گزارش توسعه پایدار توسط سازمان های بخش دولتی استرالیا : چرا آنها گزارش می دهند؟

Recent research on social and environmental (SE) reporting has focused on corporations, rather than public sector agencies. Also, there has been little interest in ascertaining the views of preparers of accounts regarding SE reporting. This study analysed why a group of “better practice” organisations reported on SE matters. The researchers conducted semi-structured interviews with key preparers in the various organisations and found that their reporting was informed by the latest GRI and aimed at mostly internal stakeholders. The annual report was only one of the media used for disclosure and adoption was driven by a key individual in the organisation.

Internationally, there is growing concern about the social and environmental impact of organisational activities. However, traditional financial accounting and reporting do not adequately provide for the measurement of social and environmental impact and, consequently, there is a need for broader reporting in organisations (Yongvanich & Guthrie, 2006). Recent years have witnessed a substantial increase in reporting on social and environmental issues by major corporations (Gray, 2006). The term “social and environmental reporting” is becoming less frequently used, with organisations more likely to adopt the ambiguous term “sustainability reporting” (SR) (Adams & Larrinaga-González, 2007). But there is no consensus on what SR means, nor a common shared framework to adopt. Most prior research into SR has examined disclosures in corporate annual reports (Parker, 2005), but there has been relatively little research into reporting by public sector agencies of these matters. Despite its relevance for the public sector, sustainability accounting and accountability has yet to receive research attention (Ball & Grubnic, 2007). Also, until recently, there has been little interest in examining the views of preparers1 of accounts in regard to SR (Unerman & Guthrie, 2007). A related study to the current research, by Guthrie and Farneti (2008), inquired into what was disclosed in relation to SR by a similar group of public sector organisations. That study found that the public sector agencies report aspects of ‘sustainability” and their reports have been informed by the Global Reporting Initiatives (GRI) Guidelines. However, it was also found that the application of the GRI was fragmentary and organisations chose only some of the GRI indicators to disclose. Rather than consider what organisations report, this paper addresses the gap in the literature as to why organisations report (Adams & McPhail, 2004). This paper's aim is to explore the preparers’ motivation for the voluntary reporting of sustainability information (SI). The paper reports the results of an interview-based empirical investigation into the motivations of those preparing voluntary sustainability information in both annual report and stand-alone sustainability reports. It also considers their attitudes towards the provision, role, and processes associated with providing that type of information. The purpose of this analysis was to focus upon the factors driving SR practices within the Australian public sector organisations studied. The paper has been structured as follows. Section 2 identifies several contextual factors that have brought the topic of SR into prominence and briefly undertakes a literature review. Section 3 presents the research method used in the study. Section 4 reports on the results of the analysis developed, as well as the main findings concerning the group of the organisations analysed. Section 5 provides conclusions and suggests possible future research issues.

In conclusion, corporate SE reporting is an established practice and has an extensive literature attached to it. Practitioners have also begun to recognise the importance of acting and reporting in a sustainable way, however, this has been slow in public sector organisations. To date research has been primarily focused on what organisations report, and there has been little systematic research into why organisations undertake SR. Thus, this study has aimed to add to our understanding of this in the public sector. In undertaking this objective, the paper has explored the issue of why organisations report, considering the motivations for voluntarily reporting SI. Among the findings of the study is that the public sector agencies examined aspects of “sustainability” and their reports have been informed by the latest GRI (and the sector supplement for public agencies). From a preparers’ perspective, disclosure of SI in reports was for the purpose of informing stakeholders, but mainly internal ones. However, the annual report was considered to be one of a number of media for reporting the complexities of an organisation's sustainability objectives and activities. Finally, the study also investigated the reasons why the public sector organisations started the journey. The findings show that generally one key individual within the organisation pioneered and championed the process of SR. Also, in most cases, the organisations started with the triple bottom line (TBL) or balanced scorecard (BSC) and had only recently moved to the GRI framework. This was because it was considered to have an international reputation and standing, which gave it a certain legitimacy.