Reporting Sustainability

of State

ASX 200

ContentsCCoonntteenntssCCoonntteenntss

About this reportAAbout tthiss rreportAAbout tthiss rreport

Key findings Keyy findinnggsKeyy findinnggs

State of Sustainability Sttatee of SSuusstaainabilityySttatee of SSuusstaainabilityy ReportingReppoorrtingReppoorrting

��� Status of disclosure and SSt tt f di l dd SStaattus of disscloosuree aanndd sectoral breakuptt l bb kkssecttoraal bbreaakkuupp

�� Types of disclosureTT f di l TTypes of disclosuurreyp

�� Charters & IndicesCChh I ddiCChhaarteerss & Inddicess

�� GRI & AustraliaGGRRI && AAusttraaliaa GGRRI && AAusttraaliaa

�� Aspects of reportingAAssppectts oof reppoorting AAssppectts oof reppoorting

�� AssuranceAAsssuraannce AAsssuraannce

��� MethodologyMMetthodollogy MMetthodollogy

Way forward (Back Cover)WW f dd ((B kk C )WWay forwwardd ((Backk Coveerr)

About this report

The business of a business has always been to make profits. Even today, the mantra is profits but in a responsible manner. The key towards yielding responsible profits is sustainability. World over, people have a belief that promoting sustainable development is the responsibility of the Governments. However, I believe that the job of a Government is to give directions and lay the foundation. The onus lies on the business community to uphold the Government’s beliefs and ensure whole-hearted participation in its programs, and this would be the cornerstone of a nation’s long term sustainability. Australia is no different! Even here, intentions have been stated and programs have been laid out. The questions to ponder are ‘have we done enough?’ and ‘what next?’.

After working for 11+ years in the sustainability and climate change domain in India, in 2015 I shifted my base to Melbourne to explore the world down under. As a sustainability professional, my goal was to gain exposure on how a developed economy addresses and resolves its unique sustainability issues. To seek answers to the questions above and also to apprise myself about the Australian way of doing responsible business, I started analysing the sustainability behaviour of constituents of ASX 200. As my analysis progressed positively, I decided to convert it in to this report. My first, though miniscule, contribution to the community of Australian sustainability professionals.

The reason to select ASX 200 was pretty obvious. They are the money makers, representing more than 70% of the Australian equity market. And hence, it would also not be incorrect to conclude that the financial and non-financial performance of these constituents has and will have a huge impact on the Australian economy and its overall progress.

State of Sustainability Reporting: ASX 200 provides insights on the non-financial disclosures of ASX 200 constituents as on 02 April 2015. By this time, almost all disclosures intended for both calender and financial year 2014 were available on public domain. The report is intended for all those who have an interest and want to understand the current status of non-financial disclosures in Australia. It analyses various aspects of these disclosures including the type of disclosure, external guidelines / charters supported, adherence to GRI guidelines and related features, materiality, stakeholder engagement, roadmap, goals / targets and assurance. This is the first of my series on Australia’s state of sustainability reporting and explores how the constituents of ASX 200 address and mainstream non-financial disclosures in day-to-day business.

This report is an analysis of publicly reported information by constituents of ASX 200 and other organisations like GRI, UNGC, DJSI, FTSE4Good, amongst others. The views expressed and contents presented are my own, unbiased to maximum possible extent and with minimum possible material misstatement(s).

Appreciation or criticism is welcome at anandsj@gmail.comicon credits: www.freevector.com

This report is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

74%

companies disclose their sustainability

performance

55% of the disclosing companies are

full-fledged reporters

40% of the disclosures are based on the GRI Guidelines

100% of the Capital Goods,

Consumer Durables & Apparel, Food & Staples Retailing, Transportation, Utilities sectors

disclose

50% of the

disclosures are listed on CorporateRegister

16companies on

DJSI World Index

39% of the full-fledged

reporters have external assurance

46%

of the full-fledged reporters have a

sustainability roadmap

73% of the full-fledged

reporters have discussed on stakeholder

engagement and its output

46% of the disclosures are listed on GRI

disclosure database04 integrated

reports

17companies

are signatories of the United Nations Global Compact

Sustainable development was defined by the Brundtland Commission way back in 1987 as “the kind of development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. Its déjà vu with the 2015 Intergenerational Report as it echos a similar thought: “All Australians share aspirations for economic security and an even more prosperous future — a better place for our children and the generations beyond”. This is a clear indication of the fact that the concepts of sustainability do not change across the globe. What changes is the application of these concepts. The 2015 Intergenerational Report is a good starting point for visualizing a realistic picture of how Australia will progress in the next 40 years and for those who can read between the lines, how sustainability will play a major role in shaping the same 40 years.

A cursory glance at the Australian economy reveals how sustainability plays an important role in binding its industries, people and the environment. However, an in-depth analysis of the status quo reveals some interesting facts and the same have been discussed in this report.

The constituents of ASX 200 control more than 70% of the Australian equity market and hence to begin with, it would be safe to say that their performance and actions will have a huge impact in defining Australia’s progress in the next 40 years. Further, these constituents are recognised, well-established and responsible organisations operating in a developed economy and hence the presumption that they will have high quality, reliable and balanced disclosures.

State of Sustainability Reporting is an analysis of the publically reported non-financial disclosures by the constituents ASX 200 as on 02 April 2015. The time period considered for these disclosures is either of calender or financial year 2014, as followed by the individual companies. The formats considered

State of Sustainability ReportingSStaattee oof SSuuussttaaaiinnaabbiillityy RReeeppoortinnggSStaattee oof SSuuussttaaaiinnaabbiillityy RReeeppoortinnggSStaattee oof SSuuussttaaaiinnaabbiillityy RReeeppoortinngg

are Annual Reports or parts thereof, Sustainability Reports and Websites.

For this analysis, the GRI definition of sustainability reporting has been adhered to. As per GRI, a sustainability report is a report published by a company or organisation about the economic, environmental and social impacts caused by its everyday activities. The sustainability report also presents the organisation's values and governance model, and demonstrates the link between its strategy and its commitment to a sustainable global economy. For this report, the term sustainability is synonymous with non-financial, corporate responsibility, corporate citizenship, sustainable development, ESG (environment, social, governance) and triple bottom-line.

This report analyses the following aspects of sustainability reporting:�� ���������������� �������������������������� ������ �������������������������� ��������� Corporate Register database�� ����������������������"#������������ ������������������$&��� ���*3������ ����������������������� ��������������������� �����������

- Version of guidelines- Adherence to GRI sector supplement - Level of reporting- Declaration of level

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Status of disclosure and sectoral breakup

Currently, 149 companies, i.e. about 74% of ASX 200 disclose information on their sustainability performance and related systems and processes in the public domain. This information is in varied forms and details

0 200

149

Status of disclosure

0404

of the same have been discussed in the next section of this report.

The existing constituents of ASX 200 are distributed across 22 different categories of companies. Materials, Real Estate, Consumer Services, Energy and Commercial Services & Supplies are the top 5 sectors. The sectors having 100% disclosures comprise Transportation, Capital Goods, Utilities, Food & Staples Retailing and Consumer Durables & Apparel. While the Automobiles & Components and Household & Personal Products sectors have 0% disclosures.

Types of disclosureFor ease of understanding the types of disclosures have been classified as integrated report, sustainability report, annual report (limited disclosures) and any other format. This was decided after assessing the common formats used by Australian companies to publish their non-financial disclosures. Of the 149 companies who have disclosed their non-financial perforamnce, 52% have used the format of a full-fledged sustainability report (as a standalone report or a separate section in the annual report). There are four integrated reports, three of which are also listed on the IIRC database while one has a declaration from its MD as an integrated report. About 38% have used the annual report to make the disclosures, however in a part manner and not as per the definition of sustainability reporting given earlier. Overall there are 82 full fledged disclosures (41% of ASX 200), that are comprehensive and comparable to some of the

Sect

oral

bre

akup

of A

SX 2

00

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

00%

00%

25%

33%

43%

45%

46%

50%

50%

64%

71%

83%

86%

90%

93%

93%

94%

100%

100%

100%

100%

100%

Household & Personal Products (1)

Automobiles & Components (1)

Software & Services (4)

Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology (3)

Insurance (7)

Media (11)

Health Care Equipment & Services (13)

Diversified Financials (10)

Consumer Services (16)

Retailing (11)

Telecommunication Services (7)

Food, Beverage & Tobacco (6)

Banks (7)

Materials (31)

Commercial Services & Supplies (14)

Energy (15)

Real Estate (18)

Consumer Durables & Apparel (1)

Food & Staples Retailing (3)

Utilities (5)

Capital Goods (7)

Transportation (9)

Sector-wise breakup of disclosuresn = 200

global best. There are 10 companies that fall under the ‘any other format’ category. They have partial disclosures in form of web pages or as sustainability scorecards or as ESG updates. Out of the ASX 200, there are 51 companies that have not disclosed their sustainability performance. While most of these companies have uploaded their four or five year (average) old policies on their websites, they have not discussed on the implementation of these policies and the on-groud traction. This is the sole reason why they are classified as non-disclosing companies.

integrated report

sustainability report

annual report (limited disclosure)

any other format no disclosure

04

78

57

10

51

Type-wise breakup of disclosures

State of Sustainability ReportingSStaattee oof SSuuussttaaaiinnaabbiillityy RReeeppoortinnggSStaattee oof SSuuussttaaaiinnaabbiillityy RReeeppoortinnggSStaattee oof SSuuussttaaaiinnaabbiillityy RReeeppoortinngg

0 200

17

Status of UNGC signatories

Charters and Indices

This section discusses on the various charters and guidelines followed / adopted by the constituents of ASX 200 towards shaping their sustainability disclosures along with the membership status of major sustainability indices.

The most common guidelines followed by ASX 200 are Global Reporting Initiative’s Sustainability Reporting Guidelines. Further, depending up on applicability / choice the companies have used IPIECA’s oil and gas industry guidance on voluntary sustainability reporting, ICMM’s sustainable development principles, IIRC framework, AsCI’s ESG reporting guide for Australian companies, UN Global Compact principles, amongst others.

One of the reasonably alarming facts about the constituents of ASX 200 is that only 9% are signatories of the United Nations Global Compact, which is without a doubt a very low participation rate. The UNGC principles are very much integrated in to main stream sustainability agenda and there can hardly be a logical reason so as to why the top Australian companies should not support UNGC. Lack of empathy and fear of written commitment on public domain can be the reasons for such a low participation rate.

The DJSI and FTSE4Good have a very good market presence as well as acceptability in Australia. Both have Australia specific indices viz. the Dow Jones Sustainability™ Australia Index and the FTSE4Good Australia 30 Index.

06066

As on 02 April 2015, out of the ASX 200, 47 companies were a part of DJSI Australia Index and 29 companies were part of FTSE4Good Australia 30 Index. Additionally, 16 companies out of ASX 200 were a part of the Dow Jones Sustainability™ World Index. Interestingly, there are atleast eight companies on the FTSE4Good Australia 30 Index that are not a part of the DJSI Australia Index. Further, there are two companies that are a part of the DJSI World Index but not a part of DJSI Australia Index. A rather surprising finding is that one constituent of the DJSI Australia Index is a non-disclosing company.

Global Reporting Initiative & Australia

Across the globe, the GRI Sustainability Reporting Guidelines are the most widely accepted and used resource for shaping and structuring non-financial disclosures. In Australia as well, the situation is not quite different. The GRI guidelines continue to be the most preferred resource for non-financial disclosures, with about 40% of disclosing companies using the same. About 3% of the disclosing companies use other available

guidelines including in-house protocols. While the remaining 57% do not refer to any specific guidelines while disclosing their sustainability performance. Amongst the full fledged reporters, about 72% use the GRI guidelines, indicating high acceptability levels amongst mature (from a sustainability point-of-view) companies.

The GRI disclosure database and the Corporate Register database are amongst the best resources in the world to hold information about reporting companies and their disclosures. About 46% of the disclosing companies have uploaded their report on the GRI disclosure database and 50% have uploaded the same on the Corporate Register database. Considering the fact that both these databases provide free-of-cost listing services, these percentages are on the lower side. Further, these databases give companies an excellent branding opportunity by exposing their reports to global stakeholders. The best feature about the GRI disclosure database is that it accepts non-GRI reports as well.

An interesting thing to note is that there are eight companies who have used the GRI guidelines but not uploaded their reports on the GRI disclosure database. Within the full-fledged reporters, about 26% are not available on the GRI database. Overall, the onus lies on the companies to take advantage of such resources to market and brand their sustainability agenda. The GRI Focal Point Australia can also consider working towards creating more awareness on the disclosure database service and its features.

Of the 59 companies that have used the GRI sustainability reporting guidelines, about 51% have used the GRI G4 guidelines. This is an Breakup of guidelines used

Constituents of DJSI Australia Index

Constituents of DJSI World Index

4747

616

n = 149

GRI Guidelines

(59)

No specific guidelines

(85)

In-houseIn-house& Otherss

(05)(05)

Corporate Register 50%

GRI Disclosure Database 46%

Listing on external databasesn = 149

State of Sustainability ReportingSStaattee oof SSuuussttaaaiinnaabbiillityy RReeeppoortinnggSStaattee oof SSuuussttaaaiinnaabbiillityy RReeeppoortinnggSStaattee oof SSuuussttaaaiinnaabbiillityy RReeeppoortinngg

impressive number and indicates a very high maturity level of these companies in terms of having systems and processes to manage and report on G4 disclosures. However, equally disappointing is the fact that 12% of these companies continue to use the G3 guidelines indicating presence of legacy systems and processes and also lack of seriousness towards disclosure of non-financial information.

The GRI sector supplements (currently available for 10 sectors for either G4 or G3/ G3.1) are equally important as the guidelines and the companies are expected to use the same as per applicability to their sector. Currently amongst the GRI guidelines based reporters, 19% have not used the sector supplements in spite of the same being applicable to them. Further there is one G4 comprehensive report that does not indicate the use of the applicable sector supplement.

Amongst the reports based on GRI guidelines, 34% are as per G4 core in accordance level, 12% are as per application level B+ and 14% have not declared any specific in accordance or application level. Declaration of such levels is not mandatory but surely indicates the maturity level of the reporting companies.

G3 12%

G4 51%

G3.1 37%

Breakup of GRI guidelines usedn = 59

Applicable & Used (49%) Not Applicable (32%)Applicable & Not Used (19%)

Use of GRI Sector Supplementsn = 59

The credibility of using a specific application level or in accordance level depends on the fact if the same has been verified by GRI or any other competent third party. 44% of the GRI based reports are self-declared while 24% are third-party checked reports. Only 8% of the reports are GRI checked reports (either G3 / G3.1), while there is no G4 based report that has a Materiality Matters check.

Aspects of Reporting

Delving beyond the standard parameters of sustainability reporting, a quick assessment of critical aspects of reporting revealed some interesting findings.

0 5 10 15 20

A+ (05)

B (03)

B+ (07)

C (02)

C+ (05)

G4 Core (20)

G4 Comprehensive (05)

G4 Referenced (04)

Undeclared (08)

A (00)

GRI in-accordance / applicability levelsn = 59

In-accordance / applicability level checkn = 59

GRI Checked (05)Third-party Checked (14)No check (14)

Materiality Matters (00)Self declared (26)

08088

(Australian equivalent of ISAE 3000) tops the list with a 72% share. Only 13% of the assured reports have used the AA1000AS (2008) standard. The requirements of AA1000 assurance standard are quite stringent in comparison to ASAE 3000 and probably this can be the reason for the low acceptability of this standard.

With respect to the level of assurance, 78% of the reports have limited assurance, 10% have type II - moderate level and 3% each of type II - high level and reasonable assurance.

Assurance in Australia comes with a pinch of salt. There are several glitches in the published assurance statements in terms of structure of assurance statements, application of the assurance standard and the language used

0 82

32

Status of assurance

Out of the 82 full-fledged reports, 76% discussed the process followed for assessment of material issues and 73% discussed the methods adopted for stakeholder engagement and the output. The numbers are impressive and a reminder of the advanced levels of systems and processes deployed by these reporters. There are five G4 based reporters who have linked (the ideal way) materiality assessment to stakeholder engagement. However, when it comes to mainstreaming sustainability, establishing strategic linkages to business and commiting to it on public domain, the constituents of ASX 200 take a back seat. Only 46% of the full-fledged reporters have discussed their sustainability roadmap and 50% have declared their sustainability specific goals and targets.

Assurance

Assurance is the process through which the disclosures of a company are assessed and validated against reporting criteria by a competent third-party, while the entire process is governed by a dedicated assurance standard. This is another weak area across the reporting constituents of the ASX 200. Only 39% of the full-fledged reporters have opted for an external assurance.

There are several assurance providers operating in Australia, however within the ASX 200, Ernst & Young has the highest share at 28%. Net Balance (acquired by Ernst & Young in August 2014), KPMG and PWC follow at 19%, 13% and 13% respectively. With respect to the assurance standard used, ASAE 3000

ASAE 300072%

ASAE + AA10006%

AA1000AS (2008)51%

GRI Principles9%

Breakup of Assurance Standardsn = 32

0 2 4 6 8 10

PWC

Net Balance

KPMG

Ernst & Young

Ere-S Pte

Edge Environment

Deloitte

Bureau Veritas

Beca Consulting

Banarra

Breakup of Assurance Providersn = 32

for expressing the conclusions. The reasons behind these glitches can be summed up as follows:

�� lack of understanding of assurance standards and their implications.�� inexperience in writing conclusions and observations.�� oversight / incorrect application of English language while writing a negative form of conclusion.�� stereotype assurance statement formats. �� lack of seriousness towards the assurance process in comparison to financial assurance.

Without naming the reporters or the assurance providers, following are the examples that substantiate the above-mentioned reasons:

�� assurance statement as per AA1000AS (2008) indicates ‘type I or II’ but does not indicate ‘moderate or high level’.�� assurance statement states as ‘reasonable’ assurance but the reviewer signs off stating it as ‘limited’ assurance.�� for an AA1000AS (2008) type II - moderate level assurance statement, there is no conclusion on the data reliability.�� assurance statements indicate ‘limited’ assurance as per ASAE 3000 but the conclusion is in a positive form on account of erroneous punctuation as well as grammar. �� assurance statement indicates ‘limited’ assurance as per ASAE 3000 but the conclusion is simply in a positive form. �� assurance statement states a ‘conclusion’ based on a ‘reporing criteria’, however that ‘reporting criteria’ has not been disclosed by the reporting company.

This concludes the State of Sustainability Reporting - ASX 200. In continuation of this assessment, the forthcoming reports will comprise assessment of disclosing companies beyond ASX 200; commentary on materiality assessment and practices followed; analysis of report contents and quality; and analysis of assurance statements. The details of each aspect of sustainability reporting assessed are mentioned in detail in the next section.

State of Sustainability ReportingSStaattee oof SSuuussttaaaiinnaabbiillityy RReeeppoortinnggSStaattee oof SSuuussttaaaiinnaabbiillityy RReeeppoortinnggSStaattee oof SSuuussttaaaiinnaabbiillityy RReeeppoortinngg

Status of sustainability disclosure

Yes: The organisation has publicly disclosed its sustainability performance. For this analysis, a sustainability report comprises the following: reports based on or referring to GRI guidelines, UNGC principles, Responsible investment principles, IPIECA guidelines, ICMM principles, ISO 26000; Environment report; Health & Safety report; Social responsibility report; Independent sustainability protocols established by the companies; etc.

No: The organisation has not disclosed its sustainability performance. For this analysis, the following cases have also been considered as ‘No’ disclosure – mere disclosure of policies related to sustainability, energy, environment, safety & health, human resources, etc. on the website or in sections of annual reports, subjective and /or forward looking statements on sustainability and /or risk management.

Type of sustainability disclosure

Integrated report: Annual reports that directly refer to IIRC framework or where the Senior management statement explicitly mentions about aspects of integrated reporting.

Sustainability report: Standalone sustainability report either in pdf format and / or online format as per the definition given earlier OR Annual reports that have explicit sections on sustainability information as per the definition given earlier.

Annual report (limited disclosure): Annual report with sections on environmental performance or social performance or safety & health performance or ESG aspects or combination but not as comprehensive as per the earlier-mentioned ‘report’ definition.

Any other format: Online web pages on environmental performance or social performance or safety & health performance or ESG aspects or combination but not as comprehensive as per the earlier-mentioned ‘report’ definition and also not included in the Annual report.

1010

Availability on GRI disclosure database and Corporate Register database

Yes: Available on the database(s).

No: Not available on the database(s).

Listing on DJSI and FTSE4Good

DJSI: If an organisation is a member of DJSI Australia Index and / or DJSI World Index.

FTSE4Good: If an organisation is a member of Australia 30 Index.

Signatory status for UN Global Compact

Yes: Organisation is an UNGC signatory.

No: Organisation is not an UNGC signatory.

Type of guidelines used

GRI: If the organisation has used or referred to the GRI guidelines.

In-house guidelines: If the organisation has reported on the basis of in-house guidelines/ protocols.

Any other: Only if the report refers to the following on standalone basis: UNGC principles, Responsible investment principles, IPIECA guidelines, ICMM principles, ISO 26000.

No specific guideline: The organisation does not use any specific guideline for reporting on sustainability information.

Specific aspects of GRI based reports

Version of guidelines: G3, G3.1, G4.

Adherence to GRI sector supplement: Applicable & Used OR Applicable & Not used.

Level of reporting: C, C+, B, B+, A, A+, G4 Core, G4 Comprehensive, G4 Referenced, Undeclared.

Declaration of level: GRI Checked, Third-party Checked, GRI Checked and Third-party Checked, Self-declared, Materiality Matters, No check.

Materiality assessment

Yes: The organisation has assessed and reported on its material sustainability issues.

No: The organisation has not assessed and reported on its material sustainability issues.

Stakeholder engagement

Yes: The organisation engages with its stakeholders and reports on the process and outcome of the engagement.

No: The organisation does not engage with its stakeholders and hence does not report.

Sustainability roadmap

Yes: The organisation has reported on its sustainability roadmap.

No: The organisation has not reported on its sustainability roadmap.

Sustainability goals and targets

Yes: The organisation has reported on its sustainability goals and targets.

No: The organisation has not reported on its sustainability goals and targets.

Status of assurance

Yes: The organisation has sought external assurance on its sustainability disclosures.

No: The organisation has not sought external assurance on its sustainability disclosures. If an organisation has sought assurance only for GHG emissions under NGER reporting and the same being explicitly mentioned in the assurance statement, then all such cases have NOT been considered as assurance of sustainability disclosures.

Assurance provider

Banarra, Beca Consulting, Bureau Veritas, Deloitte, Edge Environment, Ere-S, Ernst & Young, KPMG, NetBalance, PWC.

Assurance standard

AA1000 AS (2008), GRI Principles, ASAE 3000, ASAE 3000 & AA1000 AS (2008)

Level of assurance

Limited, Reasonable, Type I – Moderate, Type I – High, Type II – Moderate, Type II – High, No specific level, Combination.

Way forward W f dWay forwwaard

This report is a spin-off of a self-learning excercise to understandThis report is a spin-off of aa se f- earning exccerc se to understaandp p gthe state of sustainablity reporting amongst the top Australianthe staatee oof sustainab ity repoorting amoongst thee topp AAustraliaancompanies. As the learning progressed, so did this report and thecompaan es As the learning progressed so did this report aand thecompaan es. As the learning progressed so did this report aand thefindings within. Following are some of the takeaways of my journey. find nggs withhin. Folloowing are soome of thee takkeawways of myy ouurnney.

There is a great divide within the ASX 200 with respect toThere is a great divide w thin thhe ASXX 2200 withh respect toThere is a great divide w thin thhe ASXX 2200 withh respect tounderstanding, presentation and application of sustainabilityundeerstaanding, presenntaation aand appplication of sustainabbil tyyprinciples and concepts. The top of the pyramid comprises thosei i l d t Th t f th id i thprincipplees and conncepts. Thee top of the pyrammid comprisees thosehaving extremely high maturity levels with respect to deployment ofhavingg eextreeme y highh mmaturity leveels wwith respecct to depplooyment oofgg y g y p pp ysystems and processes towards managing their sustainabilityd dd i h i bilisysteemms and proceesses towwardds mannagingg theeir suusta naabilityperformance. These handful of companies are the undoubtedpeerfo mance Thhese hanndful oof coompanies are the undoubtedp pleaders, right from embedding sustainability in to mainstream eaders, r ght fromm emmbeddding sustainab lity in too mmaainstreamm business to partnering with the supply chain. And then there are thebusiness too ppartnering wwith the suppplyy chain And then there a e thebusiness too ppartnering wwith the suppplyy chain. And then there a e thelaggards that have either refrained from non-financial publicagggards that have either refrained from non-financial pubblicdisclosures or may be have not considered these aspects at all. Thedi bb h t idd d th t t l TThdisc ossures oor mayy bbe havve not coonsiddered these aspects at al . TThehuge gap between the best and the rest is evident from the fact thathugee ggap between the bees and the rest is evviddent from the fact thhatg gg ponly 15% of ASX 200 have utilised the GRI G4 guidelines, which atl 15%% f AASX 2000 h il d hh GGRI GG44 id l hi honly 15%% of AASX 2000 have util seed thhe GGRI GG44 gguidel nes wwhich aatpresent are the best possible resource on non-financial disclosures.presennt are the best pposs b e reesoource on nonn-finannc a discloosureesp pp

It is imperative that all constituents of ASX 200 report on theiri i h l i f ASX 2000 h it s imperativee thaat a l cconstitueen s of ASX 2000 report on theirsustainability performance. Equally important is to choose the rightsustaainnability peerformance Equa ly immpportaant is to chhoose the rigghty p q y pp ggguidelines, engage with significant stakeholders and strategise onguide ines, eengaage with significannt stakehholders and strateg see oonthe most material sustainability issues. Similar to financial disclosures,the moos mmaterial sustainaabili y issues SSimmi ar to finnancial ddisclosuresthe moos mmaterial sustainaabili y issues. SSimmi ar to finnancial ddisclosures,external assurance increases the credibility and enhancesexterna assurance ncreeases the credibility andd enhaancesstakeholder confidence on the reported information. Further,t k h d fidd th t dd i f ti F thstaakeho der coonfiddence on thee eportedd information. Fuurtheer,external assessment of systems and processes helps to achieveexterna assessmment of systeemms and prooceesses hhe ps to acch evvey p pcontinual improvment and plug the loopholes. Finally, after all thei l d l h l h l FFi l f ll hcontinual mprovvment and plug the looppholes. FFina ly, aafte aall thegreat effort towards creating a world-class report, it is important togreaat effoort toowwards ccreeatinng a wworldd-claasss repport it is impportant og g pp , ppbrand and market the report on the right portals.b d dd k h h h lbrannd andd mmaarket thee repport on thee ight portaals.

Even though the GRI guidelines are widely used, close to 70% of theEvenn though the GGRI gguidel nes are wwide y used close to 70% of theeve oug e GG ggu de es a e ww de y used, c ose o 70% o eeASX 200 still do not refer to these guidelines. This combined with theASSX 200 still doo not refer to heese guide ines. TTh s combined withh theefact that 54% of disclosing companies and 8 GRI based reportersfact that 554% of disc ossing coompanies annd 8 GGRI bbased reeportersfact that 554% of disc ossing coompanies annd 8 GGRI bbased reeportersbeing not available on the disclosure database highlights ‘building beeing noot availaable on the disc osure databbasee high ights buildingawareness and acceptability’ as a focus area for GRI in Australia.d t b lit ’ f f GGRRI i A t liawwareneess aand accceptab lity as a focus areaa for GGRRI in Austraalia.

Only 9% of the ASX 200 constituents being the signatories of UnitedOnlyy 99%% of thhe ASXX 2000 const tuennts be ngg hee signator es oof UniteddNations Global Compact, thereby creating a huge opportunity forN t Gl b l C t thh b ti h t it fNaat onns Global Commpact, thherebyy ccreeating a huge oppportunityy forUNGC in Australia to increase its footprint.UNNGGCC in Auustralia to increaase ts foootprintp

Towards the end, it is equally important for both reportingT d h dd i i ll i f b h iTowards the endd, it is eqqually immportaant for both reportingcompanies and assurance providers to understand the intricacies ofcompaan es aand assuraance proovideers to understaand the intricacies ofp pthe assurance standards and their effective implementation. Whileffthe assurancce standards aand their eeffective imppleemmentat on. WWhilemany would mark the deviations in assurance statements as trivial, Imaany would mmark thhe devviations n assuuraance statements as triviaal Imaany would mmark thhe devviations n assuuraance statements as triviaal, Ihave one simple question - will anyone allow and accept deviationshavee oone simmpple qquestioon - w ll anyone a low andd aaccept deviaationnsfrom standards in a statement for financial assurance?froomm standdards in a sta emeent for financial ass rancee?froomm standdards in a sta emeent for financial assurancee?

This report is my sincere attempt to provide the readers withThis report is myy sincere attemmpt to provide the reaaders withunbiased and realistic information about the State of Sustainabilitybi d d li ti i f t b t th St t ff S t i bi itunbiased and reealisticc informat on aabout the State off Sustaainabi ityReporting in Australia. I hope that it stikes a chord (if not many) withReporting in AAustra ia I hoppe that it stikkes aa cchord (if not mmany) withp g pp ( y)the readers and provides meaningful information that can be usedh dd d d i f l i f i h b dthe readders and pproov des meaningful infoormmaation that can bee usedand worked up on, going further.and wo keed up onn gooing fuurtheerp , g g

research, development & designreesearch devvelopment & dees gnreesearch devvelopment & dees gnAnand JoshiAAnand Josshi

anandsj@gmail.comd j@@ ilanaandssj@@gmmaail.comm