The Deloitte Sustainability reporting survey examines the issue surrounding sustainability reporting in the NSW public sector and aims to provide transparency between government bodies to assist them develop better sustainable practice policies, frameworks and reporting regimes suitable for each individual organisation.

Since the introduction of the NSW Whole of Government Sustainability Principles in July 2006, 84% of the participants stated they had taken some form of action in the first four months.

Our survey highlights that participants use a combination of tools to develop their internal sustainability frameworks and to report back to their stakeholders on their sustainability performance each year.

The survey confirms that strengthening the organisation’s reputation and stakeholder relations were major benefits for participants in producing an external sustainability report. It also looks at some recent case studies where public sector organistations have successfully implemented sustainability reporting.

Importantly, the survey reveals that all participants were taking active steps to develop policies, frameworks and conducting non–financial risk assessments to report to external stakeholders.

All of the Agencies, Departments or State Owned Corporations surveyed demonstrate a good understanding of how the management of
sustainability and non–financial risks can contribute to Government operations, products and services, as well as having regard to the best
interest of legitimate stakeholder groups, either directly or indirectly.

As an organisation dedicated to assisting the public sector, Deloitte is pleased to present the first Deloitte survey into Sustainability reporting – A Survey of NSW Government.