Sustainability Reporting Practices in Australia

This assignment examines sustainability reporting practices employed by Australian companies, specifically focusing on Wesfarmers and Woolworths. It analyzes their reports through the lens of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines, exploring how they disclose information about their environmental, social, and governance performance. The analysis draws upon academic literature and company reports to evaluate the transparency, comprehensiveness, and effectiveness of their sustainability reporting.

Running head: CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN ACCOUNTING
CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN ACCOUNTING
Name of Student:
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Author’s Note:

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Purpose of the Sustainability Report...............................................................................................3
Wesfarmers Sustainability Report...............................................................................................3
Woolworths Limited....................................................................................................................3
Judgement as to the purpose of the Sustainability Report...............................................................4
Wesfarmers Sustainability Report...............................................................................................4
Woolworths Limited....................................................................................................................4
Key stakeholders interested in each entity's Sustainability Report.................................................4
Wesfarmers Sustainability Report...............................................................................................4
Woolworths Limited....................................................................................................................4
Judgement as to the key stakeholders interested in each entity's Sustainability Report..................5
Wesfarmers Sustainability Report...............................................................................................5
Woolworths Limited....................................................................................................................5
Significant differences between the two Sustainability Reports.....................................................5
Wesfarmers Sustainability Report...............................................................................................5
Woolworths Limited....................................................................................................................6
Judgement for the significant differences between the two sustainability Reports.........................6
Wesfarmers Sustainability Report...............................................................................................6
Woolworths Limited....................................................................................................................7
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................7
List of References............................................................................................................................9

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Introduction
Wesfarmers Limited was seen to be formed in the year 1914 as one of the Western
Australian farmers' cooperative. Since then the company has grown as one of the largest listed
companies. The private sector company is seen to be among the largest private sector entity in
Australia. The products include retail, coal mining, fertilisers and chemicals
(Wesfarmers.com.au. 2017).
Woolworths Limited is recognised as one of the major entities in Australia and second
largest in terms of the revenue. The supermarket chain is seen to deal in products such as liquor
and retailing products (Woolworthsgroup.com.au. 2017).
Purpose of the Sustainability Report
Wesfarmers Sustainability Report
The main purpose of the sustainability reporting has been seen to create long term value
creation and contributing to a positive role in the communities. The company has acknowledged
that the changing weather volatility, higher temperatures and henceforth established solutions
which will be based help the company reduce its own footprint while serving its customers
(Wesfarmers.com.au. 2017).
Woolworths Limited
Woolworth has been seen to be committed contribute to report the sustainability aspects
by the initiatives taken with gender, culture and encouraging the diversity in team. It has shown
the various initiatives for encouraging women in the workplace and showcasing the efforts taken
for indigenous employment (Wow2016cr.qreports.com.au. 2017).

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Judgement as to the purpose of the Sustainability Report
Wesfarmers Sustainability Report
The main rationale for the sustainability reporting has been seen with the use of
initiatives with has been used to reduce the carbon footprints and various types of the
environmental aspects. The rationale of the CSR reporting of the company has been further seen
with the reporting elements which are associated to indigenous engagement of the people
(Global Reporting Initiative-GRI 2015).
Woolworths Limited
Thee main aspect of the reporting elements has been further seen to be based on the use
of diversity as the main component for CSR recognition. The various types of the other elements
of the reporting aspects have been further able to focus on engaging and valuing people
(Lähtinen and Myllyviita 2015).
Key stakeholders interested in each entity's Sustainability Report
Wesfarmers Sustainability Report
The ethical sourcing team has been able to include the consideration of regular discussion
and stakeholders such as retailers. The main stakeholders have included non-government
organisations, third-party audit firms, industry associations and retailers (Legendre and Coderre
2013).
Woolworths Limited
The stakeholder of the company has been seen with the engagement of communities,
shareholders, employees and suppliers. The main involvement is identified with managing the

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relationships along with the stakeholders to maximise the prosperity without involving in any
complexity associated to the corporate responsibilities (GRI 2013).
Judgement as to the key stakeholders interested in each entity's Sustainability Report
Wesfarmers Sustainability Report
The main interest for the engagement of the stakeholders group has been discerned with
the programs such as health and safety to focus on the main priority areas. Some of the other
aspects of the rationale have been identified with Product safety and quality and the initiatives
associated to the ethical sourcing (Global Reporting Initiative 2016).
Woolworths Limited
The main rationale of the stakeholder’s engagement in Woolworth Limited has been
identified with leveraging the trusted relationships for improving the different aspects of
profitability and market performance. Another engagement with the stakeholder’s group has
been further recognised with suppliers who are considered as essential for bringing about success
to the goals and objectives of the organization (Global Reporting Initiative 2016).
Significant differences between the two Sustainability Reports
Wesfarmers Sustainability Report
The generic guidelines of the company have been identified to be followed with GRI
guidelines under “G4-DMA-a”. This is mainly associated to the reporting of material aspects.
The other initiatives have been taken with “G4-EC1”. Some of the other GRI reference has been
considered with “G4-DMA (Product and Services), G4-DMA (Energy), G4-DMA (Emissions),
G4-DMA (Overall), G4-EN5, G4-14, G4-EN15, G4-EN16, G4-EN17, G4-EN27, G4-EN31”.

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Some of the other considerations have been implied with “G4-DMA (Water)” and “G4-DMA
(Environmental grievance mechanisms)”(GRI 2014).
Woolworths Limited
The important difference has been recognised with the use of “G4-1 Statement from the
Chairman and CEO”, “G4-4 Primary brands, products, and/or services”, “G4-17 Entities
included in the organisation’s consolidated financial statements” and various types of the other
GRI guidelines under “G4”. This was not seen to be specified in the sustainability reporting
under GRI guidelines (Kajüter 2014).
Judgement for the significant differences between the two sustainability Reports
Wesfarmers Sustainability Report
The GRI 4 guidelines have been mainly seen with the application of workplace relations,
Wesfarmers Arts, Product safety initiatives, Product safety incidents and recalls. The application
of “G4-DMA (Product and Services)” has been seen to be evident with the application of
Potential environmental non-conformances. The application of the “G4-DMA (Water)” has been
seen to be evident with the contaminated sites (Knebel and Seele 2015). “GRI Reference: G4-56,
G4-DMA (Compliance), G4-SO6” has been seen to be applicable with the Target supplier rebate
arrangements investigation. The G4-DMA (Public policy) has been also seen to be applicable
with the Target supplier rebate arrangements investigation. The 2016-17 priorities have been
identified with the application of “G4-DMA (Product and Service Labelling), G4-12, G4- EN33
and G4-PR3” (Solsbach et al. 2014).

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Woolworths Limited
The application of “G4-LA16” has been seen to be mainly associated with ‘Grievances
about labour practices”. The inclusion of “G4-LA16” has not been identified with Wesfarmers.
Some of the various types of the other consideration for the inclusion of the GRI guidelines has
been further seen to be based on the Significant investment agreements that include human rights
clauses. The use of “G4-PR1” is seen with the “significant product categories which health and
safety is assessed” (Lin, Chang and Chang 2015). The “G4-PR2” is seen to be recognised with
“Non-compliance regarding health and safety impacts of products”. The application of “G4-
PR3” has been discerned in form of “Product information and labelling”. These aspects has been
seen to be absent for the various types of the reporting standards which has been present in case
of the Wesfarmers Sustainability Report. The various legislation under the “HR GRI” guidelines,
has not seen to be present in case of Wesfarmers Sustainability Report (Hahn and Lülfs 2014).
Conclusion
Based on the various discernment made in the study, the GRI guidelines should be
made mandatory for the sustainability reporting. The widespread concern has been seen to be
mandatory for the reporting of the various types of the key aspects of the concerning
environmental issues. It has been seen that by the consideration of the various types of the
guidelines such as of “G4-1 Statement from the Chairman and CEO”, “G4-4 Primary brands,
products, and/or services”, “G4-17 Entities included in the organisation’s consolidated financial
statements”.
The consideration of the main aspects of the sustainability reporting for Wesfarmers
Limited has been identified with has acknowledgement that the changing weather volatility,

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higher temperatures and henceforth established solutions which will be based help the company
reduce its own footprint while serving its customers. Some of the different considerations for
Woolworth Limited has been seen with the acknowledgement of various types of the other
elements of the reporting aspects have been further able to focus on engaging and valuing
people.

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List of References
Global Reporting Initiative (2016a) Gri 101: foundation 2016 101, GRI Standards. Available at:
www.globalreporting.org.
Global Reporting Initiative (2016b) Gri 103: management approach 2016 103, GRI Standards.
Available at: www.globalreporting.org.
Global Reporting Initiative-GRI (2015) About GRI, Global Reporting Initiative. Available at:
https://www.globalreporting.org/information/about-gri/Pages/default.aspx.
GRI (2013) ‘G4 Sustainability Reporting Guidelines - Part 1: Reporting Principles and Standard
Disclosures’, Global Reporting Initiative, p. 94. doi:
https://www.globalreporting.org/resourcelibrary/G3-Guidelines-Incl-Technical-Protocol.pdf.
GRI (2014) GRI G4 guidelines and ISO 26000:2010 - How to use the GRI G4 guidelines and
ISO 26000 in conjunction, ISO. Available at: http://www.iso.org/iso/iso-gri-26000_2014-01-
28.pdf.
Hahn, R. and Lülfs, R. (2014) ‘Legitimizing Negative Aspects in GRI-Oriented Sustainability
Reporting: A Qualitative Analysis of Corporate Disclosure Strategies’, Journal of Business
Ethics, 123(3), pp. 401–420. doi: 10.1007/s10551-013-1801-4.
Kajüter, P. (2014) ‘GRI G4 Implementation Manual’, WPg, 67(12), pp. 599–607.
Knebel, S. and Seele, P. (2015) ‘Quo vadis GRI? A (critical) assessment of GRI 3.1 A+ non-
financial reports and implications for credibility and standardization’, Corporate
Communications, 20(2), p. 196. doi: 10.1108/CCIJ-11-2013-0101.

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Lähtinen, K. and Myllyviita, T. (2015) ‘Cultural sustainability in reference to the global
reporting initiative (GRI) guidelines’, Journal of Cultural Heritage Management and
Sustainable Development, 5(3), pp. 290–318. doi: 10.1108/JCHMSD-06-2013-0025.
Legendre, S. and Coderre, F. (2013) ‘Determinants of GRI G3 Application Levels: The Case of
the Fortune Global 500’, Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management,
20(3), pp. 182–192. doi: 10.1002/csr.1285.
Lin, I. H. H., Chang, O. and Chang, C. A. (2015) ‘Perceptions of gri reporting guidelines’,
International Journal of Sustainability Policy and Practice, 9(4), pp. 35–54.
Solsbach, A., Isenmann, R., Gómez, J. M. and Teuteberg, F. (2014) ‘Inter-organisational
Sustainability Reporting - A harmonized XRBL approach based on GRI G4 XBRL and further
Guidelines’, in Proceedings of the 28th International Conference on Informatics for
Environmental Protection.
Wesfarmers.com.au. (2017). [online] Available at:
https://www.wesfarmers.com.au/docs/default-source/reports/2016-annual-report.pdf?sfvrsn=4
[Accessed 26 Sep. 2017].
Wesfarmers.com.au. (2017). Our history . [online] Available at:
http://www.wesfarmers.com.au/who-we-are/our-history [Accessed 26 Sep. 2017].
Woolworthsgroup.com.au. (2017). About Us - Woolworths Group. [online] Available at:
https://www.woolworthsgroup.com.au/page/about-us [Accessed 26 Sep. 2017].
Wow2016cr.qreports.com.au. (2017). Home - Woolworths 2016 Responsibility Report. [online]
Available at: https://wow2016cr.qreports.com.au/ [Accessed 26 Sep. 2017].

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