Two firms were recognised in Brisbane’s annual Lord Mayor’s Business Awards for their CSR programs. McCullough Robertson took home the Brisbane City Council Award for Corporate Citizenship, and Clayton Utz was voted as a finalist for the corporate citizenship award for its ‘Community Connect’ program. Carter Newell was also lauded, voted as a finalist for the ‘Employer of Choice’ award.
McCullough Robertson’s activities are grouped under the ‘Community Partnerships Program’, which brings together the firm’s pro bono work, staff engagement and the McCullough Robertson Foundation. The program’s five priorities are access to justice, health and mental health, rural and remote issues, community cultural aspects, and indigenous education.
The program’s director, Heather Watson, said the last one caught the attention of the awards panel and was a cause very important to the firm and its clients. “The one that was of particular interest [to the panel] was the work we’re doing in indigenous education,” she said. “It’s an area that is very important to some of our partners and also to our clients. We have a large resources practice and a number of our clients are keen on that area, because they’re working in those indigenous communities.”
The Brisbane-based firm financially supports the Yalari Foundation, which gives indigenous children from remote communities around Australia a first-class education through full boarding scholarships at some of the country’s most prestigious high schools. McCullough Robertson is sponsoring one student in Toowoomba and one in Brisbane. The firm has also established a scholarship fund with the Queensland University of Technology which also provides the students with a link to the law firm which manifests itself in work experience and clerkship opportunities.
Clayton Utz’s recognition was for the program incorporating the Clayton Utz Foundation and ‘Community Involvement’ program. The foundation provides financial contributions to various charities while the community involvement program encourages the firm’s staff to volunteer their time and skills, or provide financial support to individuals, charities and community partners in cities and regional and remote parts of Australia.
Specific contributions that Claytons has made to the Brisbane community include a book drive in collaboration with the Brisbane Writers Festival which collected more than 600 books for the JEBB Women’s Hostel. The firm also provides a free advice and referral service in consumer and financial services matters to assist low income and disadvantaged people in the Brisbane community, through its Consumer Law Advice Clinic.
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