QCG invests AU$ 1 million in Indigenous education

Coalbed methane (CBM) player, QCG, has invested AU$ 1 million in cultural and educational programmes to help young Indigenous people in Gladstone and the Western Downs realise their potential.

Funds will be used to help school and community leaders improve school participation and results through a partnership with leading non-profit development organisation Stronger Smarter Institute.

Since its establishment in 2005, Stronger Smarter Institute has facilitated over 70 programs and attracted more than 1500 participants.

The first of two week-long residential programs for school and community leaders held this month in Cherbourg focused on raising students' aspirations.

Vice president of sustainability, Brett Smith, said the partnership exemplified QGC's efforts to improve access to economic opportunities, training and education for young people in the Queensland Curtis LNG Project area. "Government reviews have identified links between low levels of achievement and educational disadvantage, particularly among students from low socioeconomic and indigenous backgrounds," he said.

"Organisations, such as Stronger Smarter Institute, do an incredible job of improving the way that students, particularly from indigenous backgrounds, experience education and we're thrilled to be able to support their work,” Smith added.

"Through our AU$ 150 million Social Impact Management Plan and our Reconciliation Action Plan, we have invested in projects and partnerships designed to improve education and employment for indigenous people," Smith said.

QGC has also invested AU$ 420,000 in a 12-month partnership with Titans 4 Tomorrow, the community outreach arm of the Gold Coast Titans National Rugby League Club, to encourage young indigenous people in the Surat Basin to finish school.

QCG, which is wholly owned by the BG Group, has explored for CBM since 1999 and produced the gas on a commercial scale since 2006. The company currently supplies around 20% of Queensland’s natural gas demand.

The company is currently developing the Queensland Curtis LNG project, which involves the conversion of gas sourced from coal seams into liquefied natural gas. QCG’s exploration and production activities are focused in the Surat Basin, where coal seams are usually no more than 30 cm thick and are usually 300 – 800 m below the surface.

The company is also exploring for CBM in the Bowen Basin.

The local areas in which QCG operate can be said to have benefited from the company’s involvement in local communities, and the recent large donation to the Stronger Smarter Institute is but one example of its strategy to bring benefits to the people living in the locality to its operations.

In a statement, the company said: “As a company and as individuals, we are determined to ensure that the impacts of our operations are overwhelmingly beneficial for all Queenslanders.”

Edited by Sam Dodson

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcoal.com/cbm/31072014/qcg-invests-in-community-benefits-programme-cbm87/