Independent Assurance of Sustainability Reports of Mining Sector Companies in Australia

Abstract

The recent trend towards company’s responsibility for social, environmental and economic performance has resulted in sustainability reporting in varying levels. Even though there is a growing trend towards sustainability reporting which is of voluntary nature, not much attention is given to the credibility of such information through external assurance.

The paper investigates the extent of sustainability reporting in the mining sector companies in Australia and their assurance practices. The annual reports were examined for top 100 ASX listed companies in the mining sector in Australia for 2013-2014. This study identified 18% of companies had a sustainability report, however, only 44% of the sustainability reports were audited either by accountants or independent assurance providers. This showed that there is variability in assurance practices. They also used various assurance standards and mainly reported on emissions. The criteria reported by the assurance providers varied. The most reported criteria in this study were accuracy, followed by materiality and consistency.

The paper will conclude that the criteria used for assurance is vague, as there were no accepted assurance criteria for non-financial reporting. This is a part of a major study which is investigating the criteria used for assurance. This study shows that there is a need to develop generally acceptable criteria for assurance of non-financial information in sustainability reports. The criteria that can be applied by assurance providers would be significant for auditing profession and independent providers as well as standard setters, which will provide credible information for users of such information.

Keywords: Sustainability Reporting, Assurance, Assurance Criteria, Corporate Responsibility

JEL Classification: Q01