Compliance with Global Reporting Initiative's (GRI) social and environmental disclosures guidelines by Australian organisations

The guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) framework have increasingly become the international benchmark for organisational transparency and accountability across the world. The benefits of corporate social responsibility disclosure are discussed including increased transparency, improved public image and stakeholder relations. Adherences to GRI' s social and environmental disclosure guidelines have the potential to increase organizational competitiveness and profitability and thereby share price of the organisations. Very few studies have been found on social and environmental disclosure based on GRI's guidelines in Australia. This study investigates the corporate social and environmental disclosures of 50 small and large Australian organizations drawn from five environmental sensitive industries. Using seventeen social and eighteen environmental GRI disclosure criteria, the study evaluates disclosure information as presented in annual reports. Content analysis technique is used to examine the extent of social and environmental disclosure