State of the Environment

2006

Indicator: HS-60 Number of companies that publish sustainability reports

Data

Companies producing sustainability reports and reports produced - 2003
ANZIC Classification Companies producing sustainability report No of sustainability report produced since 1993
Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing 1 3
Communication Services 2 5
Construction 2 7
Electricity, Gas and Water Supply 9 36
Finance and Insurance 13 54
Manufacturing 41 184
Mining 20 75
Property and Business Services 8 21
Retail Trade 3 7
Transport and Storage 2 8
Wholesale Trade 15 65
Total 116 465

Source: Centre for Australian Ethical Research, et al. 2004, The State of Sustainability Reporting in Australia 2004, Department of the Environment and Heritage, viewed 1 May 2006, http://www.deh.gov.au/settlements/industry/corporate/reporting/, p.15

Sustainability reporting among Australia's largest companies 1993-20

Sustainability reporting among Australia's largest companies 1993-20

Source: Centre for Australian Ethical Research, et al. 2004, The State of Sustainability Reporting in Australia 2004, Department of the Environment and Heritage, Canberra, viewed 5 May 2006, http://www.deh.gov.au/settlements/industry/corporate/reporting/, p. 15

Australian Mining and Manufacturing businesses with environment plans 2001
Number of businesses (at end June 2001) Proportion of all businesses (%)
Mining Businesses 468 56.7
Manufacturing Businesses 6727 13.4

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics 2002, Environment Protection: Mining and Manufacturing Industries Australia 2000-01, Australian Bureau of Statistics, Canberra, viewed 1 May 2006, http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/b06660592430724fca2568b500
7b8619/96f0eae6e19dab4aca2568a9001393fb!OpenDocument, p.10 & p.20

Australian Mining and Manufacturing Businesses with Environment Plans
by plan type and employment size - Proportion of Businesses - 2001
Number of employees With Environment plans Without Environment plans Of Businesses with Environment plans, percentage with
Written policy or plan Public Environment Report Voluntary EMS a Certified EMS
Mining Businesses
0-19 47.0 53.0 74.8 16.1 45.1 14.8
20-99 87.0 13.0 91.5 35.1 56.0 16.4
100 or more 97.6 2.4* 100.0 60.7 88.1 16.2
Total 56.7 43.3 82.3 27.8 55.3 15.3
Manufacturing Businesses
0-19 10.2 89.8 39.4 10.4* 57.9 9.8*
20-99 28.3 71.7 72.0 7.1* 39.2 7.3*
100 or more 63.3 36.7 86.0 21.1 58.0 24.2
Total 13.4 86.6 52.0 11.0* 54.0 11.0*

a - Environment Management System
* estimate has a relative standard error of between 25% and 50% and should be used with caution

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics 2002, Environment Protection: Mining and Manufacturing Industries Australia 2000-01, Australian Bureau of Statistics, Canberra, viewed 1 May 2006, http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/b06660592430724fca2568b5
007b8619/96f0eae6e19dab4aca2568a9001393fb!OpenDocument, p.16 & p.27

What the data mean

A total of 116 companies among a total of 509, covered by the State of Sustainability Reporting survey, produced sustainability reports (or sections of Annual Reports or websites) in 2003 (Fig 1).

The largest number of companies (61) producing sustainability reports are in the mining and manufacturing sector, amounting to 53% of the those producing reports (Table 1).

Over half of mining businesses (57%), surveyed by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) in 2000-01, had environment management plans as at 30 June 2001 (Table 2). Of those mining businesses that had environment plans, the two most common types were a written policy or plan (83%) and a voluntary environment management system or code of practice (55%).

Approximately 13% of manufacturers, surveyed by ABS, reported an environment plan. Of those reporting environment plans, 54% reported a voluntary EMS or code of practice and 52% had a written environment policy or plan. Some businesses reported more than one environment plan being used for their operations.

Approximately 98% of large businesses reported an environment plan (Table 3). Of these, all businesses reported a written policy or plan and 88% reported a voluntary environment management system or code of practice.

The percentage of businesses reporting environment plans was highest among large businesses at 63%. Of these, 86% reported a written policy or plan and 58% reported a voluntary environment management system or code of practice.

Data Limitations

The State of Sustainability Reporting survey covered 509 companies while the Mining and Manufacturing Industries survey covered all employing businesses classified to the Mining and Manufacturing subdivisions of the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC).

Environment plans for the mining and manufacturing sectors are defined as either a written environment policy or plan, a public environment report, a voluntary environment management system or code of practice, or a certified environment management system. Businesses were asked to report on which types of environment plans had been developed for their operations.

Issues for which this is an indicator and why

Human Settlements — General responses provided to improve the environment - Environmental management systems 

Industry and business sectors, as major players in resource use and waste generation, cause significant negative impacts on the environment. In recent years there has been increasing environmental awareness within these sectors; more and more companies have been putting in place environmental management systems to help mitigate these negative impacts on the environment. This indicator measures the extent to which public reporting of environmental management plans and sustainability strategies have been taken up by companies in these sectors.

Other indicators for this issue:

Further Information

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