups.
The JCU Fisheries Human Dimensions team work 
directly with individuals, communities, and decision-
making bodies to provide targeted advice and research 
to support use, management and conservation needs. 
These include commercial, recreational, charter and 
indigenous fishers both nationally and internationally, 
and key agencies such as the Great Barrier Reef Marine 
Park Authority of Australia, Queensland’s Department 
of Agriculture and Fisheries, the National Fisheries 
Authority of Papua New Guinea, and the Galapagos 
Science Centre in Ecuador.
Agri-Food Tech Expo Asia (AFTEA) 2022
Held at Marina Bay 
Sands Convention 
Centre, Singapore, 26-
28th of October 2022, 
the Agri-Food Tech 
Expo Asia is a strategic 
platform that evolves 
with the industry and 
is shaped by leaders and experts to explore strategies 
and solutions for sustainable systems and production 
to build a vibrant Agri-Food hub in Asia. In addition 
to hosting a booth at the expo, Professors Andreas 
Lopata and Dean Jerry were also the Sandbox speakers 
for the event. A Constellar event with international 
content partner DLG (the German Agricultural Society), 
its inaugural edition in 2022 welcomed over 6,000 
attendees from 66 countries, and 163 exhibitors from 
24 countries with 9 national pavilions from Canada, 
France, Germany, Indonesia, Israel, Republic of Korea, 
Singapore, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom. 
2022’s edition also facilitated over 500 business 
meetings and 55 sandbox sessions over the event days.
Collaborating with farmers to improve water quality in 
the Great Barrier Reef Better 
Across the Great Barrier Reef catchment, TropWATER 
scientists and cane farm extension officers are 
enhancing paddock-scale water quality monitoring 
projects to strengthen the crucial link between water 
quality science and sustainable agriculture. The initiative 
unites ten water quality monitoring projects – spanning 
the Wet Tropics, the Burdekin, and Mackay Whitsunday 
regions – to collectively improve the data collection and 
communication of water quality science in farming 
communities. By integrating scientific expertise from 
leading water quality researchers with strategies from 
science communication specialists, the project helps 
build farmers’ trust in water quality science to ultimately 
transition to a sustainable future for both farmers 
and the environment. The initiative is funded by the 
partnership between the Australian Government’s Reef 
Trust and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation, under the 
Regional Water Quality Program.
Investigating historical environmental and climate 
records across the Great Barrier Reef 
TropWATER scientists are investigating the long-term 
environmental and climate records across the Great 
Barrier Reef to provide crucial insights into the region’s 
historical conditions. By analysing proxy records 
like coral cores, the project uncovers disturbances, 
linking them to specific factors for a profound 
understanding of the reef’s evolution. The resulting 
data not only informs marine ecosystem dynamics 
but also aids practitioners, managers, and researchers 
in comprehending the region’s past. This knowledge 
guides sustainable practices and builds awareness 
of environmental shifts across the Great Barrier Reef 
catchment and lagoon, promoting informed decision-
making for the future.

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3.6.4 Research into overfishing on the Great Barrier Reef
Restricting spearfishing in some ‘yellow zones’ in 
the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park has doubled the 
abundance of coral trout, according to new research 
led by James Cook University scientists. The study 
published in 2022 in the journal Biological Conservation 
focused on reefs around the Capricorn Bunkers, 
offshore from Gladstone, looking at the abundance 
of targeted fish species in partially protected Marine 
Park Zones known as yellow zones. Researchers 
compared yellow zones that allow spearfishing to 
‘special management area’ yellow zones that prohibit 
spearfishing.
JCU’s TropWATER scientist Dr April Hall said while 
spearfishing can be an ecologically sustainable
activity with minimal bycatch, restricting the activity via 
designated spearing-free management
zones can have conservation benefits at a regional 
scale. JCU’s Professor Mike Kingsford said no-take 
marine reserves were one of the most effective 
conservation measures to restore the abundance of 
fish. “Fully protected green zones in the area support 
the most significant number of large coral trout,” 
he said. Co-author, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park 
Authority’s Director Darren Cameron said the research 
demonstrated that yellow zones were an important 
marine park management tool providing a balance 
between conservation and sustainable fishing activities. 
“Healthy fish populations in both yellow zones and 
protected no-take green zones produce baby fish, 
many of which grow up and are subsequently caught 
throughout fished areas. These zones prove fishing, 
with more fish also importantly contributing to the 
health and resilience of the entire Great Barrier Reef,” 
he said.

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Tropical Australia’s first large-scale seagrass restoration project began in 
2023 in Cairns and Mourilyan, aiming to replenish more than 400 hectares 
of seagrass habitat devastated by cyclones and La Nina weather events 
more than a decade ago. JCU TropWATER’s Associate Professor Michael 
Rasheed, who leads the team, said the project was built on years of rigorous 
research and trials.
“This is the first time seagrass restoration has been attempted at this scale 
in tropical Australia. We’ll be working in partnership with communities and 
leading researchers in the field. “For more than a decade, the loss of these 
seagrass meadows has set off a ripple effect, robbing these ecosystems of 
their remarkable benefits – as a food source for dugongs and green turtles, 
and as essential nurseries for prawns and fish. “It’s critical these habitats 
are restored, not just for the sake of the marine life they sustain, but for the 
resilience of our coastal communities.”
Seagrasses are coastal marine powerhouses, capable of capturing carbon 
from the atmosphere up to 35 times faster than tropical rainforests. Along 
with re-establishing the seagrass meadows the team will measure these 
“blue carbon” storage gains and will monitor the return of fish. Led by James 
Cook University’s TropWATER, the initiative will see scientists, students and 
volunteers planting thousands of seagrass fragments and sowing more 
than half a million seeds over the next four years. The initiative brings 
together Traditional Owner partner groups, including Gimuy Walubara 
Yidinji, Dawul Wuru, Goondoi and Mandubarra, in safeguarding their Sea 
Country estates. The donor seagrass for the program comes from Gimuy 
Walubara Yidinji country in Cairns.
JCU TropWATER – Providing solutions for government, communities and 
industry
JCU TropWATER staff and members have been working with government 
Port Authorities on applied research and monitoring programs at numerous 
sites for over 20 years. JCU TropWATER currently conducts environmental 
monitoring in all the major ports of north Queensland – Gladstone, Hay 
Point, Mackay, Abbot Point, Townsville, Mourilyan Harbour, Cairns (Trinity 
Inlet), Thursday Island, Weipa and Karumba. JCU TropWATER’s port-related 
research includes benthic habitat mapping, seagrass monitoring, mangrove 
health assessment, dugong and turtle health and population monitoring 
and water quality, long-term logging of turbidity and light penetration 
characteristics, artificial engineered seascapes as fish habitat, dredging 
monitoring and modelling and remote sensing analysis of sediment plumes.
JCU TropWATER research team includes.
•	 JCU Honours, Masters’ and PhD students
•	 JCU Scientists
•	 Laboratory and Technical staff
Services offered by the TropWATER Water Quality Laboratory  include 
analysis of water, wastewater and water quality research of freshwater 
streams, rivers, wetlands and reservoirs for JCU research projects, as well 
as a consulting service for industry and a commercial analytical service to 
government agencies and industry.
3.6.5 Large-scale seagrass restoration project 
with JCU TropWATER, 4 traditional owner 
groups, Oz Fish Unlimited, with funding from 
BHP’s Blue Carbon grants program

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PROTECT, RESTORE AND PROMOTE SUSTAINABLE 
USE OF TERRESSTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS, 
SUSTAINABLY MANAGE FORESTS, COMBAT 
DESERTIFICATION, AND HALT REVERSE LAND 
DEGRADATION AND HALT BIODIVERSITY LOSS
3.7 Progress towards UN Sustainable Development 
Goal 15 – Life on Land
	
3.7.1 JCU protecting biodiversity
	
3.7.2 Rare and threatened species program
	
3.7.3 Habitat for wildlife at JCU
	
3.7.4 JCU environmental activities in the community
	
3.7.5 Invasive species management
	
3.7.6 Public seminars for conservation and biodiversity
	
3.7.7 JCU Tropical North Queensland Drought Hub - 
Sandpit to Seed funding
	
3.7.8 Sustainable development land use in tropical 
Australia – research and partnerships
In this section:
3.7.1 JCU protecting biodiversity
The abundance and diversity of flora and fauna on the 
JCU campuses are a drawcard to students and staff. JCU 
has a responsibility to protect and enhance the natural 
assets of the campus and is bound by specific local, 
state, and federal legislation in relation to this.
Natural Assets Management Plans (NAMP) have been 
prepared for the Townsville and Cairns campuses 
to protect and enhance their natural assets, while 
helping to inform future sustainable development 
through the Master Plan projects. The NAMPs aim 
to protect high value species, habitats, and green 
corridors, and encourage developments to prioritise 
degraded and previously cleared areas. JCU has the 
knowledge and expertise to ensure our natural assets 
are managed effectively and environmental health 
preserved. Biodiverse campus environments provide 
an on-site living laboratory for students and staff and 
demonstrate the University’s achievements in best 
practice and innovation in natural asset management.
In 2021 JCU and the TropEco team have planted 
over 2000 trees on the Bebegu Yumba campus, in 
rehabilitation sites and landscape gardens. 3000 
trees were planted in 2020 and a further 2000 trees 
have been planted in 2022. Native plants including 
vulnerable species have been selected to provide food, 
habitat and resources for native wildlife including birds, 
bats and possums. Additionally, plant species have 
been chosen for their ability to suppress invasive weed 
species, stabilize slopes and riverbanks and control 
erosion, increasing water quality in JCU’s freshwater 
streams. Revegetation on the Nguma-bada campus 
is an ongoing process renewing unplanted areas of 
campus near established buildings, riparian areas and 
new constructions. In October 2022, 180 rainforest 
trees were planted on campus near the mountain bike 
tracks in collaboration with local community groups.

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3.7.2 Rare and threatened species program - Green Gown 
Awards Australia Sustainability Champion winner  
- Brandan Espe
In 2023, Brandan 
Espe, JCU’s 
Environmental Officer 
and facilitator of the 
TropEco program, 
was awarded 
the Green Gown 
Awards individual 
Sustainability 
Champion – Staff 
winner shared with 
University of Otago’s Jesikah Triscott. Brandan started 
the threatened plant species program as he has a 
passion for the environment and noticed that there 
was not a lot of work being carried out around the 
ex-situ conservation of endangered flora in North QLD. 
He has since acquired recognition for the threatened 
plant species program from a number of government 
agencies, and the program now includes partnerships 
with the Royal and National Botanic Gardens, as well 
as a range of smaller regional botanic gardens, the 
state government, local council and various local non-
government organisations, now making this a national 
program. This project has shed light on the true state 
of condition of some of Australia’s rarest and poorly 
known plants and has now been used by our state 
government in re-assessing the classification of some of 
these species, due to their decline or lack of prior data.
The program is also immensely important as a 
maintained collection, as it allows for these species 
to be safeguarded, should they continue to decline, 
or disappear in the wild, with several species in the 
collection threatened with extinction in the wild by the 
end of this decade. The collection allows for easier and 
fast-tracked propagation for conservation, simpler and 
cheaper research, as well as providing the opportunity 
for our students to safely work with flora they would 
likely never get the chance to see.
Brandan, through the threatened plant species 
program, is now liaising with researchers to determine 
how this resource and capacity can be used to assist in 
combatting threats to native plants from the pathogen 
Myrtle Rust in the region.
Species include the critically endangered Acacia 
pupurepetala (purple wattle), the restricted Gossia 
lewisensis (Mt Lewis Gossia) and the rare Uromyrtus 
metrosideros (mountain Malletwood).
•	 Backhousia tetraptera – critically endangered Mt 
Stuart Mystery Myrtle. Since 2021 cuttings have 
been collected from wild plants and have been 
grown in campus greenhouses. In 2022 18 tree 
saplings were planted in on the Townsville campus 
adjacent to Mt Stuart within the species’ native 
distribution.
•	 Eucalyptus paedoglauca – vulnerable Mt Stuart 
Ironbark. 39 trees have been grown from seed and 
planted on campus in 2021 and 2022. This includes 
a dedicated grove of 33 trees, from 5 different 
parent trees to ensure genetic diversity, this grove 
will be used as a long-term monitoring plot.

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3.7.3 Habitat for wildlife on JCU campus
3.7.4 JCU environmental activities in the community
James Cook University’s Australian Tropical campuses 
are rich in natural bushland and tropical rainforest 
that provide habitat for local wildlife. JCU TropEco 
volunteers monitor native flora and fauna on campus, 
particularly conservation listed species. In 2023 
koalas were sighted on the Bebegu Yumba Townsville 
campus for the first time in some years, and Lumholtz 
tree kangaroos occasionally visit the Nguma-bada 
Cairns campus. Wildlife cameras are used to record 
species occurring on campus including rare and 
threatened species. For a list of plants and animals 
found on campus please see Discover Nature at JCU 
prepared by the College of Science and Engineering. 
In 2022 TropEco staff made bee hotels for native 
stingless bees from native tree timber and placed in 
campus gardens to encourage native bees to establish 
on the JCU campus. Ponds and bird baths have been 
established on JCU campuses to provide water for 
wildlife during the dry season and grow native aquatic 
plants. Microbat homes, bird nesting boxes have 
been placed in trees to prove nesting sites for native 
birds and microbats. In addition,  skink gardens have 
been constructed providing habitat and cover for local 
native reptile species.
Ecofiesta - community outreach
JCU has been involved in supporting the Townsville and 
Cairns communities Ecofiesta events for several years.
At the 2022 Townsville Ecofiesta, TropEco showcased 
work towards a more sustainable environment 
on campus, through discussing with the public its 
revegetation efforts, sustainable landscaping, wildlife 
monitoring, and waste reduction projects. In addition 
to this our staff presented on sustainable ecological 
landscaping, presenting on not only how JCU has 
increased its sustainability, but also how members of 
the public could.
For the 2022 Cairns Ecofiesta TropEco collaborated 
with Lisa Law - Tropical Urban Design Lab, showcasing 
sustainable urban design, and Professor Nico
Adams from the JCU College of Science and Engineering 
showcasing innovative sustainable technologies in solar 
power and house design.
 
National Tree Day 
JCU celebrated National Tree Day on 18 June 2022 
at the Townsville Bebegu Yumba campus with a 
collaborative event for the JCU community and public 
organised by TropEco, The JCU Zoology Society and The 
JCU Sunshine Community Garden Club (see right).
Native trees were planted on the campus grounds 
and attendees learnt about what makes a successful 
revegetation project.
National Science Week 
Sustainability Officer Holly Field presented at the JCU 
Centre for Tropical Environmental and Sustainability 
Science (TESS) Youth seminar on JCU’s TropEco 
sustainability actions to the Cairns community as part 
of their 2022 seminar series. The seminar was held 
in National Science week and was a youth-focused 
environment and sustainability science forum.

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3.7.5 Invasive species management
3.7.6 Public seminars for conservation and biodiversity 
Each year JCU staff collaborate with the Queensland 
Parks and Wildlife Service, Department of Environment 
and Science and local contractors to control introduced 
plant and animals species on campus. This collaborative 
work manages invasive species on JCU owned and 
adjacent land. JCU manages pest species including feral 
pigs, Asian honeybees and yellow crazy ants that are 
problem species in the local area. Local TAFE colleges 
also use this opportunity to train horticulture students in 
weed management on the JCU campuses in a mutually 
beneficially collaboration. 2022 TropEco field work TropEco 
student volunteers returned to Orpheus Island and spent 
several days eliminating invasive weeds and monitoring 
are plant species (see right).
Collaborative monitoring of the JCU campus for invasive 
insect species - 18th March 2022 -JCU hosted the 
Australian Department of Agriculture, Water and the 
Environment staff, and Biosecurity Australia staff in 
collaboration with students studying a Biological Invasions 
subject with Associate Professor Lori Lach. The team 
surveyed the JCU community garden for invasive insect 
pests damaging to agriculture crops.
Monitoring traps were placed in the garden to survey 
insect species for a period after which they were removed. 
Fortunately, no pests of significance were recorded.
Centre for Tropical Environmental and Sustainability 
Science seminars 
Extinction crisis: native mammals are disappearing in 
Northern Australia but WOOPS we didn’t notice – Dr 
Noel Preece. 
Northern Australian savannas hold exceptional 
biodiversity values within largely intact vegetation 
complexes, yet many of the 180+ mammal species, and 
some other taxa, found in the region when Europeans 
colonized Australia are Endangered. Recently, 10 
mammal species were added to the 20 or so already 
listed in the Australian endangered category, one up-
listed to Critically Endangered, one to Extinct, 2 un-listed, 
2 down-listed to Vulnerable and so on.
Current predictions suggest that 9 species of mammal 
in northern Australia are in imminent danger of 
extinction within 20 years. We examined the robustness 
of the assumptions of status and trends in light of the 
low levels of monitoring of species and ecosystems 
across northern Australia, including monitoring the 
effects of management actions. The causes of the 
declines include a warming climate, pest species, 
changed fire regimes, grazing by introduced herbivores, 
and diseases.

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Tropical Mountain Plant Science – a science and ex 
conservation initiative for climate threatened cloud 
forest flora – Professor Darren Crayn Australian 
Tropical Herbarium, JCU. Plant species that are 
endemic to isolated tropical mountain peaks are 
particularly vulnerable to climate change, as upward 
migration to track climate is severely bounded. For 
the 80+ plant species endemic to the mountain tops 
(> 1000 m elevation) of Australia’s Wet Tropics World 
Heritage area, environmental niche modelling indicates 
available habitat will contract drastically by 2080, and 
for at least seven species, may disappear altogether. 
No suitable habitat is known to exist beyond the 
species’ current range therefore urgent precautionary 
conservation action is required. This project responds 
to that imperative by aiming to secure at-risk species 
in living collections. Our novel research on seed 
banking strategies, genetic diversity and tolerance of 
extreme climates will ensure that the ex-situ collections, 
distributed across multiple botanic gardens and seed 
banks along Australia’s east coast, incorporate high 
redundancy, are genetically and physiologically diverse, 
and climatically matched to wild habitat.
Exciting species discoveries in Queensland’s rainforests 
and what they tell us about the past, present and 
future – Associate Professor Conrad Hoskin JCU has 
spent 25 years exploring reptile and frog diversity 
in Queensland’s rainforests. Dr Hoskin presented 
some highly distinct species discoveries, and what the 
discoveries mean for our understanding of the deep 
and more recent history of Queensland’s rainforests. 
Dr Hoskin presented some incredible examples of 
persistence and adaptation to unique habitats, and 
discussed some of the conservation challenges around 
these species and areas as they face an uncertain 
future. Dr Conrad Hoskin discovered a large gecko with 
a ‘beaky’ face, spindly legs, and a spiny tail on Scawfell 
Island, a rugged, boulder-strewn island about 50 km 
offshore from Mackay, in the waters of the Great 
Barrier Reef, in 2023.
JCU The Cairns Institute seminar series
Development in the Tropics: supporting regional 
planning - Mitchell Sheppard May 2022. Policies 
for developing northern Australia are high profile 
and receive significant funding. However, research 
conducted by the CRC Northern Australia has shown 
that developers, landholders and communities are 
frustrated with the current development assessment 
and approval process. Yet, Australia’s biodiversity 
continues to decline, and cumulative impacts are 
not adequately managed as highlighted by the 
Samuels Review of the EPBC Act. Moreover, the 
north’s Traditional Owners are concerned that current 
approaches to development does not positively 
protect cultural heritage, nor enable Indigenous 
participation in diverse economic development 
interests in the landscape. The National Environmental 
Science Program’s Marine and Coastal Hub has 
provided funding to The Cairns Institute to undertake 
a scoping study into ‘Supporting Regional Planning 
in Northern Australia’. This project aims to make a 
positive contribution to easing the contested landscape 
by exploring the potential of new approaches and 
improved practices for regional planning across the 
north. The seminar presentation explored the approach 
to achieving better environmental, cultural, social and 
economic outcomes for the north through the impact 
and engagement of this research.

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3.7.7 JCU Tropical North Queensland Drought Hub - 
Sandpit to Seed funding
James Cook University researchers are working with the 
TNQ Drought Hub to research ideas that could improve 
agricultural adaption, sustainability and resilience 
towards Proof of Concept, Prototype or Minimum 
Viable Product (MVP) development. Sandpit to Seed 
funding aims to support projects, technologies and 
developments that will have a genuine impact ogenuine 
impact on building resilience against drought within 
Tropical North Queensland.
So far in partnership, the TNQ Drought Hub has 
provided over $200,000 of funding to the following 
research projects including:
•	 Clean Meat: Accelerating clean fish-meat production 
at scale in the lab.
•	 Bug Radar: A radar capable of detecting pests and 
small birds approaching a farm.
•	 AutoFish: An automatic fish phenotyping tool for 
sustainable aquaculture and smart fisheries
Associate Professor Lionel Hebbard says “The Sandpit 
to Seed fund has been critical for our team to further 
develop our business model. It has enabled the team to 
acquire important infrastructure and to conduct crucial 
experimental work to improve the Technology Level 
Readiness of our potential products. Through Sandpit 
to Seed support, we have been able to identify potential 
collaboration partners and customers. This will hold 
us in good stead to be successful in commercial 
funding from traditional grant funding and/or start-up 
investment funding”.

Tropical Queensland is a hotspot of opportunity for the introduction 
of invasive species, such as weeds, plant pathogens, invasive ants, 
and Asian honeybees, with millions of dollars spent on control 
efforts to date.
A priority will be assessing the potential for land-use change, 
including habitat fragmentation and the expansion of agriculture 
and irrigation projects in northern Queensland, to increase disease 
vectors.
A key output from this flagship has been the development of a JCU 
Environmental Biosecurity capacity brochure that describes JCU’s 
biosecurity-relevant expertise.
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 JCU Centre for Tropical Environmental and Sustainability
Science - (TESS)
Research projects:
•	 Reducing the global impacts of rapid infrastructure expansion 
Coordinator – Distinguished Professor Bill Laurance
•	 In this Flagship project, we are focusing on:
•	 The direct and indirect impacts of roads and other infrastructure on 
native species and ecosystems, especially in the tropics
•	 Devising strategies to minimise the environmental impacts and 
maximise the socioeconomic benefits of new infrastructure.
•	 Conveying to policy makers and the general public the grave dangers 
posed to native ecosystems by poorly planned infrastructure projects.
•	 Sustainable tropical agriculture - Coordinator - Associate 
Professor Paul Nelson
The Sustainable Tropical Agriculture project provides supports to 
farmers, their advisors and regulators to fulfill the potential of agriculture 
to provide sufficient healthy food, livelihoods, clean water and clean 
atmosphere, and pass the land on to future generations in better shape 
than it was received.
•	 Capacity building and engagement for sustainable development 
Coordinator - Dr Kearrin Sims
•	 Invasive species and biosecurity in tropical Australia 
Coordinator: Associate Professor Lori Lach (right)
3.7.8 Sustainable development land 
use in tropical Australia – research 
and partnerships
Sustainable advances in human dignity, human-environmental 
interactions and sustainable development agendas in Northern 
Australia and Tropical World.
This TESS Flagship seeks to address human-environment 
interactions from an ethical-ecological standpoint, which brings 
together social and environmental sciences to promote inclusive 
capacity building and strategic engagement activities. The Flagship 
seeks to advance sustainable development agendas in Northern 
Australia and the Tropical World across a range of sectors, 
including Governance and Policy; Indigenous Futures; Education for 
Sustainable Development; Sustainable Urbanism; Inclusive Growth; 
Gender Equity; Sustainable Livelihoods; and Public Health.

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Economic 
Sustainability
4.0 James Cook University’s Corporate Strategy states under the priority of Securing Our Future that the University 
must be financially sustainable to benefit our region, and that we must also ensure our actions are socially, culturally, 
environmental, and economically sustainable. A commitment to finding a balance between these two factors through 
sustainable and responsible investment is set out in the JCU Investment Policy and Procedures. JCU recognises 
Economic, Social and Governance (ESG) factors can positively impact investment risk and returns and contribute to 
sustainable growth.
PROMOTE SUSTAINED, INCLUSIVE AND 
SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC GROWTH, FULL 
AND PRODUCTIVE EMPLOYMENT AND 
DECENT WORK FOR ALL
4.1 Progress towards UN Sustainable Development 
Goal 8 - Decent Work and Economic Growth
	
4.1.1 JCU is ranked #1 in QLD for graduate salaries
	
4.1.2 JCU sustainable investments
	
4.1.3 JCU Centre for International Trade and Business in 
Asia (CITBA) 
	
4.1.4 Student placements, Work Integrated Learning (WIL), 
projects and fieldwork
	
4.1.5 JCU Tax Clinic in Cairns and Townsville
	
4.1.6 JCU workforce impact in regional and remote 
Queensland
	
4.1.7 JCU Enterprise bargaining 2022
 In this section
4.1.1 JCU is ranked #1 in Qld for graduate salaries 
JCU is top for salary outcomes, ranked #1 in QLD for 
median graduate salary by the Good Universities Guide 
2024, at both undergraduate and postgraduate study 
levels. JCU is also ranked #1 in Australia for median 
graduate salary for international student graduates, 
in the QILT Graduate Outcomes Survey 2022. JCU 
graduates are highly valued, emerging job-ready with 
the knowledge, confidence and practical experience to 
transition straight into the workplace.
James Cook University’s PhD scholarship students are 
now the highest paid in the state. JCU’s Deputy Vice 
Chancellor Research, Professor Jenny Seddon, said the 
University is strongly investing in research. She said 
stipends for PhD scholarship candidates have risen 
to reflect increases in the cost of living. “From July 1 
we raised stipends to $33,500, up from $29,863. This 
amount will increase by 1.5% to $34,502 in 2024,” said 
Professor Seddon.
She said the rate is the highest among all Queensland 
Universities, and well above the base rate set by 
the Department of Education. “PhD candidates are 
essential to universities because they bring fresh 
perspectives and innovative ideas to the university. 
They also contribute significantly to research outputs 
and the intellectual capital of universities,” said 
Professor Seddon.

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4.1.2 JCU Sustainable investments
The University has appointed Mercer to manage 
its investment portfolio and annually review and 
report on the ESG rating of the investment portfolio. 
Mercer provides JCU with an Annual ESG Review for 
the University to view its ESG rating and compare its 
progress towards more sustainable investments and 
to other universities within Australia. Mercer reports 
that JCU is compliant with all relevant commitments in 
its investment policy and that its ESG rating is currently 
1.8 on a scale of 1 to 4, with 1 being the highest rating 
with ESG embedded in investment policy, and 4 being 
the lowest rating. JCU screens investments to exclude 
unsustainable categories including investments in 
tobacco, controversial weapons and carbon intensive 
fossil fuels, companies with UN Global Compact red 
flag incidents and allegations, and modern slavery 
breaches. The University’s investment portfolio is rated 
for its alignment to the UN SDGs and is given a net Total 
Portfolio Impact Score of 0.83 (vs. the benchmark of 
0.56), which indicates JCU is more strongly aligned to 
the UN SDGs than the Mercer benchmark, particularly 
in social objectives, UN SDG 2, Zero Hunger, and SDG 3, 
Good Health and Wellbeing.
Mercer also performs an assessment of climate 
transition risk and opportunity, the Analytics for Climate 
Transition Assessment (ACT), to rate an asset’s transition 
capacity. Assets with a high climate transition capacity 
are assets that are aligned to, or stand to benefit from, 
a transition to a low carbon economy. There is room 
for improvement in the JCU sustainable investment 
ESG rating which can be achieved by developing 
an investment plan to further transition University 
investments away from ‘grey assets’- high carbon 
intensity low transition capacity investments, to ‘green 
assets’ with low carbon intensity and high transition 
capacity. JCU needs to set targets for future investment 
in green assets which currently sit at 8% of its investment 
portfolio, JCU has only 2.7% of assets invested in grey 
assets but these investments contribute to 21.3% 
of the carbon intensity of the portfolio. Advertising 
improvements in the University’s sustainable investment 
portfolio will be a positive drawcard for demonstrating to 
future students that JCU is taking action on sustainability 
across all levels of operations.
Figure 4.1 Extract from Mercer report Annual ESG Review for JCU showing review of JCU ESG investment for 2022

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4.1.3 JCU Centre for International Trade and Business in Asia (CITBA)
The Centre for International Trade and Business in Asia 
(CITBA) is a progressive and forward-thinking innovative 
research centre based at James Cook University. As 
the only research centre embedded within the College 
of Business, Law, and Governance (CBLG) at James 
Cook University Australia (JCUA), the Centre provides 
leadership in research and research excellence for the 
college. CITBA aims to create a platform for academics, 
researchers, practitioners and students to disseminate 
their research findings with other global experts, 
organizing International Conferences on Business, 
Economics, Management, and Sustainability (BEMAS) to 
facilitate this exchange of ideas.
BEMAS 2022 aimed at uncovering the path to post 
Covid-19 economic recovery and emphasised the 
importance of building resilient economies capable of 
dealing with complex external shocks and disturbances. 
The conference provided an excellent opportunity 
to learn from nearly 70 presentations, with insights 
shared by key regional leaders, 100s of researchers and 
entrepreneurs from all four corners of the globe during 
three memorable days.
JCU Vice Chancellor and President Professor Simon 
Biggs provided the opening address and with the panel 
of experts shared insight about “Re- imagining the 
economic future of our regional tropical cities in the 
post- COVID 19 Era.”
4.1.4 Student placements, Work Integrated Learning (WIL), 
projects and fieldwork
Student placements, projects, clinical practice and 
fieldwork are central to JCU’s learning and teaching 
approach. Our students have the opportunity to take 
part in a wide range of hands-on experiences which 
are informed by industry best practice and designed to 
prepare for the future of work.
JCU is committed to developing students who have 
academic knowledge combined with the transferable 
skills required to succeed within the complex career 
landscapes of the future. Some of the ways we do 
this are through embedding authentic learning in the 
curriculum and by offering a wide range of student 
placements, fieldwork and projects that are designed to 
give you valuable, practical hands-on experience.
JCU Business Students Wheels of Wellness placement
JCU students Nanako Binst, Kyle Alolod and Anthony 
Conolly completed a practical placement supporting the 
Wheels of Wellness (WoW) charity in Cairns as a third-
year subject of their Bachelor of Business degree. The 
students completed their third-year subject (BU3102 
Multi-Disciplinary Project) by working on a real-life 
business case for the Cairns-based not- for-profit 
Wheels of Wellness. Wheels of Wellness is an outreach 
charity service that delivers mobile medical clinics to 
Cairns most disadvantaged community members”, says 
Nanako. “WoW do not only have a hub near the Cairns 
Hospital where homeless people can come in and get 
food and see a doctor if they choose to. They also have 
a van that they use to provide mobile medical services 
with a General Practitioner on board.” Nanako and Kyle 
were impressed by the mobile aspect of WoW. “We 
went out to see the van at Barlow Park. We realised 
that the Cairns Regional Council has allocated a space 
within that area so that homeless people can dine 
in,” Kyle says. “Rosie’s, another charity, would provide 
food donated by the community, and WoW provided 
medical services to those in need, but only if people 
chose to ask for those medical services.” It was such a 
privilege for WoW to partner with JCU for this subject. 
The final presentations far exceeded my expectations”, 
says Yolonde Entsch, Director & CEO of WoW. Yolonde 
was also pleased with the way the proposed findings 
and solutions were presented. “Each group provided 
high-quality reports that any CEO, management team 
or Board could use for decision making,” she says.

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4.1.5 JCU Tax Clinic in Cairns and Townsville
The JCU Tax Clinic is a part of the National Tax Clinic 
program which is a government-funded initiative to 
help people who may not be able to afford professional 
advice and representation with their tax affairs. 
This program is available to eligible individuals, small 
businesses, not-for-profit organisations and charities. 
The Clinic is a friendly, student-run clinic where eligible 
members of the community can receive advice and 
assistance from JCU taxation students under the 
supervision of experienced tax practitioners. The 
aim of the JCU Tax Clinic is to assist unrepresented 
individuals, established small businesses and not-for-
profit organisations in meeting or complying with their 
taxation affairs.
The objectives of the JCU Tax Clinic are to:
•	 offer free advice and assistance to North 
Queensland individuals, established small 
businesses and registered not-for-profit 
organisations.
•	 provide JCU Law and Business students the 
opportunity to gain practical experience in a 
controlled and supportive environment under the 
supervision of experienced tax practitioners, with a 
view to preparing them for practice; and
•	 provide local  tax practitioners with an opportunity 
to engage in pro bono service.
It is not intended or expected to compete with 
professional tax advisors and accountants  services. 
Table 3: JCU students volunteering activities at the JCU Tax clinic 2022-2023
Year
Number of 
JCU students
volunteering 
in the clinic
Consultations
Total 
Applications for
Assistance
2022
14
137
263
2023
14
134
260
4.1.6 JCU workforce impact in regional and remote Queensland
James Cook University graduates are the cornerstone of Queensland’s regional and rural workforce, and JCU has 
produced an infographic report of the impact of its graduates in Queensland. JCU is Queensland’s second-oldest 
university, set in the heart of the tropics. JCU uses the power of its place to attract and train students in, with and for 
the communities it serves.

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4.1.7 JCU Enterprise bargaining 2022
An Enterprise Agreement (EA) is an agreement 
between the University and its Staff Members that 
sets minimum conditions of employment. Enterprise 
agreements are negotiated by the parties through 
collective bargaining in good faith, primarily at the 
enterprise level. In 2022 James Cook University 
negotiated with staff and representative staff unions; 
the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) and 
the Communications, Electrical, Electronic, Energy, 
Information, Postal, Plumbing and Allied Services 
Union of Australia (CEPU). The JCU Enterprise 
Bargaining Team met many times over the bargaining 
period with representatives of the staff unions to 
negotiate the Enterprise Agreement. The meetings 
were productive, and agreement in principle was 
reached on a range of clauses, including Misconduct/
Serious Misconduct, Hours of Work Professional and 
Technical, Casual Academic Duties and Rates, and 
Loadings and Allowances. 
Academic Workloads - University Management 
proposed to increase HDR supervision from 42 
contact hours to 60 contact hours. By working 
collaboratively, we have been able to develop and 
refine a clause that supports greater consultation, 
adaptability and equity across the University. Pay Offer 
- At the 27 April meeting, University Management 
tabled a Pay Offer providing annual salary increases 
for Staff Members whose employment conditions 
would be governed by the new EA. The Pay Offer is a 
13% flat (13.62% compounded) increase over the life 
of the new EA.
The Fair Work Commission (FWC) approved the James 
Cook University Enterprise Agreement 2022 which 
came into effect on Monday, 7 August 2023.

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ENSURE SUSTAINABLE 
CONSUMPTION AND 
PRODUCTION PATTERNS
4.2 Progress towards UN Sustainable Development 
Goal 12 - Responsible Consumption and Production
	
4.2.1 Social and sustainable procurement at JCU
	
4.2.2 JCU Modern Slavery Statement 2022
	
4.2.3 JCU and the War on Waste
	
4.2.4 Tracking paper usage across campus
	
4.2.5 WARP IT – reusing furniture and equipment online 
platform
	
4.2.6 Public seminars on sustainable procurement
	
4.2.7 JCU Sustainability Research Cluster
	
4.2.8 Research into waste treatment solutions
 In this section
4.2.1 Social and sustainable procurement at JCU
Achieving the Responsible Consumption and Production 
SDG at James Cook University will result in reduction 
of its environmental impact, enhancement of its social 
responsibility, and improvement of its economic efficiency 
and adoption of sustainable consumption and production 
practices.
The decisions that JCU makes throughout the 
procurement process have a significant impact on the 
local economy, environment and
community. The University’s Corporate Procurement 
Plan 2022 states a commitment to increase the 
proportion of sustainable products and services 
purchased by JCU. Social procurement refers 
to how JCU spending can be used to support 
social priorities and is outlined in the JCU Social 
Procurement Guidelines. By leveraging even a small 
slice of the University’s spend to add social value, local 
communities and suppliers can benefit enormously. 
For example, social and economic participation are 
indicators of the overall health and vibrancy of a 
community, so creating employment opportunities is 
an important priority for JCU.
Social procurement can take the form of JCU using 
an appropriate procurement opportunity (major 
project or routine) to generate targeted employment 
for specific population groups. Groups targeted by 
these procurement activities may include people with 
a disability, those who have experienced long-term 
unemployment, Indigenous Australians, culturally and 
linguistically diverse groups, youth, public housing 
tenants, or residents of communities impacted by 
social and economic disadvantage.

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JCU has recently partnered with, 
an AI-powered sustainability data 
and insights platform, to search for 
suppliers that meet sustainability 
and social procurement guidelines, 
and verify their sustainability 
credentials, including certifications, 
ratings, membership and initiatives. The givvable data 
analysis program will also report supplier scope 3 
emissions to help JCU engage with suppliers that will 
help reduce emissions, reach targets and gain social 
enterprise accreditation. Below is a table from the 
Givvablegivvable report on the top 100 suppliers that 
JCU Strategic procurement team provided for analysis. 
Givvable analyses the sustainability credentials of JCU 
suppliers, the most common credentials held by JCU 
suppliers are; a Modern Slavery Statement, Diversity 
Council Australia membership, and Indigenous 
Australia buyer member (Supply Nation). JCU suppliers 
are analysed for alignment with the UN SDGs, the 
most aligned UN SDG for JCU suppliers is, based on 
their sustainability credentials, SDG8 Decent Work and 
Economic Growth.
JCU Strategic Procurement has also 
joined Social Traders, an Australian 
social procurement specialist to assist 
JCU in building a database of available 
social procurement opportunities in 
goods and services in the regional 
and remote regions where the 
campuses are located. Memberships 
to givvable and Social Traders further 
the University’s reputation as a civic 
university committed to giving back 
to local communities and making a 
difference to build a more equitable 
and inclusive society.
Figure 4.3: JCU supplier analysis from givvable ESG report showing alignment with the UN SDGs of the top 
100 suppliers
Figure 4.2: JCU supplier analysis from givvable ESG report showing sustainability credentials of top 100 suppliers.

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4.2.2 JCU Modern Slavery Statement 2022
4.2.3 JCU and the War on Waste
4.2.4 Tracking paper usage across campus
Modern slavery is a severe violation of human rights. 
It occurs when a person is coerced into work and 
exploited for personal or commercial gain. Under 
Australian and international law, it includes offences 
such as forced labour, servitude, child labour, deceptive 
recruiting and debt bondage. This statement, pursuant 
to the Australian Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth), sets 
out the actions taken by James Cook University to 
address modern slavery and human trafficking risks 
in our business and supply chain for the financial year 
ending 31 December 2021.
The University has taken a range of actions during 
this reporting year to identify, assess and address the 
risks of modern slavery practices in our operations 
and supply chains. During the reporting year, activities 
were largely centred on due diligence in supplier 
engagement and participation in the AUPN Modern 
Slavery Working Group (MSWG). The University 
incorporates clauses specific to modern slavery in 
its standard contract documents and has added 
a returnable schedule to its standard tender and 
market approach documentation, with a view to better 
understanding its supply chains. The University’s 
Procurement Procedures include the University’s 
obligations under the Modern Slavery Act as a principle 
that must be adhered to when undertaking any 
procurement activities. A Supplier Code of Conduct has 
been developed to assist suppliers to understand the 
University’s requirements.
JCU creates approximately 600 tonnes of waste each 
year from a wide variety of sources, much of which 
is unnecessarily sent to landfill and contributes to 
scope three indirect emissions. Ongoing effort is 
required to minimise waste production and maximise 
recycling rates. The University’s current recycling rate 
is 20%, the Queensland average recycling rate in 
the Australian Government’s National Waste Report 
2022 is one of the nation’s lowest at under 40%. 
A significant issue impeding improvement to this 
rate at JCU is contamination of yellow co-mingled 
recycling bins with soft plastic, paper towel, food, and 
disposable beverage cups; this seems to be caused 
by confusion around identifying recyclable items. 
Targeted education campaigns, effective signage 
and support from managers and student leaders will 
assist staff and students to improve their efforts to 
reduce, reuse and recycle.
Waste management targets can be pursued by 
embarking on ‘the circular economy of products’ 
approach through these main strategies:
•	 choosing reusable or home compostable items 
over single use (bottles, serving ware, laboratory 
consumables etc.) Increasing composting of 
organic wastes
•	 Avoiding items with non-recyclable packaging
•	 Avoiding unnecessary purchasing
•	 Buying repairable, long-lasting items
Waste management is a significant part of the JCU 
operating budget and reductions in waste volumes 
will result in immediate savings to JCU. Most of 
the required infrastructure is already in place to 
encourage a cultural shift in waste management 
practices, procurement, and disposal practices.
TropEco will have a major role to play in creating the 
required cultural shift through the War on Waste 
campaign. Targets will focus on a reduction in total 
waste volume (waste and recycling combined) and 
an increase in the recycling rate, and to reduce scope 
three emissions.
JCU has activated a new function in 
the program PaperCut in printers and 
photocopiers across Townsville and 
Cairns campuses to track printing 
usage in workgroups. This has provided 
baseline data for current paper usage 
and identified the larger consumers 
of paper across campus. The program 
provides the number of trees and 
carbon emissions that the paper use 
equates to. JCU has consumed 406 trees 
and produced 42,893kg of CO2 emissions 
through printing in this timeframe. 
This data output will be used in the 
sustainability program in 2024 to track 
the success of our paper saving initiatives 
moving forward.
Figure 4.4: Number of sheets of paper used by major user groups across JCU campuses, Oct 
2022 to Sep 2023.

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4.2.5 WARP IT – reusing furniture and equipment 
online platform
JCU has used the WARP IT online 
platform to share unwanted furniture, 
equipment and office supplies across 
Townsville and Cairns campus for 
many years. This has resulted in a 
highly successful program of reuse 
saving thousands of tonnes of useable 
resources going to landfill and saving 
the University approximately $472,182 
in purchasing new products. The JCU 
Estate Directorate staff have been the 
main users of the WARP IT platform 
directing staff to search for pre-loved 
items when fielding requests
for new items, and posting items no 
longer wanted by staff on the platform.
Figure 4.5: JCU impact report from the WARP IT portal showing items reused and savings to JCU.
JCU Waste Warriors in Action
JCU Singapore Beach Clean-up
Beach clean-up with Ocean Purpose Project (OPP) Participants gathered at Ocean Purpose Project (OPP)’s beach 
hub at Pasir Ris Park where they helped set up equipment and facilitated teams in collecting litter before sorting & 
cleaning recyclable plastics.
JCU Enters the No More Butts cigarette waste collection competition
JCU ‘s team came second with 1450 cigarette butts collected in Shields St, Cairns city, past the Bada-jali JCU Cairns 
city campus. JCU came second to AFL Cairns who won the Big Butt Hunt with 1750 butts collected in Aplin St, Cairns 
city. Thank you No More Butts and the Cairns Regional Council for organising this Great Northern Clean Up event.

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4.2.6 Public seminars on sustainable procurement 
Social enterprise in Far North 
Queensland forum : Social Enterprise 
in the Tropics
A public forum highlighting social 
enterprise in the Tropics was held 
at JCU on the 5th of October 2022 
at the Nguma-bada campus, The 
Cairns Institute. The forum topics 
were:
•	 What is a Social Enterprise and what supports are 
available?Queensland Social Enterprise Council gave 
an overview of social and community enterprises 
and outline available supports.
•	 How to become preferred suppliers. Experts in 
procurement from Cairns Regional Council, the 
Department of Employment, Small Business 
and Training and JCU procurement discussed 
procurement processes and suggested how to 
become preferred suppliers.
•	 How do we revitalize Social Enterprise in FNQ. In this 
session attendees heard from established social 
enterprise about their stories. A discussion followed 
of ideas an suggestions to build a vibrant social 
enterprise environment in the region.
•	 The Social Enterprise Capacity Building Project is 
funded by the Department of Employment, Small 
Business and Training (DESBT), and they generously 
funding the SENT forum.
Public seminar on circular economy
A circular economy is an economic system that uses 
a systemic approach to maintain a circular flow of 
resources, by recovering, retaining or adding to their 
value, while contributing to sustainable development. 
The 2022 ISO/TC 323 Circular Economy Meeting 
paved the way for experts across 65 countries to 
reach a consensus on a set of three core standards 
(ISO 59004, 59010 and 59020). This 2022 webinar 
presented by Associate Professor Adrian Kuah from the 
JCU Sustainability Research Cluster, draws discussion 
from the meeting held at Rwanda, where experts 
came together to discuss requirements, frameworks, 
guidance, and support tools on the circular economy. 
The panel believes that societies, businesses and 
individuals can all play a role in realising our transition 
to the circular economy.
Singapore ESG (Environment, Social, Governance) series 
November 2022, we launched ‘ESG Positive Impact 
Series – Empowering today, Building Tomorrow’, with 
Professor May Tan-Mullins, being the moderator. 
The event featured the following speakers: Lynette 
Leong (Chief Executive Officer, Environmental, Social 
and Governance Funds & Stewardship, CapitaLand 
Investment), Dr Darian McBain (Advisor, Monetary 
Authority of Singapore), Mel Gollan (Founder & Owner 
of RIPA Global), and Andrew Gazal (Founder & CEO, 
ESGTech). This event is the first part of the series of ESG 
events to discuss how we could empower the present 
for the future.
Professor May Tan-Mullins is JCU’s Dean International 
and Chief Sustainability Officer. Her research interests 
are environmental and energy justice, poverty 
alleviation and building resilience for the poorest and 
most vulnerable in the Tropics.

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4.2.8 Research into waste treatment solutions
Microwave Pyrolysis and waste treatment
Professor Mohan Jacob is 
pioneering in the development of 
custom-made Microwave Assisted 
Pyrolysis systems for processing 
various waste materials, and 
his research includes Waste to 
Resources, Waste to Energy and 
circular economy. Professor Jacob 
said plastic waste would be converted into biochar - 
charcoal that can be used as a soil conditioner.
The microwave energy is used in the absence of oxygen 
to controllably heat materials beyond 600 degrees 
Celsius within a custom-made chamber.
Professor Jacob said his group is currently working on 
stage one of the project.
“We are developing a processing chamber, which 
could process many kinds of plastic materials, up to 
5 kilograms of waste. It will be a prototype system for 
the development of biochars from different types of 
plastics under various conditions.”
He said stage two will optimise the energy efficiency 
of the system and maximise the yield of by-products. 
Stage three will build a fully customised and easy to 
operate waste processing system, which could be 
installed at medium scale industries.
Sustainability aligns with JCU’s Strategic Intent by 
engaging peoples and societies of the tropics in 
industries and economies that sustain communities 
and ecosystems. The research that the Sustainability 
Research Cluster undertakes is directly aligned with 
SDG 12, SDG 9 and SDG8 and supports SDG 1 and SDG 
2. The Sustainability Research Cluster commenced 
its life as the circular economy and sustainability 
group arising out Strategic Research Investment Fund 
Application Round Two in 2018. The Cluster advisor is 
Distinguished Professor Stewart Lockie of The Cairns 
Institute, and the cluster receives advice from a board of 
leading external academics and practitioners, including 
the Principal Investigator, Associate Professor Adrian 
Kuah. The Cluster’s unique research focuses on three 
pillars: (1) green economy, (2) social economy and (3) 
digital economy, which bring multidisciplinary expertise 
from across the three JCU campuses to collaborate 
on the framework of sustainable development. 
The Cluster’s interest builds intangible social and 
environmental analyses into sustainability evaluations 
including digital analytics and environmental science.
 JCU Cairns Campus Café – Moka Bar introduces Green Caffeen
The staff at the Moka Bar, Nguma-bada campus in 
Cairns are leading the way in reducing disposable 
coffee cup waste. The Moka bar offers customers 
access to the Green Caffeen Swap and Go reusable 
coffee cup scheme. Customers download the Green 
Caffeen app and check out up to 2 cups for 30 days, 
similar to a library book loan system. The system is 
free for the café and customers, with cups, resources 
and even on-site support provided by the team from 
Green Caffeen. The café has already noticed a saving in 
spend on disposable cups and many JCU students and 
staff have embraced he scheme, leading to a significant 
drop in disposable cup waste from the Café. The Moka 
Bar also accepts all reusable cups from customers and 
sells local handmade reusable cups from local artists. 
The scheme is widespread across Australia in cafes and 
in the Tertiary sector and has been embraced by the 
Townsville City Council and Cairns Regional Council.
4.2.7 JCU Sustainability Research Cluster

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Sustainability 
in Teaching and 
Research
ENSURE INCLUSIVE AND EQUITABLE 
QUALITY EDUCATION AND PROMOTE 
LIFELONG LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES 
FOR ALL
5.1 Progress towards UN Sustainable Development 
Goal 4 - Quality Education
	
5.1.1 Quality education at JCU
	
5.1.2 Education partnerships with local schools
	
5.1.3 Pathways to learning at JCU 
	
5.1.4 JCU Indigenous Education and Research Centre 
Summer and Winter School
	
5.1.5 Vocational training and Continuing Professional 
Development (CPD) at JCU
	
5.1.6 JCU conferences for quality education
	
5.1.7 Lifelong learning at JCU
	
5.1.8 JCU Eddie Koiki Mabo Library - public access to 
lifelong learning resources
 In this section
5.1.1 Quality education at JCU
JCU is rated in the top 400 universities in the world by 
the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 
2023. With research connections to more than 100 
countries and 25 specialised research centres and 
institutes, JCU is connected to the world and globally 
engaged. In Northern Australia, our locations in Cairns, 
Townsville and Brisbane attract international students 
from all over the world. JCU was also the first Australian 
university to establish a branch campus in Singapore. 
JCU was awarded 5 Stars for teaching and employability 
in the QS Stars Rankings for 2021 and 5 Stars for full-
time employment, median graduate salary, student 
teacher ratio and social equity by the Good Universities 
Guide for 2024.
2024 Good Universities Guide
•	 #1 in QLD for learner engagement, learning 
resources, skills development, student support, 
teaching quality.
•	 #1 in Australia for full-time employment, learning 
resources, overall educational experience, skills 
development.
•	 #2 in Australia for learner engagement, student 
support.

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5.1.2 Education partnerships with local schools
In 2023 JCU published a guide encouraging local 
schools to interact with the University “Your 
School and Us: after University opportunities for 
your school to get involved at JCU”. The guide 
has a catalogue of activities for each year group 
and teaching staff for schools to plan events and 
experiences for their students. The guide also 
covers the highlights of 2022 school engagements 
including the JCU Heroes program where 448 
students experienced 16 programs across 5 
locations to gain an insight into careers in Health, 
Business, Sport and Science (see right).
JCU offers a range of presentations, workshops, 
hands-on activities, and services to support 
students, teachers, and parents and carers 
through the process of understanding future 
career options. The guide recognised that 
schools have limited time available in the 
academic calendar for activities involving external 
organisations, so JCU has developed activities to 
align with school objectives of building aspirations, 
developing critical thought, and growing skills 
in cognition, teamwork, project management 
and resilience. Activities are delivered by Future 
Student Advisors, current students and academics; 
on-campus or in-school.
5.1.3 Pathways to learning at JCU
James Cook University is committed to providing 
everyone with access to higher education and 
the opportunity to fulfil their potential. JCU offers 
opportunities to people of all backgrounds to build 
their academic skills creating a pathway to university 
for non-traditional students, students who have not 
experienced higher education, have completed VET/
TAFE qualifications or other prior learning, or are 
international students needing to prepare further for 
a university course. The JCU Pathways team offers 
bridging courses, Certificate and Diploma level courses 
to allow students to bridge the gap in their skills to a 
university qualification.
Additionally, the JCU Prep course is a flexible program 
that enables mature students and school leavers 
to gain the skills and knowledge they need to enter 
their preferred course of study. This fee-free enabling 
course is open to all Australian citizens and permanent 
residents who want to enter university study at JCU, 
regardless of academic background and prior work/
study experience.
In 2022, 702 students enrolled in the Diploma of Higher 
Education bridging course, and in 2023, 562 students 
enrolled in the course. A further 360 students enrolled 
in the Certificate of Education in 2022, and 239 students 
enrolled in this pathway course in 2023. 60 students 
enrolled in JCU Prep in both 2022 and 2023.

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5.1.4 JCU Indigenous Education and Research Centre 
Summer and Winter School
5.1.5 Vocational training and Continuing Professional 
Development (CPD) at JCU
The JCU Indigenous Education and Research Centre 
(IERC) offers pathways to students for Aboriginal and 
Torres Strait Islander students to university study, 
including a residency program for Indigenous high 
school students considering university. The Summer 
School conducts pre-programs for prospective 
Indigenous school leavers who are seeking to gain 
entry into JCU. The Summer and Winter schools are run 
over a five-day period during the school holidays. The 
focus is to build capabilities in Math, English, Chemistry 
and tertiary study skills. IERC staff run the program 
and supervise academic and recreational activities, 
with the help of Indigenous Student Ambassadors 
at JCU. The students live on campus and take part in 
academic lectures and team-building activities. This 
interaction provides opportunities to meet University 
staff and students and form bonds with other students 
in the program. JCU covers all costs associated with 
the program, including travel to and from Townsville, 
accommodation and catering costs for all participants. 
Accommodation is provided at the Saints Residential 
College on the Bebegu Yumba campus.
JCU offers vocational training and continuing 
professional development (CPD) opportunities for 
local professionals to keep their skills up to date and 
learn new and innovative techniques to improve 
their careers. JCU provides extensive professional 
development opportunities for healthcare professionals 
in Northern Queensland, including a webinar series, 
workshops and short courses.
Professional Development Workshop for Teachers
Dates: 24 to 25 November 2022 
JCU held a professional development teacher workshop 
to support high school educators in the classroom. The 
workshop seminars were designed in alignment with 
the high school curriculum and to assist in supporting 
teachers in the delivery of specific areas.
The one-day program featured consecutive sessions 
throughout the day focusing on a variety of subject 
learning areas across the middle and senior school 
curriculum including Science, Mathematics  
and Humanities.
Vestibular Rehabilitation - an introductory 2 Day Course
Dates: 12 to 13 November 2022
This two-day course introduced physiotherapists 
to common vestibular disorders. This course was 
presented by Leia Barnes (Consultant Vestibular 
Physiotherapist, Logan Hospital and APA Neurological 
Physiotherapist) and Natalie Rando-Orr (Assistant 
Professor in Physiotherapy, Bond University and APA 
Neurological Physiotherapist) from Vestibular Courses.
JCU Dentistry and Dental Protection Clinical Day
Date: 22 October 2022 - This event was an 
informative and interactive educational session for 
dental practitioners and dental students to discuss 
contemporary innovations in clinical dentistry, 
participate in clinical demonstrations and meet with 
industry partners to view the very latest in dental 
science and technology.
Clinical Day 2022 featured keynote lectures from Dr 
Annalene Weston- Dentolegal Consultant of Dental 
Protection, Professor Laurie Walsh AO- Emeritus 
Professor of University of Queensland and Mr Matt 
Race- Director of Race Dental laboratory. Research 
presentations, covering a wide range of oral health 
care topics, were delivered by current Year 4 Bachelor 
of Dental Surgery students at JCU. The program 
was designed for dental practitioners and all other 
interested health care professionals.

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 JCU Rural Generalist Program
The Allied Health Rural Generalist Program is a 
professional development program designed 
specifically for early career allied health 
professionals working in rural and remote 
communities. It combines work-integrated training 
with online learning modules.
On completion of the Allied Health Rural Generalist 
Program participants will be able to:
•	 Apply rural and remote generalist knowledge and 
skills to practice in the workplace context.
•	 Contribute to identification of local service needs 
relevant to profession and work-based multi-
disciplinary team.
•	 Facilitate quality improvement initiatives to optimise 
access, efficiency and effectiveness of the local 
service.
•	 Extend and reframe early career knowledge and 
skills to match the local service strategic intent.
5.1.6 JCU conferences for Quality Education
National Indigenous Learning Support Conference 2023
The inaugural National Conference on Indigenous 
Learning Support held recently at James Cook University 
in Townsville drew over 100 professional support staff 
from 27 Australian universities.
On the first day, delegates delved into the essential 
outreach and engagement work with the school 
sector. This emphasized the importance of establishing 
strong connections with schools to support Indigenous 
students on their educational journey. The second 
day centered on learning support services specifically 
tailored to Indigenous students pursuing degree 
programs. This spotlighted the innovative approaches 
to empowering Indigenous students and improving 
their learning outcomes. This inaugural event follows an 
annual symposium of six Australian universities sharing 
the emerging knowledge from recent research work to 
map the learning journey of undergraduate students 
and using this knowledge to innovate the professional 
services to support Indigenous students to succeed 
in universities. This empirical work has evolved over a 
seven-year period and has recently been published by 
Routledge.
Over the two days, this new collegiate of professional 
support staff maintained their focus on two important 
educational issues: how to improve the rate of 
student success in the sector, and how to deliver the 
volume, capacity and quality of graduates back to their 
communities so they have the requisite knowledge and 
skills set to determine their own futures.
Indigenous student success and Indigenous self-
determination, the Collegiate hopes, will be considered 
by the University Accord panel members as national 
priority areas to drive forward our professional work 
with more purpose over the next 10-15 years.
JCU Cairns Institute Education Partnership - Early Years 
Conference 2022
The 2022 Early Years Conference – Today’s Children
Tomorrow’s Future – The National
Early Years Conference held 5-6 May had the theme “It 
takes a village to raise a parent”. The conference built on 
current knowledge, expanded frameworks and
tool kits for practitioners working with parents; included 
early childhood educators, healthcare professionals, 
child protection professionals, family support workers, 
child and family counsellors, community workers and 
program managers.
A true cross-sector collaboration which benefits 
children of our communities; the 2022 Early Years 
Conference held 5-6 May at the Cairns Convention 
Centre. The Committee are represented by Act For 
Kids, Benevolent Society, Mission Australia, The Cairns 
Institute/JCU, Qld Health, Education Qld, Wuchopperen 
Health and the Department of Children Youth Justice 
and Multicultural Affairs.

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5.1.7 Lifelong learning at JCU
5.1.8 JCU Eddie Koiki Mabo Library - public access to 
lifelong learning resources
Open Access Publishing: Open Access Week 2022
The 2022 Open Access week theme seeks to provide 
an opportunity to join together, take action, and raise 
awareness around the importance of community control 
of knowledge sharing systems. To mark Open Access 
Week JCU Library and the Graduate Research
School (GRS) invited entries for the “HDR Open Access 
Advocate” competition. The theme for the 2022 Open 
Access Week was “Open for climate Justice”.
2022 Winners -The winners of the 2022 Awards are:
•	 ECR Open Access Champion: Daniel Miller, Lecturer, 
Psychology, College of Healthcare Sciences
•	  Highly Commended 1: Ailie McDowall, Senior 
Lecturer, Indigenous Education & Research Centre
•	 Highly Commended 2: Alexandra Edelman, 
Research Fellow, College of Public Health, Medical & 
Vet Sciences
JCU Lifelong learning - public seminars and events – 
JCU Events
Inspiration on Tap – JCU researchers’ public seminars 
in local pubs - Bringing advanced learning and valuable 
insights to the evening crowd, this event series invites 
locals to be inspired by JCU’s top researchers and 
academics as they share their expertise in a relaxed, 
social environment.
From researchers speaking about the intricate social lives 
of pollinators like bees to managing urban stormwater 
and other planning considerations, this series has 
something for everyone.
JCU’s The Cairns Institute holds public seminars and 
lectures through out the year on a large range of 
topics.  The Cairns Institute Impact and Engagement 
Seminars offer participants an opportunity to present 
their research and discuss impact and engagement in 
a supportive, collegial environment. Each week, one 
researcher or team will present their work as a case 
study of research practice and reflect on how they are 
approaching impact and engagement – whether this 
be through research design, communication strategy, 
stakeholder participation, capitalizing on unexpected 
outcomes, or other means.
Presenters are encouraged to discuss how they are 
responding to requirements imposed by funding and 
regulatory bodies (for example, to define outcomes and 
articulate program logics) but also who and how they are 
engaging to articulate research aims. No one approach 
is relevant across all research contexts so we encourage 
a diversity of perspectives and will ensure ample time is 
dedicated to dialogue.
The Library and Information Services Directorate 
provides innovative, high quality, client-focused library 
services including research skills, digital and information 
literacies, information resources, scholarly and cultural 
collections; and learning facilities that contribute to and 
enhance the University’s learning, teaching, and research 
priorities. The Directorate has a library and information 
commons at the Townsville and Cairns campuses and 
delivers a wide range of online resources and services 
to all campus and study locations and to clients both on 
and off campus. Visitors, including the local community, 
are welcome to access the library facilities and to use 
information resources within the library buildings located 
on the Cairns and Townsville campuses. Members of the 
public are welcome to join the Library for a fee of
$55.00 per annum (including GST). Year 11 and 12 
students from local high schools are welcome to join 
the Library for a fee of $27.50 per annum. Organisations 
and businesses are welcome to join the Library for a fee 
of $55.00 per annum (including GST). Additional cards 
can be provided if required. Borrowing privileges and 
conditions are the same as for Community members.

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BUILD RESILIENT INFRASTRUCTURE, 
PROMOTE INCLUSIVE AND 
SUSTAINABLE INDUSTRIALIZATION 
AND FOSTER INNOVATION
5.2 Progress towards UN Sustainable Development 
Goal 9 - Industry Innovation and Infrastructure
	
5.2.1 JCU is ranked world class for research
	
5.2.2 JCU Innovation Strategy 2020-2022
	
5.2.3 JCU students studying innovation and 
entrepreneurship
	
5.2.4 JCU promoting innovation in the community - Big 
Ideas Youth Challenge
	
5.2.5 Resources Technology and Critical Minerals Trailblazer 
program
 In this section
5.2.1 JCU is ranked world class for research
JCU achieved the ranking of ‘world class’ or higher in 83 
percent of research fields, including eight as ‘well above 
world class’, by Excellence in Research for Australia for 
2018.
Six JCU researchers who produced multiple highly 
cited papers are ranked in the top 1% for their field of 
research, by Web of Science for 2022.
These internationally recognised research outcomes 
are in fields including biodiversity, ecology and 
environments, global warming, marine sciences, public 
health care, tourism and tropical medicine. JCU delivers 
global, ground-breaking research and discoveries that 
make a difference to people and societies, experiential 
learning, the built environment and the natural world.

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5.2.2 JCU Innovation Strategy 2020 - 2022
The JCU Innovation Strategy 2020-2022 has 4 main focus areas:
1.	Create and support a culture of innovation which embraces the involvement of management, staff and 
students – realise the potential of our people, be a catalyst for innovation, connecting our region to the global 
knowledge economy, and develop a culture at JCU that fosters idea creation and innovation across the 
university.
2.	 Create and adopt processes and procedures to enable JCU to be a catalyst for innovation and connection – create 
a vibrant internal innovation ecosystem supported by systems and processes, innovate and experiment, and 
establish processes to support a culture of innovation.
3.	Create environments to inspire innovation and collaboration – Establish an Innovation Centre on the Townsville 
and Cairns Campuses, and create a vibrant knowledge community inspired by our place in the Tropics and bring 
global perspectives to our regions.
4.	Collaborative Innovation – Develop strategic partnerships, deliver experiential learning and Global connectivity.

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5.2.3 JCU students studying innovation and 
entrepreneurship 
JCU offers students a wide array of learning opportunities 
in innovation and entrepreneurship across many 
disciplines. Business subjects offer students the 
opportunity to work in a collaborative environment to 
explore design with business, social and cultural contexts.
Students will examine advanced design and 
communication concepts and produce creative 
projects. Additionally, students learn innovation-
driven entrepreneurship that explores strategy and 
entrepreneurship presenting integrated areas in a 
theoretical, applied and experiential manner based 
on key themes. These include mainstream and social 
entrepreneurship identifying commonalities and 
differences between each category.
Law, Engineering, Art and Health-based students are also 
offered subjects in innovation and entrepreneurship 
including topics on strategic perspective of technology/
innovation management, developing teaching 
skills innovative assessment, simulation, e-learning 
technologies and audio, and exploring the start-up 
lifecycle and related Web2.0/3.0 technologies with 
particular focus on entrepreneurship, e-marketing and 
human resource management.
 
JCU Area 61
Area 61 is a critical component of the Northern 
Australian innovation ecosystem, with unique 
resources and expertise, this industrial- scale facility 
enables the co-design and build of innovative one-off 
prototypes which can be scaled for manufacturing. 
Area 61 is able to design and manufacture items that 
require the combination of design and build skills and 
resources across software, electronics and advanced 
manufacturing. Formed from the requirement to build 
unique and technically complex items to directly support 
research over a period of 30 years, Area 61 has been 
created to expand and make available this unique 
capability to the wider Northern Australian  
innovation ecosystem.
2022 Maritime Robot X Challenge – robotics innovation
After a four-year absence, the 2022 Maritime RobotX 
Challenge took place at the Sydney International Regatta 
Centre in Sydney, Australia, with 20 teams representing 
Australia, Chile, Japan, Peru, Singapore, Taiwan, Turkey, 
and the United States. James Cook University engineering 
students developed a highly advanced autonomous boat 
and competed in the event. Known as the Wave Adaptive 
Modular-Vessel (WAM-V), the electric-powered craft will 
eventually operate independently of a remote control, 
together with an autonomous drone.
Project lead and JCU Robotics Club president Ethan 
Waters said the boat faced some difficult tasks at the 
2022 Maritime Robot X Challenge. These included 
travelling through specific gates based on the location 
of an underwater beacon, following a specific path 
indicated by buoys of a different colour, and scanning 
a light to determine the red-green- blue sequence it 
produces. The JCU team won a Special sponsors award; 
the Blue Robotics Award (4x T500 + Basic ESC 500), and a 
Judge’s special award: Value Can Do ($1,000).

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5.2.4 JCU promoting innovation in the community - Big 
Ideas Youth Challenge
5.2.5 Resouces technology and critical minerals 
Trailblazer program
North Queensland’s next generation of innovators and 
changemakers developed their entrepreneurial thinking 
and design skills at the Townsville City Council Big Ideas 
Youth Challenge held at James Cook University’s Bebegu 
Yumba campus in August 2022.
Hundreds of students from across the region were 
led through the Entrepreneur’s Odyssey, with teams 
going on to pitch their big idea in a Shark Tank format 
to compete for the perpetual trophy and prizes. Smart 
Precinct NQ General Manager, Cassandra Cazzulino said 
the event, now in its third year, is a highly anticipated 
event on the school calendar. “The Big Ideas Youth 
Challenge gives these students and their teachers the 
opportunity to undergo the design thinking process 
to identify a problem and map out a business idea to 
target that audience,” Ms Cazzulino said. “Throughout 
the day they were inspired by successful entrepreneurs 
and be mentored by leading academics, entrepreneurs, 
local government leaders and businesses. “We’ve had a 
fantastic response from the schools, and this year’s event 
reached capacity very quickly.”
The event is designed to foster youth entrepreneurship 
in the region, with the winning team receiving an 
exclusive tour of the JCU Area 61 industrial scale facility 
that builds innovative one-off prototypes which can be 
scaled for manufacturing and a prototyping session to 
workshop how their idea could be turned into a real 
product. James Cook University Deputy Vice Chancellor, 
Academy Professor Marcus Lane said he was thrilled 
to host the Challenge on campus. “As Townsville’s 
preeminent education and research institution, JCU is the 
perfect environment for students to cultivate their ideas 
and explore what’s possible through innovative thinking,” 
he said. “I am particularly pleased that students were able 
to hear from JCU alumnus and LiteHaus International 
founder Jack Growden, who explained how he turned 
his passion for making digital technology accessible 
to disadvantaged communities into an internationally 
recognised not- for-profit charity, and reinforced the 
message that any one of those students can make a 
global impact from right here in Townsville. “Together 
with James Cook University’s recently announced 
partnership with Smart Precinct NQ to accelerate future 
innovation in the region, it is an exciting time for our 
future innovators and entrepreneurs.”
James Cook University has been selected as one of 
Australia’s Trailblazer universities and will receive a 
share of more than $242 million in Federal Government 
funding to develop a research commercialisation hub 
that will turn world-leading research into breakthrough 
ideas, products and businesses. The Resources 
Technology and Critical Minerals Trailblazer program 
will match $50 million of government funding to more 
than equivalent support from the university and 
industry partners for a total value of the initiative of 
over $200 million. JCU will partner with Curtin University 
(project lead) and The University of Queensland, as 
well as 33 company and commercial partners across 
Australia involved in the technology metals, critical 
minerals and metals value chains. Professor Simon 
Biggs said “This Trailblazer will supercharge the 
development of our regions’ technology metals and 
critical minerals industry and boost the economic 
growth of northern Australia. It will further support, 
encourage, and accelerate the opportunity for JCU 
to focus on research that delivers industry- aligned 
commercial outcomes. Supporting the regional 
resources and critical minerals industry is a priority for 
JCU and the opportunity presented by this initiative 
aligns with JCU’s strategic direction to increase industry-
aligned research that leads to commercial outcomes.” 
“Importantly, for the economic growth of our region, 
the Trailblazer activities will directly engage regional 
Small-to-Medium-Enterprise (SME) businesses across 
the resources and critical mineral sector, as they make 
up a large proportion of the employment in regional 
Northern Australia.”

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Sustainability Governance
6.0 JCU recognises that sustainability is fundamental to a thriving society and is committed to the pursuit of more 
sustainable ways of living. The United Nations defines sustainability as ‘meeting the needs of the present without 
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’. This view of sustainability continues to shape 
JCU’s strategic goals and define its values.
As a leading institution in the Tropics, James Cook University has a vital role to play in advancing the UN Sustainable 
Development Goal 16, which aims to promote peaceful and inclusive societies, provide access to justice for all, and 
build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions. JCU contributes to SDG 16 through collaboration with local, 
state and federal governments, civil society, national and international partners, to share knowledge, best practices, 
and innovative solutions for achieving peace, justice and strong institutions in the tropics. By doing so, the university 
enhances its social impact and academic excellence, as well as fosters a culture of sustainability and civic engagement 
among our students and staff.
PROMOTE PEACEFUL AND INCLUCIVE SOCIETIES FOR 
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, PROVIDE ACCESS TO 
JUSTICE FOR ALL AND BUILD EFFECTIVE, ACCOUNTABLE 
AND INCLUSIVE INSTITUTIONS AT ALL LEVELS
6.1 Progress towards UN Sustainable Development 
Goal 16 - Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
	
6.1.1 JCU commits to a new Corporate Strategy
	
6.1.2 JCU policy for sustainable governance
	
6.1.3 JCU Annual Report
	
6.1.4 JCU contributing to Government policy and 
legislation.
	
6.1.5 Voice to Parliament referendum
	
6.1.6 University Council elections
	
6.1.7 JCU College of Business Law and Governance 
outreach activities
	
6.1.8 Research in business and governance
	
6.1.9 Partnerships with bodies for stakeholder 
engagement 
	
6.1.10 CBLG Advanced Signatory for the Principles of 
Responsible Management Education
 In this section

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6.1.1 JCU commits to a new Corporate Strategy
6.1.2 JCU Policy for Sustainable Governance
JCU’s vision to create a more equitable and sustainable 
world for present and future generations, by addressing 
the complex challenges and opportunities in Northern 
Queensland, Northern Australia, and beyond resulted 
in the 2023 James Cook University new Corporate 
Strategy that outlines values of the University:
James Cook University has a comprehensive 
policy library governing social, economic, and 
environmental sustainability in the management 
and operations of the University. The University 
has policy, procedures, guides and plans to guide 
progress towards the UN Sustainable Development 
Goals for staff and students that are regularly revised 
and updated with new legislation and to meet the 
demands of a changing world.
See the publicly available JCU Policy Library to view the 
full list of JCU Policies, procedures and guides. Policies 
for Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions include:
•	 Academic Freedom and Freedom of Speech Policy
•	 Bullying, Discrimination, Harassment, and Sexual 
Misconduct Policy
•	 Code of Conduct – University Council
•	 Conduct of Council Elections Policy
•	 Conflicts of Interests Policy – University Council and 
its Committees
•	 Staff Code of Conduct
•	 Fraud and Corruption Procedure - Policy
•	 Charter of Responsibilities for Academic Quality 
and Governance
•	 Authenticity
•	 Integrity
•	 Excellence
•	 Respect
The University identified what matters the most to 
the university community included ‘Our Place’ - in the 
Tropics and beyond.
“As an international, geographically dispersed University, 
we advocate for, partner with and make a
difference to, the regions we serve.”
The Impact and focus of one of the Strategic Priorities – 
“Securing Our Future” deals directly with Sustainability:
“We ensure that our actions today enhance the range 
of social, cultural, environmental and economic options 
available to future generations. Integration of social, 
environmental and economic sustainability is at the heart 
of our university.”
The University has taken a significant step towards 
achieving its Strategic Direction by implementing a 
new Sustainability Governance structure in October 
2022. This structure places sustainability at the core of 
the University’s operations and decision-making. The 
Sustainability officer is now part of the DVCSR Office 
and coordinates an effective university-wide program 
that engages all stakeholders and aligns with
the University’s values and goals.

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6.1.3 JCU Annual Report 2022
6.1.4 JCU contributing to Government Policy and legislation.
Each Year James Cook University produces a publicly 
available Annual Report summarising the Universities 
achievements, outlook and financial position for the 
calendar year and fulfills the prescribed reporting 
requirements to the Queensland Minister for Education, 
Minister for Industrial Relations and Minister for Racing. 
It also covers the year’s key events, challenges and 
highlights, along with and a look ahead to the next year. 
The 2022 JCU Annual report is published on the JCU 
website and Open data is also published annually on 
the Queensland Government Open Data website online 
at https://data.qld.gov.au. It illustrates the role of the 
University within the communities it serves, portrays 
the scope and importance of its activities, and displays 
the University’s effective utilisation of the resources 
available to it. The report outlines a wide range of 
matters that provide insight to the depth and breadth 
of activities undertaken by the University. These are 
linked to, and measured against, the strategic intent, 
aims, priorities, and actions.
James Cook University regularly 
contributes to Federal, State, 
and local Government bodies 
creating policies and legislation 
to improve life in the Tropics. 
JCU provides evidence for 
legislation and reform.
Australian Universities Accord.
The Accord Interim Report 
outlines a vision for the future 
of Australia’s higher education 
system. The Report reflects 
high-quality, thoughtful submissions and extensive 
engagement with a wide range of stakeholders. It 
contains five recommendations for priority action 
and raises issues for further discussion to inform the 
Review’s Final Report. Section 3.3.5 of the Accord – 
Improving affordability for students, relates to SDG1 
– No Poverty, and discusses how to ensure that student 
contributions are fair and affordable, debt for education 
is manageable for students, repayments are not overly 
burdensome, HELP debt forgiveness, student loan fees 
on FEE-HELP loans and considers a new funding model.
In 2022 and 2023, James Cook University was very active 
in providing expert advice to the Australian Federal and 
Queensland State Government through submissions 
and consultations on policy reviews, frameworks and 
strategies. JCU Vice Chancellor, Professor Simon Biggs 
represented James Cook University in welcoming to the
campus visits of Government ministers and 
representatives from Australia and overseas to discuss 
the University’s position and contribution to governance 
in Australia.
Selected Submissions in 2022
•	 4th March Queensland Anti-Discrimination Act 
Review 
•	 22nd March Regional Research Collaboration
•	 11th April Elevate STEM Scholarships consultation 
•	 22nd June SAGE Data Framework consultation
•	 22nd July Queensland Attorney General Info and 
Privacy 
•	 2nd August NHMRC Gender Investigator Grants
•	 7th September TEQSA Research Guidance Notes
•	 30th October Productivity Commission Interim 
Report – 5 Year Inquiry
•	 9th October Centre for Disease Control Consultation
•	 15th November Startup Year consultation 
•	 31st November Employment White Paper
•	 9th December Joint Select Committee on Northern 
Australia Workforce Development 
•	 9th December Parliamentary Inquiry Tourism and 
International Aid
•	 14th December ARC Review
•	 19th December Accord Terms of Reference 
Consultation
•	 3rd December Special Envoy SE Asia Strategy
Visits to James Cook University Campus in 2022
•	 21st April Department of Science and Technology 
Philippines
•	 9th June Asian Diplomatic Visit 
•	 14th June Minister Jason Clare
•	 16th June Minister Madeleine King 
•	 7th July Minister Stirling Hinchliffe 
•	 6th September Minister Scanlon
•	 20th September Senator Tony Sheldon
•	 18th October Assistant Minister Anthony Chisholm
•	 17th November HOM Designate Trinidad

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6.1.5 Voice to Parliament Referendum – Uluru Statement 
of the Heart
To prepare the University community to vote on the 
Voice to Parliament Referendum, a special Listen, 
Learn, Share website was created with links to events, 
resources, and information about the historic vote. James 
Cook University Council also released a Statement on the 
Voice to Parliament.
JCU recognizes the history and processes that led to 
the Uluru Statement of the Heart, our committed to 
reconciliation, and to the democratic process. JCU has 
hosted a series of public events providing a platform 
for community discussion and education on the Voice 
to Parliament. On the 2nd of June 2023 during National 
Reconciliation Week, James Cook University hosted 
the first of a series of community events to discuss 
the upcoming referendum on the Indigenous Voice to 
Parliament. Held on the lawns of the Eddie Koiki Mabo 
Library at JCU’s Bebegu Yumba Campus in Townsville, 
panel members shared their insights on the Voice and 
what it means for all Australians. The discussion was 
followed by a community Q&A session revealing local 
perspectives on the referendum.
6.1.6 University Council elections
6.1.7 JCU college of Business, Law and Governance – 
outreach activities
The James Cook University Act 1997 (the Act), establishes 
a governing body, Council consisting of 15 members 
including Official, Appointed, Additional and Elected 
Members and prescribes that the Council must make 
a policy about the conduct of elections required for the 
Elected member class. The Policy and Procedure provide 
guidance to staff responsible for the conduct of Council 
elections and to ensure public accessibility of the election 
policy, the integrity and security of the voting system and 
the openness and transparency of the election process 
including the appointment of scrutineers.
In accordance with the Voluntary Code of Best Practice 
for the Governance of Australian Public Universities, 
Council ensures that its membership has an appropriate 
mix of skills and experience, but also ensures gender and 
diversity of its membership.
The University Council is the governing body of the 
University, established by the James Cook University 
Act 1997 and consists of 15 members including official, 
appointed and elected members. The primary role of 
Council is to oversee the affairs of the University and, 
in so doing, to ensure that the appropriate structures, 
policies, processes and planning are in place for JCU to 
effectively manage its activities and achieve its goals. 
Academic, Professional and Technical staff and students 
were elected to the University Council. Three students 
were nominated, and Ruby Kate Christopher received 
the majority votes and was elected as the student 
representative to Council. Jonathon Strauss was elected 
as the Professional and Technical staff member and 
Associate Professor Alana Grech and Associate Professor 
Anthony Leicht were elected as Academic staff members 
to the Council.
The College of Business Law and Governance facilitates 
public seminars, lectures and conferences for the local 
community, school groups and Law and Business 
professional to engage with the University and to 
educate the community on current and emerging issues 
and events.
•	 The Mayo Lecture is an annual event run by the 
College in conjunction with the James Cook University 
Law Students’ Society (JCULSS) in honour of Mrs 
Marylyn Mayo, JCU’s foundation law staff member. 
The JCULSS instituted the Mayo Lecture in 1991 
as a tribute to Marylyn’s work in maintaining a law 
presence at JCU and, ultimately, in establishing the full 
law degree. The 2022 Mayo Lecture was presented 
by The Honourable Justice Lincoln Crowley, KC ‘There 
and Back Again: A Personal Reflection’.
•	 The JCU Legal Studies Conference invites Legal 
Studies Teachers and Students in Year 11 and 12 
from all schools in the Far North Queensland region 
to hear from  expert speakers, and to participate 
in interactive sessions. The 2022 JCU Legal Studies 
Conference was attended by 500 school students and 
focused on the 30th Anniversary of the historic Mabo 
Decision. The2023 JCU Legal Studies Conference 
focused on the Indigenous Voice to Parliament.
The annual JCU Law Seminar Series is a popular platform 
for Legal Practitioners to present on a range of legal 
topics, with many showcasing some of the important 
and interesting work being carried out in the North 
Queensland region, and is attended by JCU staff, 
students and the local community.

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6.1.8 Research in business and governance
James Cook University launched a new journal The Journal of Tropical Futures: 
Sustainable Business, Governance & Development (JTF) in is a peer-reviewed journal 
from Sage Publications administered by James Cook University, Singapore. JTF is 
a multidisciplinary journal that promotes sustainable and responsible business, 
management, and governance in the tropics. JTF seeks to represent and address 
the complex and heterogeneous nature of the challenges facing these regions by 
exploring the interrelationship between business, management, political economy, 
development and the environment. We are particularly interested in the many 
tensions that exist between demands for economic growth, social and material 
wellbeing of populations and corresponding environmental impacts. 
6.1.9 Partnerships with bodies for stakeholder engagement
The JCU College of Business, Law and Governance 
proudly collaborates with several organisations and 
initiatives across the Cairns and Townsville regions. 
These mutually beneficial partnerships thrive on 
innovation and drive success and showcase our 
support and a passion for continuous learning, the local 
community, and the Tropics. To the right is a snapshot 
of some of the programs and organisations.
•	 Accenture Australia and New Zealand
•	 Townsville Chamber of Commerce 
•	 Cairns Chamber of Commerce
•	 Townsville Businesswomen’s Circle - JCU Business 
Bites Events
•	 Tourism Tropical North Qld
•	 The Australian Army 
•	 Townsville Community Law
•	 Department of Justice and Attorney General Qld
6.1.10 CBLG Advanced Signatory for the Principles of 
Responsible Management in Education
The College of Business, Law and Governance is a 
signatory of the UN-supported initiative, Principles for 
Responsible Management Education (PRME). PRME 
engages business and management schools to ensure 
they provide future leaders with the skills needed 
to balance economic and sustainability goals, while 
drawing attention to the Sustainable Development 
Goals (SDGs) and aligning academic institutions with the 
work of the UN Global Compact.

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Sustainability education fosters critical thinking, creativity, and 
collaboration skills that are essential for solving complex problems and 
creating positive change. It is a vital topic to teach and study in university, 
because it prepares students to become responsible and informed 
citizens and future leaders who can contribute to solving of the global 
challenges of the 21st century. Sustainability education also exposes 
students to diverse perspectives and values that enrich their cultural and 
ethical awareness. By integrating sustainability across the curriculum 
and all campuses, JCU demonstrates its commitment to social justice, 
environmental stewardship, and economic viability. JCU has a strong 
focus on sustainability and educating students about the UN Sustainable 
Development Goals across subjects in all courses. In the figures below 
the number of JCU subjects and the number of JCU students completing 
subjects tagged for relevance to each UN SDGs is shown for 2022.
JCU offers two specific sustainability courses for students:
Bachelor of Environmental Practice/Bachelor of Environmental Science 
and Management
JCU’s Environmental Science and Management students develop an 
understanding of how to manage the interactions between people 
and the environment to find solutions to complex environmental 
problems. In their final year, students build connections through a 
professional placement and work experience. Students learn key 
concepts in environmental economics and policy, human dimensions 
of environmental management, sustainability and planning, and 
combine socioeconomics with environmental skills to tackle key global 
sustainability challenges in the environmental and socio-political context. 
Students understand how people are at the core of environmental 
problems — and solutions. 44 students are enrolled in the Bachelor 
of Environmental Practice, and 36 in the Bachelor of Environmental 
Science and management in 2023. Further students are enrolled in joint 
Environmental science degrees or undertaking environmental science 
majors as part of their degrees.
Master of Global Development
Graduates from the Master of Global Development critically reflect on 
one’s social and cultural positionality to identify biases and assumptions 
that inform understandings of poverty, development, inequality and 
wellbeing, and analyse, evaluate and generate solutions to complex 
social and environmental problems, especially related to tropical, remote 
or Indigenous contexts, by using high levels of initiative, autonomy, 
accountability and collaboration in the application of development 
practice knowledge and skills. This course critically investigates the tools 
used in the design, implementation and evaluation of development 
programs. Attention is given to how development workers operate 
in the field, and how different approaches to development policy 
and practice generate different outcomes. Through the use of local 
and international case studies, as well as guest presentations by 
development professionals, the course will introduce students to a range 
of development practice operators and contexts. The core focus of this 
course is on how development projects and policies are implemented, 
with an emphasis on continual comparison against the theoretical 
perspectives that inform the values, assumptions, rationales and ethics 
underpinning development practice. 
6.2 Sustainable Education

Figure 6.1: JCU subjects mapped to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, compared with number of JCU students 
enrolled in subjects mapped to the UN SDGs.
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BUILD RESILIENT INFRASTRUCTURE, 
PROMOTE INCLUSIVE AND 
SUSTAINABLE INDUSTRIALIZATION 
AND FOSTER INNOVATION
6.3 Progress towards UN Sustainable Development 
Goal 17 – Partnerships for the Goals
	
6.3.1 JCU regional and international partnerships
	
6.3.2 Dialogue on the UN Sustainable Development Goals
 In this section
UN Sustainable Development Goal 17
Is about strengthening the means of implementation 
and revitalizing the global partnership for sustainable 
development. It recognizes that achieving the 
ambitious targets of the 2030 Agenda requires a 
collaborative and multi-stakeholder approach that 
mobilizes all available resources, knowledge, and 
technologies. James Cook University aligns its vision, 
mission, values, and strategies with the UN SDG 17 
and embeds it across all aspects of JCU’s operations, 
teaching, research and engagement. JCU educational 
partnerships play a key role in progressing towards 
SDG 17 by providing quality education that equips 
students with the knowledge, skills, and values 
to contribute to the SDG 17 in their personal and 
professional lives. JCU conducts interdisciplinary and 
collaborative research that addresses the complex 
challenges and opportunities related to the SDG and 
generates evidence-based solutions.
JCU engages with local and global communities, 
partners, and stakeholders to share knowledge, raise 
awareness, and foster action for the SDG 17. JCU 
monitors and reports on our progress and impact on 
the SDG using relevant indicators and frameworks. By 
doing so, JCU demonstrates its commitment to social 
justice, environmental stewardship, and economic 
viability, and inspires others in the community to join 
JCU in creating a more sustainable world for present 
and future generations.
State of The Tropics Partnerships
The State of the Tropics project is a multi-disciplinary 
research project that has already greatly contributed to 
increasing awareness of the challenges facing tropical 
communities and is actively tackling the UN SDGs 
across tropical regions. The goal of the JCU Academic 
Plan to create deliberate links between the State of the 
Tropics project and the Academy will further embed the 
UN SDGs into curriculum using real-world, local, and 
active research projects, and provide undergraduate 
and postgraduate students with transformative 
education experiences.

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6.3.1 JCU regional and international partnerships
The Northern Queensland Regional Training Hubs is a 
partnership between private and public hospital and 
health services, GP clinics and James Cook University.
We are a medical training network, working together as a 
team, committed to improving the health services of rural 
and remote communities in the northern Queensland 
region and provides doctors in training with unmatched 
opportunities while enjoying the lifestyle that only this part 
of Australia can offer.
Our network of hospital and health services works 
together with James Cook University to strengthen 
medical specialist training in Cairns, Central West, Mackay, 
Northwest, Torres and Cape, and Townsville. Our regions, 
spanning almost 90% of the state, offer a wide variety of 
unique training and research opportunities as well as a 
diverse mix of people and landscapes.
Australian Institute of Tropical Medicine (AITHM) 
international partnerships partnership to tackle 
Tuberculosis
A potential new tuberculosis (TB) vaccine developed at 
James Cook University 
is one of six now being 
tested in the first 
phase of a US $1.7 
million “head-to-head” 
vaccine tournament. 
Six TB vaccine 
contenders, developed 
by five different research institutions, are now being 
tested in three countries: South Korea, France and 
Australia (at JCU). Dr Kupz and his team of collaborators 
have received grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates 
Foundation ($US 1.7m), The National Institutes of 
Health USA ($US 3m) and two from the Australian 
federal government’s National Health and Medical 
Research Council ($A 2.6m) to be spent over the next 
five years – to further develop the TB vaccine, to directly 
compare it to other vaccine candidates from around 
the world and to gain a better understanding of this 
disease. AITHM’s Senior Research Fellow Dr Andreas 
Kupz said TB is the second leading infectious cause of 
death globally now behind COVID-19, with 10 million 
active cases and 1.5 million deaths annually, as well as 
two billion people latently infected with the bacteria that 
causes the disease.
“Despite this, the only licensed TB vaccine, named 
Bacille Calmette-Guérin or BCG, was developed 
100 years ago. It is universally used to prevent TB in 
children but has low effectiveness against reactivation 
of latent TB and against active TB in adults and is not 
recommended for people with impaired immunity,” Dr 
Kupz said.
JCU Centre For International Trade and Business in 
Asia (CITBA) partnership with World Wide Fund for 
Nature (WWF)
The Centre for International Trade and Business in Asia 
(CITBA) serves as a leading research and collaboration 
centre for enhancing the performance and quality 
of research at James Cook University, as well as for 
supporting firms and industries to compete in the 
global market. It offers expertise across sustainable 
business, economic development, tourism, and logistics 
and trade. A key project for CITBA in 2022 was the 
“Seafood Consumption and Production Trends — 
Singapore Market Study”. Contracted by the Worldwide 
Fund for Nature Singapore (WWF-Singapore), CITBA 
was tasked with conducting a Singapore market study 
on seafood consumption and production trends. This 
project sought to provide WWF Singapore with detailed 
information on trends in seafood supply and apparent 
consumption in Singapore. The results will be used 
to inform WWF-Singapore’s seafood strategy moving 
aquaculture production and farming within Singapore.
JCU Singapore partnerships
Partnership University Management In China.
 
JCU Singapore had over 80 partnership agreements 
and programs in collaboration with top universities 
in China, which brought in more than 60% of the new 
student population in 2022. JCU Singapore focused 
on study abroad experiences for students from 
partnership universities in 2022, and produced some 
student experience videos for the pool of partnership 
university students to demonstrate that James Cook 
University is their best choice of study abroad university 
in Singapore.

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Cooperation with Chinese Service Centre for 
Scholarly Exchange (CSCSE). 
JCUS were invited to be featured in an article by 
the CSCSE regarding social media operations for 
live streaming to increase the traffic of the China 
International Education Exhibition Tour (CIEET) 2022. 
JCU Singapore participated in CIEET 2022 for the 
pre-live streaming introduction session and received 
traffic of 55,000 people on the Weibo Platform. The 
main live streaming session of CIEET, “Growth and 
Opportunities”, was conducted by Kelvin Liu, Summer 
Jiao, Yang Hailing, Elena Liang, Hedy Tao and Han 
Rujing, attracting an audience of 104,000 people.
Koalion. 
JCU Singapore designed the very first soft toy 
representative of Australia and Singapore — the 
Koalion, which is a combination of a Koala and the 
Merlion. The koala is an iconic Australian animal, and 
the Merlion is the official mascot of Singapore.
After getting the approval of using imagery of the 
Merlion from the Singapore Tourism Board, the 
adorable Koalion was born in 2022, and became a 
unique icon of James Cook University, Singapore.
Regional Development Australia (RDA) Tropical North – 
JCU Partnership
Professor Hurriyet Babacan AM was 
appointed as the new chair of Regional 
Development Australia (RDA) Tropical 
North, in Queensland in March 2023. 
RDA Tropical North works to drive the 
development of infrastructure and 
industry to strengthen the region’s 
economy, by providing leadership and supporting 
meaningful collaboration with all levels of government, 
industry, community and academia. Professor 
Babacan is a Professor at James Cook University and 
the University of Queensland at the Rural Economies 
Centre of Excellence. She also serves as Vice Chair of 
the Cape York Natural Resource Management Board. 
The Tropical North committee of the RDA has an active 
and facilitative role in the community and a clear focus 
on stimulating economic development outcomes 
for the Tropical North Queensland Region through 
collaboration with all levels of government, industry, 
community and academia.
The RDA network is a vital link between regional 
stakeholders and all 3 levels of government. RDA 
committee members act as real-time advisers to 
government on critical regional development issues, 
opportunities, and challenges in their regions. The 
RDA network provides regional intelligence to inform 
policy and the implementation of regional programs, 
information campaigns and grant funding
opportunities. The RDA program is administered by 
the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional 
Development, Communications, and the Arts.

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6.3.2 Dialogue on the UN Sustainable Development Goals
JCU Cairns hosts the IRSA 2022 XV World Congress of 
Rural Sociology
The objectives of the International Rural Sociology 
Association are to: foster the development of rural 
sociology; further the application of sociological inquiry 
to the improvement of the quality of rural life; and 
provide a mechanism whereby rural sociologists can 
generate dialogue and useful exchange.
The XV World Congress of the International Rural 
Sociology Association was held in Cairns and was 
hosted by the James Cook University in July 2022. 
Whose versions of sustainability count in the urban 
century? How does spatial disadvantage intersect with 
injustices based on gender, ethnic, linguistic, religious 
and other dimensions of social difference? What 
opportunities do flows of people, capital, information 
and commodities between urban and rural spaces 
present for sustainable rural development?
JCU Research Ethical Development (RED) Symposium
JCU RED hosted its inaugural research symposium on 
13-14 July 2022, at the JCU The Cairns Institute. The 
call for external papers theme was: Beyond bullshit as 
usual: Re-centering power and politics in the SDGs. The 
need to move ‘beyond business as usual’ has become 
a catch cry for increasing private sector contributions to 
the SDGs. This phrase reflects a broader trend towards 
privatization in global development that includes: a 
redirection of aid funding away from not-for-profit civil 
society and towards for-profit aid contractors; a return 
to economic growth as the principal objective of aid; 
and an enduring faith in using technofixes to address 
complex social challenges. Proponents of increased 
privatization assert that the private sector has specific 
strengths for advancing the SDGs, including innovation,
responsiveness, and efficiency. While the private sector 
does have an important role to play in responding 
to poverty and other development challenges, 
technocratic and depoliticised interventions often 
ignore and perpetuate root structural causes of 
inequality and disadvantage.
The 2023 RED symposium was held on the 27-29 of 
September, and titled A Broken Promise? The 2030 
Agenda’s Commitment To Leave No-one Behind sets 
out a vision for sustainable development that places 
equality and non-discrimination at the centre of its 
efforts. To achieve this, the Agenda has the core 
commitment ‘to remain steadfast in ensuring that 
the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are 
implemented in accordance with international human 
rights law, eliminating gender inequalities and 
all forms of discrimination, [and] reaching out to 
those that are furthest behind first. The 2023 JCU 
RED symposium seeks to grapple with the 2030 
Agenda’s ‘central transformative promise’ to Leave 
No One Behind through a focus on three themes: 
power; discrimination; systemic injustice. The Cairns 
Institute Fellow Dr Kearrin Sims coordinates the JCU 
Research Ethical Development Symposium, now in 
its second year.
 
JCU Sustainable Global Development handbook – 
International Collaboration.
A new handbook, The Routledge Handbook on Global 
Development, led by The Cairns Institute’s Dr Kearrin 
Sims was published in 2022. The volume shows how 
processes and experiences of development have 
influenced people’s lives in both positive and negative 
ways, drawing attention to structural inequality and 
disadvantage alongside potential opportunities for 
positive change. It includes contributions from six JCU 
academics on topics ranging from social enterprise to 
mass extinction, Covid-19, and China’s Belt and Road 
Initiative. A major key point of difference for this volume 
is that every chapter finishes with recommendations 
for learning and teaching and (in some cases) 
development practice. The Handbook is designed to 
speak to a paradigm shift from ‘international’ to ‘global’ 
development. Chapters explore challenges that are not 
only in the global South, but also in the Global North; 
and to challenges that transcend the ‘North-South’, 
‘developed- developing’, binaries. Collectively, the 
handbook demonstrates that challenges are becoming 
increasingly complex and multi-faceted and are to be 
found in the global ‘North’ as much as the global ‘South’. 
Not only is this shift evident in the content but also its 
diverse authorship, with contributors coming from 
across the globe. Ensuring this diverse representation 
in authorship was another important aim of the 
book. As lead editor Kearrin Sims explains, “Having a 
geographically dispersed team helped the inclusion
of perspectives and contributions from some of the 
commonly less represented countries
and regions”.
The Handbook will serve 
as a valuable learning 
and teaching resource 
for students and scholars 
across multiple disciplines. 
As co-editor Nicola Banks 
highlights, something 
they set out to do with 
the volume, was to help 
the reader understand 
key issues in global 
development but also to 
challenge dominant ideas, 
interests, and narratives.

jcu.edu.au
117 | Interim Sustainability Report
2023 Public seminar - Environmental Outcomes of 
Chinese Outward Foreign Direct investment (COFDI) in 
Southeast Asia
Prof May Tan-Mullins, Chief Sustainability Officer, 
Dean International, JCU Singapore, spoke about 
the undisputable significance of China in global 
environmental issues. Chinese companies inevitably 
impact on the environment and social contexts of the
recipient countries. In particular, the ASEAN countries 
have been severely impacted as Chinese outward 
foreign direct investment (COFDI) has been flowing into 
this region at an unprecedented rate in recent years. 
This is partly due to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and 
regional demand for Chinese investment and trade. 
COFDI is much welcomed by these countries as it brings 
economic benefits and enables the pursuit of national 
development schemes. However, the outcomes 
of these COFDI projects on the economic, political, 
cultural, and environmental fabric of host countries 
have been dramatic, as it often involves a shift of power 
configuration and resource ownerships between 
different stakeholders. Drawing from evidence in three 
Southeast Asia countries (Cambodia, Vietnam, and 
Malaysia), this paper investigates how variables such as 
host country regime type and relations with China, and 
its’ local capacity to enforce laws and regulations, shape 
the environmental outcomes of COFDI. The findings of 
this paper will inform the mitigation strategies of the 
environmental implications arising from these COFDI.

7.1 Future Plans for progress towards the UN 
Sustainable Development Goals
118 | Interim Sustainability Report
 jcu.edu.au
James Cook University’s sustainability planning for the future will align with the 
Corporate Strategy values that focus on creating a brighter future for life in the 
Tropics and beyond, through education and research that makes a difference 
locally, and globally and its  strategic priority areas aligned with UN sustainable 
development goals:
The planning will be based on four pillars:
•	 developing a roadmap for reduced greenhouse gas emissions and increased 
renewable energy usage towards carbon neutrality,
•	 strategic reporting of progress towards the UN SDGs and environment, social and 
governance ratings,
•	 responsible consumption – reducing waste and increasing recycling across all 
campuses,
•	 equity and wellbeing, improving equity, health and wellbeing outcomes for 
students and staff, nurturing a community that maintains respect, inclusion safety 
and equality for all.
The University’s vision is that by achieving the University goals aligned with the 
UN Sustainability Development Goals, JCU will maintain its position as a leader in 
sustainable development and will contribute to climate action in the Tropics globally 
and will see a wide-reaching campaign of student and staff engagement and a 
focused commitment to implementing and celebrating sustainable practice. And by 
increasing the visibility of JCU’s sustainability agenda, the University will improve its 
global sustainability ranking scores, making JCU a university of choice for sustainability 
conscious students, employees, and external partners.
JCU’s plans to continue to progress the University in teaching, research, outreach and 
stewardship, serving the local community, the Tropics and beyond to meet the needs 
of the future. The plans include partnerships within Australia and internationally 
to work together in innovative, sustainable ways to progress towards the SDGs. 
The success of the planning will rely on both systemic organizational and individual 
behavioural change.
•	 Transformative Education
•	 Impactful Research
•	 Empowering our people
•	 A Civic University
•	 Securing our future

jcu.edu.au
119 | Interim Sustainability Report
Acknowledgements
This Interim Sustainability Report was initiated by Patricia Brand, the JCU Deputy Vice Chancellor, Services and 
Resources Division, and by Holly Field, Sustainability Officer. It is a collective, collaborative work of many:
Emmanuel Acheampong
Brock Allen
Lisa Arnell
Frances Atkins
Ben Backhouse
Olga Bazaka
Regina Blackburn
Lisa Brennan
Larnie Brown
Kirrilee Browning
Catrina Busch
Damien Burrows
Brian Collins
Kaylene Camuti
Vanessa Cannon
Adam Canning
Loretta Castley
Taha Chaiechi
Helen Clarkson
David Craig
Allan Dale
Amy Diedrich
Maree Dinan-Thomson
Vivianne Dolan
Jennah Doyle
Maren Eibner
Emiel Eijdenberg
Brandan Espe
Yvette Everingham
Jamie Fellows
Melanie Ferris
Ashley Field
Elle Forbes
Danella Forster
Alicia Fowles
Wendy Ganly
Yetta Gurtner
Mel Harrison
Ryl Harrison
Scott Heron
Damien Horne
Kelly Horne
Conrad Hoskin
Neil Hutchinson
Mohan Jacob
Lisa James
Dean Jerry
Karen Johnston
Anne Jones
Hilary Kavanagh
David King
Noel Kiuk
Nola Kuilboer
Marcus Lane
Sarah Larkins
Lisa Law
Susan Laurence
William Laurence
Rebecca Lee
Susan Lesley
Stewart Lockie
Nigel Marsh
Ian McLeod
Molly McShane
Kerrie Mellick
Tullita Miller
Zohre Mohammadi
Troy Morris
Andrea Mullins
Martin Nakata
Amanda Nulty
Annette Quagliata
Brook Orr
Michael Rasheed
Jeffrey Reddy
Tasmin Rymer
Leslie Sampson
Ioan Sanislav
Jenny Seddon
Adrian Shatte
Nathan Shepherd
Kate Sheppard
Lisa Simmons
Pinky Sibal
Renee Simkins
Lisa Simmons
Kearrin Sims
Phil Smith
Shaun Solomon
Peter Sonntag
Anne Steinemann
Jan Strugnell
May Tan
May Tan-Mullins
Laurence Tapp
Dave Waters
Felicia Watkin
Caryn West
David Whitmore
Tania Wilmann
Vyvyen Wong
Mykala Wright
Kimberley Wynbergen
Daniel Zamykal
Gregg Zonneveld

jcu.edu.au
120 | Interim Sustainability Report
JCU Policies, Procedures, Plans, Guidelines, Reports and other documents referenced in this report:
Bullying, discrimination, harassment, and sexual misconduct policy
Covid-19 in the Tropics State of the Tropics Report 2022
HEPPP 2022 Measurements and Targets Dashboard
JCU 2022 Annual Report
JCU Aboriginal and Torres strait Islander Workforce Strategy
JCU Corporate Procurement Plan
JCU Corporate Strategy
JCU Enterprise Agreement 2022
JCU Exercise Physiology Clinic performance report 2020-2022
JCU Innovation Strategy 2020-2022
JCU Modern Slavery Statement 2022
JCU Singapore Annual Report 2022
JCU Social Procurement Guidelines
JCU Workforce Impact
Making Rural Health Matter College of Medicine and Dentistry
Mercer Annual ESG review for JCU 2022
Statement of Commitment to the Elimination of Sexual Harassment and Sexual Assault 
Sustainability Statement
TEFMA report 20119. 2020, 2021, 2022
The JCU Model
Townsville Bushfire Preparedness Case Study 2022
WEGA Reporting Overview JCU 22-23
Your School and Us Catalogue
Other References
Australian Universities Accord Interim Report
Australian Bureau of Meteorology State of the Climate 2022 Citizens of the Great Barrier Reef Impact Report
CRC Developing Northern Australia Current Projects Water Security Givvable Data with Impact portal
References
James Cook University Research Institutes, Centres, and programs that contributed to this report through access to 
their reports, images and news stories:
Agriculture Technology and Adoption Centre (AgTAC)
Anton Breinl Research Centre for Health Systems Strengthening
Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine (AITHM
Bushfire and Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre
Centre for Disaster Studies
Centre for International Trade and Business in Asia (CITBA)
Centre for Rural and Remote Health
Centre for Sustainable Tropical Fisheries and Aquaculture (CSTFA)
Centre for Tropical Environment and Sustainability Sciences (TESS)
Centre for Tropical Water and Aquatic Ecosystem Research (TropWATER)
Cooperative Research Centre for Developing Northern Australia
Economic Geology Research Centre
Indigenous Education and Research Centre
Murturpuni Centre for Rural and Remote Health
Northern Queensland Regional Training Hubs
The Cairns Institute
The JCU Ideas Lab
Tropical Futures Institute
Tropical North Queensland Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub (TNQ Hub)