Australia: Practices and experiences

Abstract

The practice of CSR in Australia is a recent phenomenon; a decade ago, most of the current formal frameworks and supporting networks did not exist. Australia is a wealthy country with extensive government social support, including universal health care. Combined, this has resulted in a slow move to corporate social responsibility on the part of most organizations, although the best, such as Westpac and BHP Billiton, are world leaders in their industries, and as at 31 October 2007, twenty-one Australian companies were among the 318 listed on the DJSI World Index, placing Australia in eighth position for number of companies listed. Legal obligations and investor expectations make financial performance paramount, and two recent government enquiries have recommended not to amend the Corporations Act to require CSR. The move towards CSR is being primarily driven by its refocusing as risk management (such as the recent changes to the Australian Stock Exchange Corporate Governance Principles), and the long-term view taken by the ever-increasing influence of institutional investors. © 2009 Springer Berlin Heidelberg.