Our Community Investment Program is focused on the flagship theme of physical health and wellbeing. This strategic focus area was chosen following extensive evidence-based research that identified it as the most materially relevant need across many of the communities in which our assets are located. The program is based on the idea that by introducing consumers to healthy eating practices and exercise through in-centre activations, we might educate and change behaviours, potentially reducing the likelihood of our community members developing longer term chronic illnesses. 

This theme also responds to growing consumer trends and preferences, leveraging programs targeted at improving physical activity and diet to amplify customer experience and drive positive commercial results across our asset portfolio. Internal analysis completed in 2021 found that over a 10-year period, income across our portfolio from tenants with a balance towards healthy or health-related offerings has more than doubled.

In 2022, QIC partnered with McCrindle Research to measure the influence that QIC Real Estate’s consumer megatrends are having on purchasing decisions today, and the implications for the retail landscape into the future. The first deep dive in this series explored the ‘Self-Improvement and Wellbeing’ megatrend. A survey of more than 4,500 shoppers⁵⁴ confirmed QIC’s observations that shopping centres play a vital role in the physical and mental wellbeing of local communities through the products and services they house, and the opportunities for social connection they provide. The research confirmed that QIC customers are more likely to prefer engaging in self-improvement and wellbeing activities at a QIC centre compared to at home, and this was much stronger than the panel of Australian respondents.

Figure 16: Exploring the self-improvement and wellbeing megatrend

 

These results reinforce our observations that physical wellbeing is an important priority for QIC shopping centre customers.

To deliver our Community Investment Program, we entered a joint partnership with Nutrition Australia and YMCA in early 2022. Nutrition Australia is Australia’s leading nutrition not-for-profit organisation, providing information, education and business-to-business consultation and advisory services to help those individuals achieve improved health through good nutrition. YMCA is the largest global youth movement with a shared purpose of empowering young people. In Australia, YMCA provides a wide range of programs and services to people of all ages, including activities focused on increasing physical activity.

 

Program delivery in FY24

Learnings from last year’s Community Investment Program delivery were incorporated into the design of the FY24 program, which has evolved into a six-week Wellness Challenge with the objective of driving deeper measurable impact for participants. We codesigned the bespoke Wellness Challenge with Nutrition Australia and YMCA, which was delivered as a free program that provided participants with a nutrition and exercise plan to support them in making long-term informed choices about their health and wellbeing. It was implemented by our community partners Nutrition Australia and YMCA at nine assets in FY24 (refer to Table 13 for list of assets).

The Wellness Challenge commenced with an in-person Wellness Hub at our assets, where participants had a body composition scan followed by a dedicated 1:1 session with a personal trainer and nutritionist to develop a personalised plan for the challenge. Throughout the six weeks of the challenge, participants had free access to an innovative Wellness App to help keep them on track, as well as a range of resources and tailored live online sessions. At week six, another in-person Wellness Hub was delivered at each asset where participants had a follow-up body composition scan to understand their progress, and discuss next steps in a 1:1 session with a personal trainer and nutritionist. Community members not participating in the Wellness Challenge were accommodated through free walk-up body scans followed by a brief chat with a nutritionist and personal trainer to understand how they might improve their physical health. Free nutrition information sheets, recipes and food samples were also available to customers.

An additional three assets (refer to Table 13 for list of assets) held a one-day in-centre Wellness Hub pop-up which offered community members an opportunity to engage via free body scans followed by a brief chat with a nutritionist and personal trainer to provide insights on how they could improve their physical health. Visitors to our assets also had access to free nutrition information sheets, recipes and food samples⁵⁵.

Our Community Investment Program was popular with the community and successful in delivering improved physical health outcomes for participants. During FY24, 183 people participated⁵⁶ in the Wellness Challenge and an additional 497 community members had a body composition scan and brief session with a nutritionist and personal trainer as part of the Wellness Hub delivery across our asset portfolio. 

Several impacts⁵⁷ were evident for participants in the Wellness Challenge. Overall, quantifiable improvements were seen in people’s physical wellbeing as a result of their participation., Data collected from the two body composition scans conducted at week one and week six of the Wellness Challenge provided insight into direct body changes over the course of the six-week program, with many participants having reductions across all four datapoints (bio age, body fat mass, BWI score, visceral fat level). The aggregate reduction in body fat mass⁵⁸ was the largest measured change which indicated that 85% of the participants who completed the six-week Wellness Challenge experienced a reduction in body fat mass, demonstrating a measured change in participants' physical health during to the Wellness Challenge. Post-program survey data also revealed that the percentage of participants consuming at least three serves of vegetables per day increased dramatically from 19% before the Wellness Challenge to 88%⁵⁹afterwards, suggesting a significant improvement in self-reported dietary habits across the participant group throughout the six-week program.

Overall, the Wellness Challenge received an overwhelmingly positive response, with community members’ survey reactions showing strong support for assets to deliver more physical wellbeing-related initiatives in the future.

 

A bespoke measurement framework for the program, based on a theory of change and using a Social Return On Investment (SROI) methodology, has been developed and evolved as we mature the program’s delivery, with support from Deloitte. This has allowed us to understand the program’s success and identify any opportunities to improve activation design along the way, ensuring we continue to drive measurable positive impacts aligned with the program’s objectives.

 

⁵⁴ Methodology – QIC Centres in-field 28 April 2022 to 16 May 2022; 2,423 completes across 9 QIC centres. Australians in-field 28 April 2022 to 3 May 2022; 2007 nationally representative sample. Source: QIC Real Estate – Knowledge, Insights and Research, October 2023.

⁵⁵ QIC Real Estate uses the Business for Societal Impact (B4SI) framework to measure the value of our community investment activities across three areas – Inputs, Outputs and Impact.  ‘Outputs’ under this framework relate to program aspects such as number of activities delivered and people reached. An accurate and evidence-based methodology to count community member engagement with all elements of the program offering was unable to be developed, therefore full participation figures were unable to be captured in the measurement of outcomes achieved from the program’s delivery.

⁵⁶ Based on community members who signed up and attended week 1 of the Wellness Challenge.

⁵⁷ QIC Real Estate uses the Business for Societal Impact (B4SI) framework to measure the value of our community investment activities across three areas – Inputs, Outputs and Impact.  ‘Impacts’ under this framework relate to program aspects such as the changes that have occurred to individuals as a result of the program delivery.

⁵⁸ Body fat mass is the weight of fat in the body (whereas body weight measures total body mass which includes bones, water, fat, muscles and organs). Reducing body fat has more significant benefits for health compared to reducing overall body weight helping to decrease the risk of several diseases.

⁵⁹ The post challenge survey questions relating to the number of serves of vegetables consumed by participants pre and post challenge was only received across four of the assets that participated in the FY24 Community Investment Program.

 

QIC Real Estate uses the Business for Societal Impact (B4SI) Framework⁶⁰ to measure our community contributions. The B4SI Framework is a globally recognised best practice measurement standard that enables companies to understand the difference their contributions make to their business and society. FY24 is the fourth year we have used the B4SI Framework for our community investment reporting.

In FY24, we contributed approximately $1.93 million to our communities, through a mix of cash, time, in-kind contributions, and management-related efforts across the portfolio to deliver community related initiatives.⁶¹ This 21% increase from FY23 is due in part to ongoing improvements in our reporting processes.

 

 

Figure 18: QIC Real Estate total community contributions FY21 to FY24

 

Contributions for the year were spread over several organisations, supporting a variety of local community focus areas at each asset. Community initiatives included the delivery of activations by Nutrition Australia and YMCA related to our portfolio-wide community investment program, provision of free spaces in our centres to community groups for fundraising activations, donations to local hospitals and schools, food drives, charity gift wrapping services, and gift card donations.

In FY24, the health category continued to be the largest contribution area across the portfolio, making up 30% of total cash, time and in-kind contributions. This aligns with the theme of our community investment program - physical health and wellbeing - which has been identified as the most materially relevant need across many of the communities in which our assets are located.

Figure 19: FY24 B4SI community focus areas⁶²

 

⁶⁰ QIC Real Estate is a member of B4SI and pays an annual fee.
⁶¹ Community contributions for FY24 have been verified by B4SI.
⁶² ‘Other’ includes community fundraising, sporting clubs, etc.

QIC’s vision for reconciliation is an Australia that embraces equal, fair, and just opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and one in which we all work together to actively advance reconciliation.

 

QIC recognises the importance of building a better future for all Australians, which must pay respect to, and build trust with, Australia's First Nations peoples. We are committed to partnering with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, businesses, and communities to co-create meaningful investment outcomes and drive equal opportunities within our procurement, employment, and investment activities.

To support the delivery of QIC’s Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP), QIC Real Estate developed an Indigenous Delivery Plan for FY24, outlining the key areas of focus where our property assets and teams can make a real and positive difference towards achieving our broader RAP deliverables. Our FY24 Indigenous Delivery Plan covers the focus areas of QIC’s Innovate RAP, including community engagement and awareness, investment, procurement, employment, and governance and reporting. It also includes annual objectives specific to the real estate asset portfolio. 

The plan is updated on an annual basis and acts as an important guide for centre teams in focusing their efforts on genuine initiatives that support reconciliation. Initiatives delivered during FY24 include:  

• Continued to deepen connections with Traditional Owners and local First Nations groups on the lands of our assets, forming genuine, long-term relationships and positioning our shopping centres as places of welcome, cultural education and connection for the broader community.
• Procured over $1.1m of goods and services from First Nations businesses across the real estate business.
• Continued to support First Nations employment, including the ongoing engagement of our Indigenous school-based trainee at Grand Central (QLD).
• Appointed First Nations Community Champions in each of our centres. These are passionate advocates, driving meaningful First Nations activity in our centres, aligned with our Indigenous Delivery Plan.
• Incorporated QIC Real Estate’s Indigenous Design framework into the Real Estate Sustainable Design Brief.The Indigenous Design framework is a practical guide to build culturally responsive processes to ensure that First Nations design inputs are included in our development projects.
• Supported the Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair Foundation and Indigenous Fashion Projects through the National Indigenous Fashion Awards (NIFA) for the second consecutive year, reaffirming our commitment to recognising and celebrating excellence within the First Nations fashion industry. We sponsored two NIFA awards in 2023: the Community Collaboration Award (sponsored by Canberra Centre) and the Wearable Art Award (sponsored by Robina Town Centre). Further, QIC’s Local Talent Activation Program provided emerging Wiradjuri artist, Kristie Peters, a fully funded DAAF experience. Canberra Centre and Robina Town Centre hosted the 2023 NIFA Winners’ Showcase, displaying designs from the 2023 NIFA award winners and finalists to the community. Canberra Centre also hosted Kristie Peter’s fashion brand launch – BlakLabel Dreaming – via a sold-out runway event.
• Recognised culturally significant days, including NAIDOC Week and National Reconciliation Week (NRW), across our shopping centres through a range of immersive experiences, recognising the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
  • To celebrate NAIDOC Week, QIC collaborated with Cheryl Moggs OAM, a proud descendant of the Bigambul people of Goondiwindi, to create a polo shirt featuring Cheryl’s artwork, I am my Mother’s Teacher. The shirt features the symbols of community, people and place, and is proudly worn by our centre staff to show our assets as welcoming and inclusive places for the community.
  • Our centres also collaborated with their local First Nations communities and Elders to tell the story of the 2023 NAIDOC Week theme, For Our Elders, with a full week of activations including Smoking Ceremonies, Welcome to Country, Indigenous dance performance and painting workshops
• Events were held across our assets to celebrate NRW, including Smoking Ceremonies, Welcome to Country, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander dance performances, First Nations weaving, art markets, paintings and a NRW panel discussion.

 

QIC Stretch RAP

QIC officially launched our Stretch RAP in May 2024. 

Since introducing our first Reflect RAP in October 2018 and our second Innovate RAP in October 2020, we have sought numerous opportunities to embed the reconciliation considerations across our organisation and drive awareness and inclusion initiatives into different parts of our business. 

Our Stretch RAP builds on the progress we have made to date, heightening our ambitions and extending our sphere of influence, connecting with more people, businesses and communities as well as enriching our existing relationships. It focuses our efforts on the areas in which we believe we can deliver the most meaningful outcomes – including procurement, community engagement, employment and investment activities.  

To progress the deliverables within our new Stretch RAP, QIC Real Estate will develop a new First Nations Delivery Plan for FY25, outlining the key areas where our property assets and teams can make a real and positive difference towards the delivery of our RAP.  

As part of the launch of our Stretch RAP, we updated our Acknowledgement of Country to better reflect QIC’s position as a global organisation. Our new Acknowledgement of Country is consistent with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which recognises the need to respect First Nations peoples around the world.

Westpoint, NSW NAIDOC Week celebrations	Robina Town Centre NAIDOC Week display	Robina Town Centre 2023 NIFA Winners' Showcase

Recognising culturally significant days at our assets

Forest Lake Shopping Centre and Nerang Mall (QLD) partnered with Uncle Allan Lena, Traditional Owner and Custodian and Elder of the Bundjalung and Yuggara Nations to celebrate the 2023 NAIDOC Week theme, For Our Elders. Uncle Allan Lena shared a local dreamtime story through a community art collaboration with local schools and an early learning centre. Signage was installed incorporating a QR code for community members to read more on the dreamtime story. 

Cheryl Moggs and the Grand Central Centre Management team celebrating the launch of new polo shirts featuring Cheryl’s artwork, I am my Mother’s Teacher.

Cheryl Moggs OAM joined the team at Grand Central (QLD) during NAIDOC Week 2023 for the launch of new polo shirts featuring Cheryl’s artwork, I am my Mother’s Teacher.

During National Reconciliation Week Kippa Ring Shopping Centre (QLD) unveiled a bespoke art piece curated and hand painted by Kabi Kabi artist Jason Douglas of Dalmarri named “kippa”.

We place the utmost importance on making our community feel welcome in our centres and assets.

In FY24, we continued to roll out our three-year Diversity and Inclusion Plan, which outlines the ways our property assets and teams can bring QIC's broader diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) strategy to life. The plan incorporates activities focused on gender equity, LGBTQ+, accessibility, cultural and linguistic diversity (CALD), First Nations people, young professionals, and community/wellness.

Key initiatives implemented across the real estate asset portfolio during the reporting period include:

• Launch of Real Estate Gender Plan 2023-2025, which documents our goals to increase female representation within all areas of Real Estate and promote targeted opportunities to help females succeed. Key achievements from our Gender Plan implementation during FY24 can be found in Our People.
• The continued implementation of the Welcome Here Project. QIC Real Estate is committed to promoting a safe, inclusive and welcoming environment for the LGBTQ+ community at all our centres. Welcome Here rainbow stickers are displayed on entry to let everyone know that LGBTQ+ diversity is welcomed and celebrated within our centres.
• At Christmas, deaf and hard of hearing children had the opportunity to visit an Auslan-fluent Santa for the first time at many of our centres. During their Santa visit, children were greeted by a sign language-fluent Santa, allowing them to effectively communicate their Christmas list. Sensitive Santa, an experience designed for children with sensory processing challenges, has been offered at many of our centres for several years, and the introduction of Auslan Santa means the experience is now more inclusive and accessible for our customers.
• Grand Central (QLD) implemented a desktop hearing loop at the Centre’s Customer Service Desk in FY24. The ‘Smartloop’ hearing device enables those with hearing aids or cochlear implants to connect via Telecoil (T-Coil) technology, which reduces background noise and enhances speech clarity of Customer Service staff through a small microphone. Grand Central worked with Better Hearing Australia, the Peak Body for Queenslanders with hearing loss, to implement this initiative at the centre.
• Our centres celebrated several days of significance on the Diversity and Inclusion calendar, including International Women’s Day, Wear It Purple Day, IDAHOBIT, NAIDOC Week, National Reconciliation Week, Diwali, Lunar New Year, Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr, Harmony Week, and many others.

Diwali celebrations at Epping (VIC)	Lunar New Year celebrations at Forest Lake (QLD)	Auslan Santa at Grand Central (QLD)

A groundbreaking initiative for community safety, wellbeing and security breaches in our retail assets

Project Safe-Guard was established by QIC Real Estate in FY22 to address a surge in critical incidents involving self-harm attempts during the pandemic.

The initiative strategically and proactively uses CCTV to provide early alerts of high-risk situations, with the aim of preventing them from turning into potentially critical incidents. Leveraging state-of-the-art motion alert technology, a first in the shopping centre industry, the initiative significantly improves our ability to respond swiftly and prevent potential incidents at our centres. When an alert is triggered, images from the alerted camera immediately appear on security guard-monitored screens in the control room, along with flashing red LED lighting and an alarm, to ensure alerts are not missed.

Since its deployment, Project Safe-Guard has been implemented at high-risk areas within nine centres across our portfolio and has successfully enabled intervention before incidents occur on many occasions. We are continuously striving to further enhance the program. In FY24, we collaborated with the provider of the cameras used in Project Safe-Guard, Axis Communications, to undertake further testing for the next firmware update. This enabled the firmware’s finalisation for global roll out and significantly advanced the system’s functionality.

Thanks to our leadership in this area, we were invited to share the Project Safe-Guard strategy and operational elements with several property peers, Woollahra Council NSW and Black Dog, with the aim of sharing our knowledge to support more people in the community.

Understanding the needs, priorities, and interests of our stakeholders is central to everything we do. We undertake comprehensive stakeholder mapping and planning activities to ensure we develop and maintain sustainable relationships throughout the lifecycle of our assets.

Table 13 outlines the ways in which we engage with our major stakeholders. 

Table 13: QIC Real Estate stakeholders

Stakeholder group	How we engage	Key focus areas
Customers and local communities	Emails and newsletters Centre websites and social media pages In-centre activations and other community engagement activities Centre Management offices, Information and Customer Service desks Community engagement activities throughout development projects Monitoring and responding to customer enquiries and complaints	Educating our communities on physical health and wellbeing through our Community Investment Program, delivered in partnership with Nutrition Australia and YMCA Supporting local community groups and causes through in-centre initiatives Providing vibrant shopping destinations at the heart of the communities we serve Delivering a tenant mix that meets the needs of our customers
Retailers	Engagement initially made through QIC Real Estate’s Leasing team Ongoing regular engagement undertaken by individual Centre Management teams Retailer briefing sessions One-on-one retailer meetings Online tenant portal	Maintaining positive tenant relationships with the aim of retaining quality retailers Strong engagement with Centre Management teams Providing access to marketing tools, in-centre activations and other services to ensure retailer success
Employees	Quarterly Updates from QIC Real Estate’s leadership team CEO All Staff Briefings Lunch and learn sessions from subject matter experts from across QIC. Topics include diversity and inclusion, health and wellbeing, cybersecurity, and team deep dives QIC Real Estate Senior Leadership Team offsites QIC-wide Senior Leadership Team offsites Regular employee engagement surveys to monitor progress against key organisational measures Intranet updates QIC-wide employee newsletters Internal sponsorship and mentor programs	Fostering a positive and collaborative workplace culture Providing ongoing learning and development opportunities Enabling flexible and hybrid working, allowing our people to balance professional and personal priorities Communicating with our people in a transparent and timely way
Investors	Annual Unitholder Conference Annual Report Annual Real Estate ESG Report and QIC Sustainabiltiy Report Investor communications Investor meetings, committees and advisory groups Quarterly Fund Reports	Maintaining strong relationships with investors Regular and transparent communication with investors to maintain a strong corporate reputation Managing ESG-related risks and opportunities Leveraging our ESG approach and performance to gain access to additional capital
Government	One-on-one meetings Site visits Invitations to participate in significant development project milestones (e.g. sod turns and topping out ceremonies) Annual Reports Participation in Estimates Hearings	Proactively engaging with government representatives of asset electorates Collaborating with government to support local jobs and economic development Providing a safe environment for those visiting and working at our assets
Industry groups	Participation in industry working groups and roundtables Participation in annual sustainability building and fund level ratings Attendance at industry events and conferences	Engaging on and responding to industry-wide issues (e.g. Modern Slavery risks) Improving sustainability performance at our assets Understanding the commercial implications of industry issues
Media	Producing media materials, including media releases, briefings, and social media content	Fostering collaborative relationships with media contacts at national, state, and local media outlets to disseminate stories about QIC Real Estate and the activities happening at our centres
Suppliers	Contractual agreements Regular meetings to review progress against agreed deliverables Annual supplier questionnaires	Ensuring suppliers meet their contractual requirements in the supply of goods and services to QIC Real Estate Leveraging our supplier relationships to drive further improvements to our ESG performance Maintaining positive supplier relationships
Traditional Custodians and First Nations people	One-on-one meetings with our shopping centre teams Participation in centres’ NAIDOC Week, National Reconciliation Week celebrations and other in-centre activities and celebrations Procurement opportunities Employment opportunities	Develop and maintain long-term relationships with the Traditional Owners and local First Nations groups on the lands where our assets are located Increase our spend with First Nations owned businesses Increase employment opportunities within QIC Real Estate for First Nations people.