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Cross-sectional benchmarking of social and environmental reporting practice in the australian oil and gas industry

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  • Shidi Dong

    (University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia)

  • Roger Burritt

    (University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia)

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to examine social and environmental disclosures against general and industry benchmarks for the quantity and quality of social and environmental reporting practice. To achieve this, a content analysis approach has been applied to disclosures of the 25 Australian oil and gas companies included in the Australian Stock Exchange 300 index in 2006. The conclusions are that there is relatively poor disclosure, and the majority of environmental disclosures are declarative and positive. Oil and gas companies sampled fail to provide detailed information about, for example, the quantification of targets and outputs, actual achievements and the level of participation by employees. However, consistent with previous studies, the companies perform relatively well in reporting human resources information. Implications of these findings and potential for future research are highlighted. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

Suggested Citation

  • Shidi Dong & Roger Burritt, 2010. "Cross-sectional benchmarking of social and environmental reporting practice in the australian oil and gas industry," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 18(2), pages 108-118.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:sustdv:v:18:y:2010:i:2:p:108-118
    DOI: 10.1002/sd.450
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    2. Febrian Kwarto & Nunuy Nurafiah & Harry Suharman & Muhammad Dahlan, 2024. "The potential bias for sustainability reporting of global upstream oil and gas companies: a systematic literature review of the evidence," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 74(1), pages 35-64, February.
    3. Comyns, Breeda & Figge, Frank & Hahn, Tobias & Barkemeyer, Ralf, 2013. "Sustainability reporting: The role of “Search”, “Experience” and “Credence” information," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 231-243.
    4. Brunella Arru, 2015. "Indagine sulla comunicazione della responsabilit? sociale delle societ? quotate italiane," MERCATI & COMPETITIVIT?, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2015(4), pages 15-46.
    5. Breeda Comyns, 2016. "Determinants of GHG Reporting: An Analysis of Global Oil and Gas Companies," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 136(2), pages 349-369, June.
    6. Andrikopoulos, Andreas & Samitas, Aristeidis & Bekiaris, Michalis, 2014. "Corporate social responsibility reporting in financial institutions: Evidence from Euronext," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 27-35.
    7. Elies Seguí-Mas & Fernando Polo-Garrido & Helena María Bollas-Araya, 2018. "Sustainability Assurance in Socially-Sensitive Sectors: A Worldwide Analysis of the Financial Services Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-21, August.

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