The Monash SDGs project
Project led by Sir Bob Watson
How to make the SDGs appropriate for Australia and the region?
Workshops involving leading academics, business, government and civil society

Melbourne workshops

Malaysia Workshop

Engagement with government
PapersIndonesia Workshop

Engagement withbusiness

The aims of the project
1. Identify what Sustainable Development Goals andtargets are appropriate for Australia
2. Identify interlinkages between the goals andsuggest targets and indicators that maximise
integration
3. Engage various stakeholder groups to promote theSDGs and gather their input4. Influence the Australian Government’s position on
the SDGs and influence the international debate

Workshop 1 –Where are we? Where do we want to be?
• What is Australia’s current
sustainability performance?
• What are the sustainability
challenges?
• Where do we want to be?
Our vision of a sustainable
Australia.
• What should be Australia’s
sustainability goals andtargets?

Workshop 1 – outcomesMay 2013• Better communication of sustainability and SDGs
• Young people should play a significant role
• Business should be involved in developing the SDGs
• Australia can play a leadership role in energy and water
efficiency• Addressing inequalities in health and education is vital• We should move away from GDP as measure of progress
Recommendation: prepare a series of short papers on eachpotential goal setting out global and Australian challenges andpotential targets and indicators.

Workshop 2 – Refining the goals and targets
May 2014• World café style rotations torefine the 10 goals andtargets for Australia• Develop a framework for
the SDGs that identifies thetrade-offs and synergies andneed for integration of goals• Map a way forward forengaging stakeholder
groups and implementing
the framework

Sustainable Development Goals andtargets for Australia• 10 Goals and 54 targets
for Australia• Framework for goal
integration andintegrating targets• Link to Australian Bureauof Statistics• Also identified somepolicies and indicators

Workshop 3 - Implementing the SDGs
May 2015• Identify which of the UN’s
proposed SDGs are most relevantfor Australia• Highlight the opportunities forAustralia• Map how Australia could
measure and report on progressof the SDGs and identify relevant
indicators• Identify the role of different
sectors in contributing to theimplementation of the SDGs egnational, state and local
governments, business, NGOs
Recommendation: A National Summit on Implementation of the SDGs to beheld in 2016

Business Workshop
BHP Billiton February 2015
• Jointly hosted by SDSN Australia
Pacific, Global Compact Network
Australia and BHP Billiton• More than 80 participants – mostfrom business with senior
Government and NGO
representation.
• Businesses should start to aligntheir long term strategies withthe Sustainable Development
Goals• Multi-stakeholder partnerships
will be critical

The Monash SDGs project
Professor Sachs visit May 2014
More than 3,000 people attended his events
Senior government and business leaders
Built Monash profile with philanthropy and business“SDSN-Australia has initiated a REMARKABLE process, led by
Bob Watson (visiting at Monash) on defining the SDGs forAustralia. There has been a phenomenal one-year effort toset country-specific SDGs, with targets relevant forAustralia. Great project. It is a template for the entire SDSN
system.” Professor Jeffrey Sachs May 2014

Prof Sach’s visit

The Monash SDGs project has been supported by the Harold Mitchell
Foundation with funding of $1.5 m over three years. The SDGs andDDPP projects have attracted an additional 12 business, government
and philanthropic sponsors with extra funding of $0.7 m.