Australia’s CSR Top 10 Revealed
3 June 2015 at 11:32 am
Banks and finance-related businesses feature prominently on the list of Australia’s top CSR organisations, unveiled as part of the Australian Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility’s State of CSR Annual Review.
Repeat appearances on the annual list were made by engineering firm Arup, BHP Billiton, NAB and Westpac, joined by first-timers Disney, insurance firm IAG, Sydney Water, Telstra and Teachers Mutual Bank.
2015 marks the sixth time ACCSR has ranked the top organisations in Australia based on their CSR management capabilities.
The 2015 State of CSR in Australia and New Zealand Annual Review also revealed that innovative corporate social responsibility practices are helping more companies than ever before to access new markets.
The Review, which ACCSR said is the largest ongoing longitudinal research into CSR in Australia and New Zealand and one of the biggest in the world, examined the stages of CSR development in organisations and the role of the Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO).
“Since 2012, there has been a significant jump in the number of organisations reporting that CSR helps them to access new markets. This is being driven primarily by the telecommunications, finance, and insurance industries,” ACCSR Managing Director Leeora Black said.
“There are striking differences between organisations’ ability to use CSR to drive innovation, depending on their level of CSR maturity.
“While the research shows the CSR management capabilities vary across industries, they vary most markedly between organisations at different stages of their CSR maturity and development. This shows these capabilities really are an important indicator of an organisation’s ability to progress through these CSR milestones.”
The Review classified organisations into three stages of CSR maturity – Initiators, Integrators, and Innovators.
Most CSOs were more optimistic about their organisation’s CSR progress than those who work outside a sustainability role. CSOs classified their own organisations as “innovators” in much higher numbers than those outside a sustainability role.
“Building strong relationships with stakeholders remains at the top of the list of the most pressing issues for CSR more generally. This was the case for organisations across all stages of CSR development,” Black said.
The 2015 State of CSR in Australia and New Zealand Annual Review was prepared in conjunction with La Trobe Business School, New Zealand Sustainable Business Council, Envirostate, Wright Communications and WME.
This year over 1,000 respondents participated in the project ? the highest number in the history of the research.
It is available for download here.
