71 Finalists Prove That Sustainability is a Winner

The 2013 Banksia Sustainability Awards Finalists are waiting for no-one. Each finalist exemplifies leadership and innovation and is a catalyst for change in their specific areas. The array of finalist is mind blowing, all sharing a concern for our country from outback Australia to the centre of our major metropolis, irrespective of whether they are small community groups or major corporations.

To honour its 25^th year in acknowledging leadership and innovation in sustainability, the Banksia Foundation has introduced the inaugural Richard Pratt – Banksia CEO Award. In the tradition of Richard Pratt, this award recognises an individual executive's contribution towards the economic, social and environmental sustainability achievements of the organisation or company they work for with collateral benefits. The finalists demonstrate the broad spectrum of areas pursuing this quest.

• Mark Joiner, CFO and Executive Director Finance, NAB

• Mary-Lou Kelly, CEO, Ecospecifier Global

• Ravi Naidu, CEO & Managing Director, Cooperative Research Centre for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment

• Simon Wild, CEO, Cundall Australia

Another highlight sees a record number of finalists in the Indigenous Award category, reinforcing the invaluable contribution of our Indigenous community as well as pointing out the innovative approaches developed to address an assortment of issues facing stewardship of the land, waterways, wildlife habitats, native flora and fauna.

With 15 individual awards, the breadth of categories proves how vast the area of sustainability continues to be. The 71 finalists reaffirm that Australian ingenuity in this area is thriving.

Winners will be announced on 9 October 2013 at the gala presentation held at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. The evening will feature the 2013 Banksia International Award winner Jochen Zeitz, Director of Kering and Chairman of the Kering board's sustainable development, dubbed by the New York Times as ‘the fashion world’s energetic activist’.

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