The SDGs, in plain English.
The UN Sustainable Development Goals are the standard your board, investors, and most of your larger clients now use to assess whether your impact claims hold up. Here's what the SDGs actually are — and exactly where Clean Impact Co. fits in.
17 goals. 169 targets. One shared scoreboard.
Adopted by all UN member states in 2015 as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the SDGs are the most widely recognised framework for measuring whether an organisation is contributing to progress — or getting in the way of it.
For your organisation's purposes, think of them as a shared vocabulary. When you say "we're contributing to SDG 8 through our social procurement," any sustainability professional, auditor, or investor immediately knows what that means — and what evidence you should be able to show.
Clean Impact Co. directly contributes to six primary SDGs (where the link is immediate and quantifiable) and two secondary SDGs (where we contribute through our operating model and partnerships). The next section breaks each one down.
Where CIC fits on the SDG scoreboard.
The primary six are where we can give you a direct, quantifiable metric in your annual impact report. The secondary two are where we contribute through how the business is structured and who we partner with.
Each SDG is broken down in detail below — what it covers, which UN targets we contribute to, and what gets measured in your annual report.
Where the link is direct, and the metric is yours.
Each of the six SDGs below has a specific, quantifiable contribution that shows up in your annual impact report. Read the UN target language, the metric we track, and a sample reporting sentence you can lift straight into your own sustainability disclosures.
Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.
Why this is the SDG that matters most
This is the single SDG most directly affected by how you choose a cleaning provider. The cleaning industry is internationally recognised as a high-risk sector for wage theft, sham contracting, and insecure labour. Every cleaning contract is either reinforcing those conditions — or pushing against them. There's no neutral option.
See UN targets, what we measure, and sample reporting language
UN targets we contribute to
- 8.3 · Formalisation and growth of small and medium enterprises. CIC is a Social Traders-certified social enterprise.
- 8.5 · Full and productive employment, decent work, equal pay for work of equal value. 100% award-compliant wages, no exceptions.
- 8.6 · Reduce the proportion of youth not in employment, education or training. Roles for young people re-entering the workforce.
- 8.7 · Eradicate forced labour, end modern slavery. Zero sham contracting, full wage transparency.
- 8.8 · Protect labour rights and promote safe and secure working environments. SWMS + WHS compliant, fully insured, screened.
What we measure for your report
- Hours of local employment funded
- Percentage of hours paid at or above award (100%)
- Percentage of hours allocated to people facing barriers to work
- Workforce retention at 12 months
"Our cleaning provider contributed [X] hours of award-compliant local employment this year, with [X]% of those hours allocated to people re-entering the workforce after time out — directly advancing SDG 8 Targets 8.5 and 8.8."
Reduce inequality within and among countries.
Why this matters
The cleaning industry is one of the largest employers of people historically excluded from mainstream work — migrants, returners, carers, people with disability. It's also one of the industries most likely to exploit those same workers. Choosing a social enterprise cleaner turns that dynamic on its head.
See UN targets, what we measure, and sample reporting language
UN targets we contribute to
- 10.1 · Income growth of the bottom 40% of the population. Award wage floor; workforce concentrated in lower-income cohorts.
- 10.2 · Social, economic and political inclusion for all. Deliberately designed inclusive employment pathways.
- 10.3 · Equal opportunity and reduced inequalities of outcome. Structured, non-discriminatory hiring process.
What we measure for your report
- Workforce composition by barrier-to-work cohort (annually)
- Percentage wage uplift vs. minimum
- Internal progression and hours uplift over time
"[X]% of the workforce supporting our cleaning contract comes from groups historically under-represented in stable employment, including primary carers returning to work and long-term unemployed Northern Rivers residents — contributing to SDG 10 Targets 10.2 and 10.3."
End poverty in all its forms everywhere.
Why this matters
The fastest, most under-used lever for reducing poverty isn't social assistance — it's stable, fairly-paid, appropriately flexible employment. That's exactly what the social enterprise cleaning model is built around.
See UN targets, what we measure, and sample reporting language
UN targets we contribute to
- 1.2 · Reduce by at least half the proportion of people living in poverty. Stable award-wage income for workers previously in precarious work.
- 1.4 · Equal rights to economic resources. Income predictability, super contributions, leave entitlements.
What we measure for your report
- Dollars of wages paid into Northern Rivers households (annually)
- Average hours per worker (stability measure)
- Length-of-service distribution across the workforce
"$[X] in award-compliant wages were paid into Northern Rivers households this year through our cleaning contract — directly advancing SDG 1 Targets 1.2 and 1.4."
Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.
Why this matters
Economic retention — the money that stays in a community after being spent there — is one of the most powerful and least-reported indicators of community sustainability. When your cleaning contract is serviced by out-of-region subcontractors, most of that spend leaves. When it's serviced by a local social enterprise, it stays.
See UN targets, what we measure, and sample reporting language
UN targets we contribute to
- 11.a · Positive links between urban, peri-urban and rural areas. 100% Northern Rivers payroll, regional-first supplier procurement.
- 11.3 · Inclusive and sustainable urbanisation. Reinvestment through Sistability into community services for vulnerable Northern Rivers residents.
What we measure for your report
- Dollars retained in the Northern Rivers economy (annually)
- Percentage of supplier spend kept regional (where regional options exist)
- Surplus reinvested via Sistability into community services
"This year, $[X] of our cleaning spend was retained in the Northern Rivers economy through local wage payments and regional supplier use — directly contributing to SDG 11 Target 11.a."
Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.
Why this matters
The Australian cleaning workforce is disproportionately female. Any cleaning contract is, by default, a contract that predominantly shapes the working conditions of women — often women who are also primary carers and locked out of standard 9-to-5 roles.
See UN targets, what we measure, and sample reporting language
UN targets we contribute to
- 5.5 · Women's full and effective participation and equal leadership. Female-led — Founder and Services Manager.
- 5.4 · Recognise and value unpaid care and domestic work. Shift structures designed around carer responsibilities.
What we measure for your report
- Percentage of roles designed for primary carers
- Gender composition of workforce and leadership (annually)
- Pay-gap analysis across roles (where applicable)
"[X]% of our crew are primary carers, supported through shift patterns designed around school drop-offs, family commitments, and the rest of life. Women make up [X]% of our workforce and 100% of our leadership team — directly advancing SDG 5 Targets 5.4 and 5.5."
Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.
Why this matters
The environmental footprint of a cleaning contract is often underestimated. Chemical runoff, single-use plastics, non-refillable bottles, disposable wipes — they all add up. This is the SDG where our environmental practices sit most directly.
See UN targets, what we measure, and sample reporting language
UN targets we contribute to
- 12.4 · Environmentally sound management of chemicals. Low-toxicity products through our local supplier Simply Clean, plus chemical dilution systems.
- 12.5 · Reduce waste through prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse. Microfibre systems (reusable, laundered), refillable containers.
- 12.7 · Sustainable public procurement practices. Exactly what a CIC contract enables your procurement team to deliver.
What we measure for your report
- Percentage of product spend on low-toxicity / certified-green (annually)
- Single-use consumables eliminated vs. baseline
- Chemical concentrate dilution rate
"[X]% of cleaning products used under our contract were low-toxicity / certified-green, with reusable microfibre systems eliminating an estimated [X] single-use disposables — directly contributing to SDG 12 Targets 12.4 and 12.5."
Where we contribute indirectly.
These goals aren't our primary impact — but we evidence meaningful indirect contribution through our operating model, our partnerships, and the way our clients use our services.
Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.
For clients in the education sector, we directly maintain the hygiene standards that keep school environments safe and functional. For our workforce, we support access to industry training and practical skills that travel across employment pathways.
- 4.4 · Increase the number of youth and adults with relevant skills for employment.
- 4.5 · Eliminate disparities in education and ensure equal access for the vulnerable.
Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development.
CIC exists as a partnership. Spun out of Sistability's eight-year operating model. Supported by Business NSW Regional Leaders (Northern Rivers). Every client engagement extends that partnership network — a practical example of SDG 17 in action across our region.
- 17.17 · Effective public, public-private, and civil society partnerships.
- 17.16 · Enhance multi-stakeholder partnerships for sustainable development.
Every year. In your inbox.
Rather than leaving you to work out which SDGs you can credibly claim, we do the mapping for you — and supply the underlying metrics that back every claim. Your annual report includes a dedicated SDG panel laid out exactly like the one shown here.
Faster cadence (quarterly or bi-annual) available on request. Custom framework alignment — GRI, IFRS S1 — available for multi-site clients.
Your contribution this year
You've seen the framework. Now let's apply it.
Request a quote, ask for a sample annual report, or talk to our impact lead. We'll show you exactly which SDGs your specific contract will report on — and what evidence we'll bring with each of them — before you sign anything.