Sustainability measurement and reporting

Making the transition from a carbon intensive and fossil fuel driven economy to a more sustainable and low carbon economy is challenging to our national policy settings. Internationally and within Australia, civil society, large companies and other stakeholders are increasing the pressure on industry, government and community organisations to transform rapidly in order to respond to climate change and other sustainability issues. In 2009, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) endorsed the Green Skills Agreement, which requires the Australian Federal, State and Territory Governments to work collaboratively with industry, unions, the Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector and the community to ensure that the VET system can train the workforce in skills for sustainability. One of the new skills sets is that of Sustainability Measurement and Reporting. There are significant skills and knowledge deficiencies in Australia regarding sustainability measurement and reporting. Many in business, government and civil society are struggling to understand the implications of climate change and related sustainability issues. In particular, it is clear that there are key deficiencies in understanding the value and importance of sustainability measurement and reporting to industry, government and community organisations; knowledge and skills required to conduct organisational sustainability measurements; knowledge and skills required to report, how to report and who to report to; and Skills in guiding organisations internally towards sustainability measurement and reporting. At present, sustainability measurement and reporting is better implemented by the large corporations who have the resources and international perspective to provide in-house training and development in these emerging skills area. In contrast, there are no current VET accredited courses in sustainability measurement and reporting in Australia and hence small to medium companies, many sectors of government, and Non-governmental Organisations (NGOs) have limited public access to skills and knowledge in this emerging area. The Fellowship centred on internationally identifying the drivers, skills and critical knowledge to enable increased awareness and greater uptake of sustainability measurement and reporting practice across Australia. The Fellowship involved conducting interviews with sustainability reporting practitioners in London, Amsterdam, Sydney and Melbourne, as well as participation in a five-day accredited training course Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting in London. Significant opportunities for increasing the awareness and uptake of sustainability reporting skills and knowledge are emerging within Australia. Shifts in the federal-, territory- and state-level policy landscape (for example: National Green Skills Agreement 2009, National VET Sector Sustainability Policy and Action Plan 2009-2012) are opening up opportunities for workforce sustainability skills training. It is the Fellow's opinion that while large companies have been the biggest adopters---and have the resources to gain skills and knowledge in sustainability measurement and reporting---small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the public sector and NGOs are lagging behind and require further support. SMEs, the public sector and NGOs typically lack the time and resources to invest in sustainability reporting. They require simple and practical actions and tools, demonstration of efficiencies and cost savings, an enabling regulatory/political environment, support for leadership, and affordable and accessible skills training---the latter is not currently provided by the VET sector. The report makes some specific recommendations to government, industry, professional associations, the education and training sector, the community and the International Specialised Skills Institute