Corporate Responsibility, Accounting and Accountants: Accounting Assignment

Internal Code: MAS3618

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Case Study: The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) was established to provide global guidelines for the reporting of social and environmental information, and to ensure consistent reporting. The Sustainability Reporting Framework provides guidance for organisations to use as the basis for disclosure about their sustainability performance, and also provides stakeholders a universally-applicable, comparable framework in which to understand disclosed information. Although GRI reporting in Australia is voluntary in Australia a number of companies do apply the G4 Guidelines in preparing a published sustainability report. Concerns have been raised that, as GRI reporting is not compulsory or necessarily audited, a company could misrepresent its level of compliance with the guidelines in publishing Sustainability Reports. The current lack of consequences for companies who, deliberately or unintentionally, publish misleading and inaccurate sustainability information is a contributor to this situation. Please note that the G4 Guidelines have been superseded by the GRI Standards, released on 19 October 2016. Use of the GRI Standards will be required for all reports or other materials published on or after 1 July 2018 – the G4 Guidelines remain available until this date. First-time reporters are encouraged to use the GRI Standards instead of G4. Despite the lack of enforceability in sustainability reporting the ASX Corporate Governance Principles and Recommendations require a listed entity to disclose ‘whether it has any material exposure to economic, environmental and social sustainability risks, and if it does, how it manages or intends to manage that risk’. This reflects calls globally for the business community to address matters of economic, environmental and social sustainability and the demand from investors, especially institutional investors, for greater transparency on these matters so that they can properly assess investment risk. Questions: You are required to prepare a report that compares and contrasts two Sustainability Reports prepared by Australian entities that use GRI Guidelines In comparing and contrasting, the report must address: 1. What is the purpose of the Sustainability Report from each entity’s perspective, considering compliance with GRI Reporting is voluntary? This may not be explicitly stated by the company in their Report but you are required to argue what you consider to be the purpose/purposes (on an analysis of the Report). 2. Who are the stakeholders who would be most interested in each entity's Sustainability Report? Please support your conclusions as to key stakeholders with content from the relevant Sustainability Report. 3. What are the significant differences between the two company Sustainability Reports and what do you think might explain those differences? 4. Do you think Sustainability Reporting, in accordance with the GRI Guidelines, should be compulsory and if so why or why not?