Sustainable Transformation

Cassandra Williams calls herself a green capitalist. She grew up in central Queensland and has spent more than 30 years in data-led roles across finance and investment, research, and certifications and ratings. Today she is Head of Enterprise Programs and Strategy at Climateworks Centre, an independent foundation within Monash University.

So with cost of living front of mind, where does sustainability fit? Kiarne and Cassandra take the question to the kitchen table: the gas heating bill, the appliance rebate, the supermarket shelf and your super.

Cassandra shares why even she had to turn to AI to find a rebate she knew existed, the lunchtime chat with cricketer Ian Healy that shows how she explains climate risk, and the advice she gives anyone who isn’t sure climate change will affect them. Kiarne also coins a term for the brands she believes are getting off scot-free.

You’ll hear and learn:

• How Cassandra uses CapEx and OpEx to think through big household decisions, such as replacing gas ducted heating
• Why support that already exists, from rebates to subsidies, can be so hard for consumers to find and use
• What power outages in Spain could mean for the cost of everything you buy
• Why Cassandra says your super is probably one of the biggest things you could do for sustainability, and how she helped her daughter set hers up
• What building five-star ratings at Canstar taught Cassandra about labels that help people trust a choice

This episode is a must-listen for anyone weighing up the upfront cost of a greener choice at home or at work, and for business leaders who need the numbers to make the case internally.

MENTIONS:

• Climateworks Centre
• Monash University
• Net Zero Academy
• Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC)
• Climate Change Authority
• Canstar
• Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA)
• Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC)
• Climateworks Gladstone report

LINKS:

Learn more about SustainabilityTracker.com

Learn more about The Sustainable Transformation Podcast

Follow The Sustainable Choice Group on LinkedIn, Instagram, and TikTok

Follow Nova Podcasts on Instagram for videos from the podcast and behind-the-scenes content – @novapodcastsofficial

CREDITS:

Host: Kiarne Treacy

Guest: Cassandra Williams

Guest Company: ClimateWorks Centre

Find more great podcasts like this at novapodcasts.com.au

Nova Entertainment acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land on which we produced this podcast, the Wurundjeri People of the Kulin Nation.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information

About the Sustainable Transformation Podcast

The Sustainable Transformation Podcast is brought to you by Sustainability Tracker and hosted by founder and CEO Kiarne Treacy.

About Sustainability Tracker

Sustainability Tracker is the world’s most comprehensive brand sustainability search engine, helping shoppers see what actions brands are taking, the commitments they’ve made and the evidence behind them. Founded in Melbourne in 2020.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Buildings account for almost a quarter of Australia's emissions and use more than half of our electricity. Yet most of us know more about the energy rating of our fridge than about the most expensive thing we'll ever own.

In this episode, Kiarne sits down with Davina Rooney, CEO of the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA), the organisation behind the Green Star rating system. Davina is a structural engineer by training and has worked on construction sites, in property and in policy rooms around the country. Her focus is bringing the conversation back to the kitchen table.

They talk about who is paying for greener buildings and whether it pays them back, why the materials in a building are becoming a much bigger part of its carbon story, and where good intentions get lost between the first quote and the finished build. They also cover the renovation choice that could make your house 10 degrees hotter.

You’ll hear and learn:

•  Whether a greener home pays you back, and how long you would have to wait
• What makes up a building's carbon footprint, and why the materials matter more as the grid gets cleaner
• Why sustainability commitments get "value engineered out" of construction projects, and what keeps them in
• What a cyclone taught Davina about designing buildings for the conditions ahead
• Davina's no-brainer decisions for anyone building or renovating a home

This episode is a must-listen for anyone building, renovating or renting a home, and for property, construction and sustainability professionals who want a clear picture of where Australia's built environment is heading.

Related resources:

• Planet Protector Group
• Smarterlite
• Carbon Construct  

MENTIONS:

• Green Building Council of Australia
• Our Homes Weigh a Tonne (GBCA report)
• Owners of green homes financially better off from day one (GBCA and KPMG)
• Atlassian Central
• Quay Quarter Tower
• Suncorp Haven
• National Construction Code Modernisation Review
• Global GreenTag
• Good Environmental Choice Australia (GECA)

LINKS:

Learn more about SustainabilityTracker.com

Learn more about The Sustainable Transformation Podcast

Follow The Sustainable Choice Group on LinkedIn, Instagram, and TikTok

Follow Nova Podcasts on Instagram for videos from the podcast and behind-the-scenes content – @novapodcastsofficial

CREDITS:

Host: Kiarne Treacy

Guest: Davina Rooney

Guest Company: Green Building Council of Australia

Find more great podcasts like this at novapodcasts.com.au

Nova Entertainment acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land on which we produced this podcast, the Wurundjeri People of the Kulin Nation.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Can a government be legally required to protect young Australians from climate change? That question sat at the centre of a landmark Federal Court case, and it's one campaigner Anjali Sharma has been trying to answer since she was 14 years old.

Anjali was the lead litigant in the case that first tested whether Australia's environment minister owes a legal duty of care to future generations. She won. It was overturned on appeal. Instead of walking away, she helped write a bill to put that duty into law, and it's now working its way through state and territory parliaments.

In this episode, Anjali takes Kiarne through what it actually takes to sue a federal minister at 16, why Australia's role as a fossil fuel exporter complicates the "we're too small to matter" argument, and what a workable duty of care could look like in practice.

You’ll hear and learn:

• Why a 16 year old sued a federal government minister
• Why Australia shouldn’t be claiming "we're too small to matter" argument on climate responsibility
• What a legislated duty of care could mean
• Where the campaign for a duty of care stands now
• What Anjali says drives her and makes it all worth while

This episode is a must-listen for anyone who wants to understand how legal accountability on climate actually works in Australia, and what it takes to move it.

MENTIONS:

• Sharma v Minister for the Environment
• David Pocock's Duty of Care Bill
• ICJ Advisory Opinion on States' Climate Obligations (2025)
• Australian Youth Climate Coalition
• Australian Conservation Foundation
• Climate Council
• Australian Human Rights Commission’s child rights impact assessment tool

LINKS:

Learn more about SustainabilityTracker.com

Learn more about The Sustainable Transformation Podcast

Follow The Sustainable Choice Group on LinkedIn, Instagram, and TikTok

Follow Nova Podcasts on Instagram for videos from the podcast and behind-the-scenes content – @novapodcastsofficial

CREDITS:

Host: Kiarne Treacy

Guest: Anjali Sharma

Guest Company: Duty of Care Campaign

Find more great podcasts like this at novapodcasts.com.au

Nova Entertainment acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land on which we produced this podcast, the Wurundjeri People of the Kulin Nation.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Most people's idea of sustainable packaging starts and stops at the recycling bin. That's the visible layer. Underneath it sits a fragmented system of state-based schemes, contested regulation, and on-pack claims that don't always hold up.

Kiarne is joined by Pippa Corry, founder and director of philo & co, a sustainable packaging consultancy working with brands Australia. Pippa spent more than 15 years designing packaging for global brands before building a consultancy around one question: what needs to change at the design stage for packaging to be genuinely circular.

They get into the difference between recyclability and true circularity and why Australia's patchwork of state-based recycling rules is under pressure to change. Pippa also breaks down what a fake recycling logo looks like, why "compostable" is one of the most misunderstood words on a pack, and the first question any brand should ask before its next packaging redesign.

If you've ever stood in front of the recycling bin second-guessing yourself, this one's for you.

SINCE WE RECORDED THIS EPISODE:

The Federal Government has confirmed a Commonwealth packaging scheme won't be introduced this term. If you want to see that change, philo & co is backing Boomerang Alliance's Call for Packaging Reform — you can add your name here: Sign the Call for Packaging Reform

You’ll hear and learn:

• The real difference between recyclability and genuine circularity, and why they're not the same thing
• What Australia's ARL (Australian Recycling Label) system actually checks for, beyond the chasing-arrows symbol
• Where Australian packaging regulation is headed — extended producer responsibility, eco-modulation, and what both mean in practice
• How to spot a fake recycling claim or an overstated compostability claim at the shelf
• The first question philo & co asks every brand before a packaging redesign

This episode is a must-listen for brand, marketing and packaging teams navigating design and compliance decisions, and for anyone who wants to make sense of confusing sustainability claims at the shelf.

MENTIONS:

• APCO (Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation)
• ARL / PREP tool (Australian Recycling Label)
• SPSA (Soft Plastics Stewardship Australia)
• DCCEEW (Dept. of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water)
• UK RAM (Recyclability Assessment Methodology)
• Australia Post's circular textiles pilot

LINKS:

Learn more about SustainabilityTracker.com

Learn more about The Sustainable Transformation Podcast

Follow The Sustainable Choice Group on LinkedIn, Instagram, and TikTok

Follow Nova Podcasts on Instagram for videos from the podcast and behind-the-scenes content – @novapodcastsofficial

CREDITS:

Host: Kiarne Treacy

Guest: Pippa Corry

Guest Company: philo&co

Find more great podcasts like this at novapodcasts.com.au

Nova Entertainment acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land on which we produced this podcast, the Wurundjeri People of the Kulin Nation.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Most of us can tell you exactly what goes in the recycling bin, but very few of us could tell you what's actually inside our superannuation. And according to Estelle Parker, co-CEO of the Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA), that gap matters more than almost anything else we do for the planet.

RIAA is the industry body that certifies which super funds and investment products can genuinely call themselves responsible or ethical, and its network covers a scale of money most of us can barely picture.

In this episode, Kiarne sits down with Estelle to work through why so few Australians ever check where their money goes, what words like "ethical" and "sustainable" are actually supposed to mean in finance, and just how easy it is to find out. It's a conversation about trust, proof, and the surprising amount of power sitting in every Australian's super account right now.

You’ll hear and learn:

• Why nearly 90% of Australians expect their super to be invested responsibly, and why so few have ever checked
• What "ethical," "sustainable" and "responsible" actually mean in an investment context, and why they don't mean the same thing to everyone
• The simple analogy that makes sense of how certification works, even in an industry as complex as finance
• How rigorously investment products are reviewed before they can carry a genuine responsible investment label
• What it actually takes to check or switch your own super fund, and why it's simpler than most people expect

RIAAis a not-for-profit organisation that champions responsible investing and a sustainable financial system in Australia and New Zealand. RIAA is dedicated to ensuring capital is aligned with achieving a healthy society, environment and economy.

The directories below are free for anyone to use. RIAA does not receive commissions from product providers when consumers switch products or seek advice.

Find RIAA certified products

Find RIAA certified financial advisers

This episode is a must-listen for anyone who's ever wondered whether their money is doing the right thing, or wants an easy way to find out without needing a finance degree.

MENTIONS:

• Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA)
• RIAA Certified Product and Adviser Directory

LINKS:

Learn more about SustainabilityTracker.com

Learn more about The Sustainable Transformation Podcast

Follow The Sustainable Choice Group on LinkedIn, Instagram, and TikTok

Follow Nova Podcasts on Instagram for videos from the podcast and behind-the-scenes content – @novapodcastsofficial

CREDITS:

Host: Kiarne Treacy

Guest: Estelle Parker

Guest Company: Responsible Investment Association of Australasia (RIAA)

Find more great podcasts like this at novapodcasts.com.au

Nova Entertainment acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land on which we produced this podcast, the Wurundjeri People of the Kulin Nation.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Open the cupboard under your kitchen sink. Chances are you'll find a dozen or more cleaning products, each with a slightly different job and nearly every one carrying a warning about the chemicals inside.

Koh co-founder Adam Lindsay didn't set out to build a brand people would talk about. He set out to solve a problem in his own cleaning cupboard, and ended up building one of Australia's most trusted cleaning brands almost entirely on word of mouth.

In this episode, Kiarne sits down with Adam to talk about what it actually takes to earn that kind of trust, from a cold call to a university chemistry department, to farmers market stalls, to nearly two million households today. It's a conversation about taking on the giants of the cleaning aisle with a safe and sustainable product, and winning. 

You’ll hear and learn:

• Why Adam called a university chemistry department before starting Koh, and what happened when he did
• What convinced skeptical customers at farmers markets that Koh was the cleaner for their family
• The real reason so many cleaning products still carry that "clean" smell
• What it actually takes to get third-party eco-certification, and why Koh did it before selling a single product
• Where Koh is headed next as it looks at reducing what gets shipped across the country

This episode is a must-listen for anyone who's ever stood in the cleaning aisle wondering which claims to trust, and any founder wondering whether doing things properly is worth the extra cost.

MENTIONS:

• Koh
• GECA (Good Environmental Choice Australia)
• Sensitive Choice, National Asthma Council Australia

LINKS:

Learn more about SustainabilityTracker.com

Learn more about The Sustainable Transformation Podcast

Follow The Sustainable Choice Group on LinkedIn, Instagram, and TikTok

Follow Nova Podcasts on Instagram for videos from the podcast and behind-the-scenes content – @novapodcastsofficial

CREDITS:

Host: Kiarne Treacy

Guest: Adam Lindsay

Guest Company: Koh

Find more great podcasts like this at novapodcasts.com.au

Nova Entertainment acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land on which we produced this podcast, the Wurundjeri People of the Kulin Nation.

See

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“I think it's probably the least bad system that we could have implemented.”

James Tilbury isn't talking about Parliament. He's talking about mandatory climate reporting, the wave of legally required disclosures now landing from some of Australia's biggest companies.

Kiarne Treacy sits down with James, climate risk advisor to some of the country's largest businesses, to find out why he'd compare a spreadsheet requirement to a system of government, and why most people misunderstand what these reports are actually for.

James breaks down where the requirement came from, what large and mid-sized companies are now legally required to put in writing, and why the system behind it still has real gaps. He explains why a company is more likely to disclose a gap in its climate planning than to close it, why no regulator is checking whether public targets get met, and how AI search tools are already changing how everyday consumers hunt for answers about which brands are genuinely sustainable.

This episode is a must-listen for anyone who's ever wondered whether a brand's sustainability claims mean anything once they're put in writing, and what's actually behind the fine print most of us will never read.

You’ll hear and learn:

• Why mandatory climate reports are risk reports first, and what that means for what companies actually have to disclose
• What separates a mandatory climate disclosure and a voluntary sustainability report
• Why there's no central directory to find these reports, even though the law requires them
• What companies are legally allowed to admit to, and what they're never required to fix
• Who actually enforces a company's climate targets once they're made public
• Why James compares Australia's reporting system to democracy
• Why searches like "is this brand sustainable" have tripled in the past year, and what's driving that shift

This episode is a must-listen for anyone who's ever wondered whether a brand's sustainability claims mean anything once they're put in writing, and what's actually behind the fine print.

MENTIONS:

• Linden Sustainability
• Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)
• ASIC Connect
• Australian Sustainable Finance Taxonomy
• Energy Lab

LINKS:

Learn more about Sustainability Tracker

Learn more about The Sustainable Transformation Podcast

Follow The Sustainable Choice Group on LinkedIn, Instagram, and TikTok

Follow Nova Podcasts on Instagram for videos from the podcast and behind-the-scenes content – @novapodcastsofficial

CREDITS:

Host: Kiarne Treacy

Guest: James Tilbury

Guest Company: Linden Sustainability

Find more great podcasts like this at novapodcasts.com.au

Nova Entertainment acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land on which we produced this podcast, the Wurundjeri People of the Kulin Nation.

See

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“fast fashion is a topic that absolutely eats away at me. So I've got lots I want to get off my chest and lots I want to learn.”

Kiarne Treacy's had enough of fast fashion, and today she’s starting with your last online order.

She puts it to Danielle Kent, General Manager of Transformation at Seamless, Australia's national product stewardship scheme for fashion. Australians send more than 200,000 tonnes of clothing to landfill every year, roughly a full wardrobe per person.

Kiarne sits down with her to find out how that happened, and why recycling isn't the fix most people think it is.

Danielle explains how Australia's abundance of space and appetite for fast fashion has created a wardrobe surplus even our charities can't absorb. She's honest about the number that should worry everyone: only a small fraction of what we own actually gets recycled, and the reasons why involve everything from sequins to shipping routes.

The conversation gets into what's really happening to the clothes in your local charity bin, why global shipping disruptions are now sending containers of donated clothing straight to Australian landfill and what it would actually take to make brands responsible for a garment's whole life.

You’ll hear and learn:

• The one word Danielle says can ruin a garment's chance of ever being recycled
• Why 1.5 billion items of clothing hit the Australian market every year, and why Danielle says that number is a serious undercount
• What's really happening to the clothing sitting in shipping containers right now, and why it's not reaching the countries it was meant for
• The teenage trend no one saw coming, and what it reveals about why we buy the way we do
• Why some of Australia's most trusted brands are quietly buying back the same clothes they sold you
• The two numbers that show why only a tiny fraction of Australian fashion brands are actually accountable for what they sell
• What Danielle does every single time before she buys something new, and why it's saved her thousands

This episode is a must-listen for anyone who's ever dropped a bag of clothes at a charity bin and wondered what actually happens next, and for anyone rethinking how much, and how often, they buy clothes.

MENTIONS:

• Seamless
• Cotton On & eBay Australia partnership
• Australian Fashion Council
• Ellen MacArthur Foundation
• Refashion (France)
• Samsara eco
• BlockTexx
• Planet Protector

LINKS:

Learn more about SustainabilityTracker.com

Learn more about The Sustainable Transformation Podcast

Follow The Sustainable Choice Group on LinkedIn, Instagram, and TikTok

Follow Nova Podcasts on Instagram for videos from the podcast and behind-the-scenes content – @novapodcastsofficial

CREDITS:

Host: Kiarne Treacy

Guest: Danielle Kent

Guest Company: Seamless

Find more great podcasts like this at novapodcasts.com.au

Nova Entertainment acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land on which we produced this podcast, the Wurundjeri People of the Kulin Nation.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

"The most selfless person I have ever met in business."

That's how Kiarne describes Dilhan C. Fernando, Chairman and CEO of Dilmah Tea, after sitting down with him for this episode.

Dilhan runs one of the world's best-known tea brands in the world, and by his own admission, he could triple Dilmah's profits tomorrow. Kiarne sits down with him to find out what it actually costs to run a business on purity of origin, ethical growing and a founding promise never to compromise.

Dilhan walks through the value model his father built the company on: social impact first, environmental restoration second, and profit deliberately at the end. They talk about agroforestry that drops yields, twelve years of biochar trials and why they have a single-origin promise. Dilhan teaches us about the family's charitable foundation and conservation arm, the bats now helping grow tea and why three of his children have chosen to join the business too.

You'll hear and learn:

• Why Dilhan compares a bag of Dilmah tea to a bottle of wine, and what that says about why they don’t blend tea across regions
• How bat research at Dilmah's Genesis Centre is helping them grow tea
• The three-part value model behind Dilmah's business, and where profit actually lands on that list
• What twelve years of testing one unusual soil technique revealed about growing tea through drought

This episode is a must-listen for anyone who wants to understand what genuine, structural sustainability actually costs, and why one family has chosen it for three generations running.

MENTIONS:

• Dilmah Tea
• MJF Charitable Foundation
• Dilmah Conservation
• Genesis Dilmah Centre for a Sustainable Future
• Biodiversity Sri Lanka
• UN Global Compact Network Sri Lanka
• Conscious Food Systems Summit, Bhutan
• Sri Lanka Climate Summit 2026
• Sri Lanka's National Export Development Plan

LINKS:

Learn more about SustainabilityTracker

Learn more about The Sustainable Transformation Podcast

Follow The Sustainability Tracker on LinkedIn, Instagram, and TikTok

Follow Nova Podcasts on Instagram for videos from the podcast and behind-the-scenes content – @novapodcastsofficial

CREDITS:

Host: Kiarne Treacy

Guest: Dilhan C Fernando

Guest Company: Dilmah

Find more great podcasts like this at novapodcasts.com.au

Nova Entertainment acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land on which we produced this podcast, the Wurundjeri People of the Kulin Nation.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sustainability has shifted from a “nice to have” to a core business risk conversation.

In this episode, Daniel Harper, Director of Cool Planet, unpacks what nearly 20 years of working in climate strategy has taught him about how businesses really move. From the early “wild west” days of carbon offsets to mandatory climate disclosure, supply chain pressure and the pivot from carbon neutral to net zero, this is a grounded look at what’s actually happening in the ESG space..

You’ll hear why regulatory certainty matters more than most people realise, how supplier tiering is reshaping procurement decisions, where carbon offset distrust comes from (including why some carbon credits cost under $2 while others sit closer to $50… and what that gap means for credibility) and why some industries like hospitality are evolving faster than others.

If you’re unsure whether to start or scale your sustainability efforts, this episode breaks down the steps and tools to get moving in a way that makes clear business sense.

You’ll hear and learn:

• Why mandatory climate disclosure reframes sustainability as business risk, not environmental charity
• How large organisations are quietly ranking suppliers based on net zero targets and carbon reporting
• The real difference between carbon neutral and net zero — and why offset quality matters
• Where reputational risk and greenwashing scrutiny are increasing, and how to protect your brand
• Why starting early reduces future compliance pressure, protects profit and creates commercial advantage

Founders, sustainability leads, procurement teams and business owners who want clarity on climate reporting, supplier pressure, net zero strategy and how to turn sustainability from a compliance task into a commercial advantage.

MENTIONS:

• Cool Planet
• Climate Active
• Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs)
• Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi)

LINKS:

Learn more about SustainabilityTracker.com

Learn more about The Sustainable Transformation Podcast

Follow The Sustainable Choice Group on LinkedIn, Instagram, and TikTok

Follow Nova Podcasts on Instagram for videos from the podcast and behind-the-scenes content – @novapodcastsofficial

CREDITS:

Host: Kiarne Treacy

Guest: Daniel Harper

Guest Company: Cool Planet

Find more great podcasts like this at novapodcasts.com.au

Nova Entertainment acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land on which we produced this podcast, the Wurundjeri People of the Kulin Nation.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.