More Australian Companies Report on Sustainability
22 July 2004 at 1:07 pm
The number of Australian companies that report annually on sustainability has doubled, according to a report on the top 500 Australian companies.
The Australian Government’s State of Sustainability Reporting in Australia 2004 surveyed companies in the ASX top 300, the top 100 private companies and the top 100 unlisted public companies.
It shows the rate of sustainability reporting by Australian companies has doubled from 57 companies publishing public environmental reports in 2001-02, to 116 publishing sustainability reports in 2002-2003.
The rate of reporting has increased in the finance and insurance sectors; the electricity, gas and water sectors; the property services sector and the wholesale trade sector.
Sustainability reporting, or triple bottom line reporting, is the annual reporting of a company’s performance against environmental, social and economic criteria.
The Centre for Australian Ethical Research (CAER), in collaboration with KPMG and Deni Greene Consulting Services, conducted the project for the Commonwealth Department of the Environment and Heritage.
The Federal Government says the quality of reporting is increasing with a growing use of international guidelines and increased emphasis on independent verification.
However it says Australia is still lagging behind international trends and work still needs to be done by the Australian corporate sector to remain competitive internationally.
The State of Sustainability Reporting in Australia 2004 forms part of the Australian Government’s Australian Sustainability Reporting Library.
If you would like an electronic of the survey just send us an email with State of Sustainability in the subject line to probono@probonoaustralia.com.au.
