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ABA WELCOMES CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY REPORT Sydney, 22 June, 2006: The Australian Bankers’ Association (ABA) welcomes the report ‘Corporate Responsibility: Managing Risk and Creating Value’ by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services.
The ABA believes the report is a sensible outcome because the committee has acknowledged that the law is adequate to permit directors to have regard for the interests of stakeholders other than shareholders.
The ABA is also pleased that a number of our key recommendations which were submitted to the committee have been adopted such as: - sustainability reporting should remain voluntary;
- acknowledgment of the emerging importance of the Global Reporting Initiative Framework which aims to make reporting on economic, environmental, and social performance by all organisations comparable as financial reporting;
- the importance of enhancing dissemination and comparability of Corporate Responsibility (CR) information and sustainability reporting by, for example, the Australian Stock Exchange developing a web-tool similar to the London Stock Exchange’s Corporate Responsibility Exchange.
The ABA is supportive of the following recommendations for the Federal Government such as:
- provision of seed funding for an organisation modeled on the British initiative, Business in the Community, which is an independent business-led charity which engages and supports companies to continually improve the impact they have on society;
development of educational material to promote the UN Global Compact and to encourage Australian companies to become signatories where appropriate; undertake research in consultation with industry into benefits of CR and sustainability reporting; broadening the scope of the Prime Minister’s Community Business Partnerships from philanthropy to sustainability.David Bell, Chief Executive of the ABA, said: “I am pleased that the committee recognised that companies have the ability within the current framework to have regard for the interests of shareholders and other stakeholders by pursuing opportunities which are in the long-term interests of the company.”
The banking industry in Australia is widely recognised for its leadership in the area of corporate responsibility, with a broad range of stakeholder engagement programs and corporate responsibility activities, such as philanthropic programs benefiting the wider community, flexible working arrangements benefiting the Australian workforce, responsible ecological management benefiting the environment and accessible banking products and services benefiting all customers.
Banks in Australia value the communities within which they operate and are committed to giving something back to those communities. Every year, community organisations receive substantial funding from banks.
The banking industry is also developing and participating in initiatives in financial literacy by providing educational materials and funding programs. The ABA is already supporting one of the committee’s recommendations that peak bodies promote to their members the benefits of corporate responsibility. Next Wednesday (28/6), the ABA is hosting a Financial Literacy Symposium which will bring together national and international experts, consumer representatives, policy makers and bank representatives to discuss recent achievements and developments, as well as, future challenges in improving financial literacy. Notes for editors - For a copy of the Financial Literacy Symposium program – please visit the ABA website:
www.bankers.asn.au and click on the events section. To read the ABA’s submission on CR to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services, please visit the following link on the ABA’s website: http://www.bankers.asn.au/ArticleDocuments/PJCCFS%20CR%20final.doc
For further information:
Heather Wellard
Director, Public Relations
Phone: 02 8298 0411
Mobile: 0409 830 439
ENDS
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