This article by Michelle Abbey, Executive General Manager, Town Centres at Stockland forms part of a special feature published in the latest edition of SCN Magazine. Premium members can view the full digital edition here


It’s fitting that as Stockland celebrates its 70th anniversary, we look at the important role shopping centres play in creating communities that are accessible and inclusive.

Throughout the 50s and 60s, Australia was experiencing a rapidly growing population, with waves of immigration from Europe bringing new skills and talent – including Stockland’s founder Ervin Graf. The suburbs were becoming alive with new residential estates for young couples and families seeking affordable housing and space. Australian shopping centres, unlike the malls of America, were created as single retail destinations to support these new communities with all the essentials.

Whether we are working with 2022 Australian of the Year Dylan Alcott or a local community group, for Stockland, the successful meshing of our assets with the community fabric starts with our CARE values and Stockland’s clear and stated purpose – we believe there is a better way to live.

The social sustainability of our assets is outlined in our 2030 Sustainability Strategy, which sets out specific priorities and targets for our Retail business that promote inclusive, accessible, healthy and connected living.

Stockland Birtinya’s inclusive playspace

Understanding our assets
A priority of the Sustainability Strategy is to design assets that are adaptable and future focused. For our town centres, this means better understanding them.

Working with Get Skilled Access, founded by Dylan Alcott, we have carried out disability inclusion and accessibility assessments at five town centres – Birtinya, Burleigh Heads, Wetherill Park, Shellharbour and Point Cook – to benchmark their level of compliance and customer experience assessments from the perspective of dignity, equity and inclusion.

These assessments enable us to plan for improvements, some of which may be physical improvements through capital works and programs, all of which draw on the wisdom of the community and subject matter experts.

Being inclusive is about moving the needle from ‘nice to have’ to ‘must have’ facilities. Changing places provide a dignified space for someone with a disability and their carer to use. At Stockland Baldivis and Wetherill Park, we are striving for gold standard amenities and recently introduced gender-neutral toilets, providing advocacy in action that will improve the lives of trans and gender-diverse people within our communities.

Stockland Birtinya’s Quiet Rooms

Since 2020, we have also been working with Autism Spectrum Australia (Aspect) to improve inclusion and accessibility at our assets. Like most of our partnerships, we look for scalability, usually introducing a new initiative at a few assets as a pilot before rolling them out across the portfolio.

This year, we were the first property company to create Sensory Maps of shopping centres with Aspect. Sensory Maps give customers with sensory processing differences, like autism, an opportunity to plan ahead before visiting new environments and to better navigate situations that may overwhelm or cause anxiety or stress.

We now have Sensory Maps for six of our Town Centres – Green Hills, Merrylands, Shellharbour, Wetherill Park, Point Cook and Wendouree – and plan to have maps for the entire portfolio in two to three years.

Our relationship with Aspect has also supported the introduction of Sensitive Santa at our centres so all families can capture a special moment at Christmas.

Sensory Maps builds on BindiMaps, a wayfinding smartphone app that enables our vision-impaired customers to independently navigate their way around centres at Wetherill Park, Forster and Nowra in NSW, and Burleigh Heads and Rockhampton in Queensland.

Youngster.co, Stockland Forster

Another pilot, which is currently at Stockland Baldivis in WA and Stockland Forster in NSW, thoughtfully brings together two sustainability targets to engage the elderly to prevent social isolation and enhance wellbeing while responding to youth challenges, needs and interests. Run by Youngster.co, the intergenerational program is designed to increase the IT literacy of older Australians and improve the communication and employment skills of younger Australians.

Acting local with care
Community resilience assessments are another important element of our business planning to understand the social issues at a local level that can be addressed through community development.

Individual centre business plans identify three community development opportunities that can support the local community and bring people together in a meaningful way. Stockland Birtinya, which sits within Stockland’s Birtinya master-planned community, is home to many young families. Stockland has introduced programs that support young parents and their children, such as in-centre Baby Sensory sessions designed to simulate, educate and provide precious memories during the first year of a baby’s life.

Flexible community spaces at Stockland Birtinya and Stockland Baringa are transformed into a pop-up library with First 5 Forever, an initiative of the State Library of Queensland that aims to provide all Queensland children aged 0-5 with strong literacy foundations.

Stockland Birtinya’s Pop Up Library

Across all of Stockland’s businesses – Residential and Commercial Property – we work collaboratively with local communities to promote the CARE Grants program and encourage participation. Since 2014, we have assisted more than 2,350 community organisations across Australia with grants of $2.2 million.

Once again, our town centres award grants to community organisations that represent the needs and interests of the broader community. For Stockland Point Cook in Melbourne, this could mean assisting an organisation like Friend in Me, which promotes social inclusion and acceptance in children through events, workshops and online programs. In Queensland, Stockland Rockhampton is lending its support to the Rockhampton Cycling Club to inspire people in the community to keep active and build skills and confidence in cycling.

Building on legacy
Our approach to social sustainability at our centres is layered and holistic. It relies on listening to our communities and drawing on their lived experience, and seeking input from the not-for-profit sector and experts.

Our approach is considered and deliberate, balancing the rollout of initiatives so that some take root at a local level while others flourish across the entire portfolio.

Since Stockland opened the doors of its first shopping centre in 1957, our town centres have become the beating heart of their communities across Australian suburbs and regional centres. Over time, and fitting for a diverse and inclusive nation, they have evolved to reflect the communities they operate in and meet their growing needs.