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The Net Balance Foundation makes publicly available open source research, which we consider a key vehicle for us to work towards our vision: to be a part of every organisation’s sustainability journey. Our research programs and publications seek to develop insight into the evolving corporate sustainability field. We strive to inform business and government about ground-breaking and contemporary sustainability-related issues and dilemmas, and disentangle sustainability for industry, government and community. We partner with industry leading research bodies to develop in depth and relevant research reports. To read some of our recent publications, please see below.
In addition to our research reports, our staff members are authors and columnists who make regular contributions to journals, industry publications and conferences. These contributions are also reproduced at this web site.
Our latest reports
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Palm Oil in Australia: Facts, Issues and Challenges
This report, commissioned jointly by WWF-Australia and the Food and Grocery Council of Australia (AFGC), provides a broad, independent overview of the facts, issues and challenges surrounding palm oil, and is intended to provide a springboard for efforts to increase the supply of sustainable palm oil into the Australian market.
The full report is available to download as a PDF.
The executive summary is available to download as a PDF.
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The state of sustainability report assurance in the ASX 100
Researching publicly available sustainability reports published by the ASX 100 provided data that were used to determine the extent of assurance of public sustainability disclosures, by whom, and to which, if any, assurance standard.
This report also provides insights into assurance trends within industry groups and the types of sustainability data being assured.
The full report is available to download as a PDF.
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Climate Change Adaptation Toolkit
– A comprehensive guide to planning for climate change adaptation in three steps.
The Climate Change Adaptation Toolkit has been developed by the Net Balance Foundation in partnership with the City of Greater Geelong and RMIT University’s Climate Change Adaptation Program. The Toolkit aims, amongst other things, to support organisations to integrate adaptation and support effective and efficient risk management
This work is made available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike 3.0 Australia licence.
To download the Toolkit User Guide PDF, please click here.
To download the Toolkit PDF, please click here.
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Connections, Compliance and Community:
The changing face of volunteering in regional Victoria.
Connections, Compliance and Community: The changing face of volunteering in regional Victoria is a landmark study conducted by Net Balance and commissioned by Wimmera Volunteers designed to promote healthy change, constructive conversations, and revitalisation across the Wimmera of that most essential activity; volunteering.
The full report is available to download as a PDF.
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Impact of GRI training on sustainability reporting in Australia
Established at the end of 2007, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Certified Training Program prepares participants to understand and coordinate the GRI sustainability reporting process. Net Balance Foundation and Swinburne University of Technology, National Centre for Sustainability have worked together as a GRI Certified Training Partner since 2010.
Examining the impact of GRI certified training provided through our partnership and also through ZOOiD, another GRI Certified Training Partner in Australia, this report looks at the uptake and quality of sustainability reporting within organisations in Australia.
The full report is available to download as a PDF.
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ASSESSING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SUSTAINABILITY AND FINANCIAL PREFORMANCE OF THE ASX 300: A 'CREATING SHARED VALUE' PERSPECTIVE - PRELIMINARY FINDINGS
Net Balance Foundation, CAER and The University of Sydney Business School opresent the preliminary findings of their assessment of the relationship between sustainability and financial performance in the ASX 300.
 PRELIMINARY REPORT (download the PDF)
CLIMATE OF THE NATION 2012
The Climate Institute have published this objective benchmark of attitudes to the issue of climate change in Australia in partnership with Net Balance and Pacific Hydro. It provides a rigorous analysis, qualitative and quantitative, of the pros and cons of climate change and its solutions.
CLIMATE OF THE NATION 2012 (download the PDF)
OPTIONS FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT FRAMEWORK FOR MEASURING LIVEABILITY
Community liveability indicators are increasingly being used to report on the interconnected nature of many social, economic and environmental aspects of society, and to reflect the increasing focus on wellbeing, and quality of life within communities.
To build on existing work in this area, Net Balance has produced a report for Penrith City Council and the Australian Centre of Excellence for Local Governmentmapping current research on the state of community liveability indicator development across Australia.
OPTIONS FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT FRAMEWORK FOR MEASUREING LIVEABILITY (download the PDF)
DISCLOSURES ON SUPPLY CHAIN SUSTAINABILITY
Net Balance Foundation, in collaboration with ACCA and SIRIS assess the ASX 100 companies’ environmental and social disclosures relating to impacts that occur beyond their operational boundary through identifying and managing risks and opportunities in their supply chains.
Few, if any, previous studies of this nature have focussed on the sustainability of both upstream and downstream elements of ASX100 supply chain disclosure.
UPDATE - New media article about this report
Also available for download is a PDF of an article published in WME Magazine (Dec 2011/Jan 2012).
DISCLOSURES ON SUPPLY CHAIN SUSTAINABILITY (download the PDF)
INTEGRATED REPORTING IN THE ASX50
Community liveability indicators are increasingly being used to report on the interconnected nature of many social, economic and environmental aspects of society, and to reflect the increasing focus on wellbeing, and quality of life within communities.
To build on existing work in this area, Net Balance has produced a report for Penrith City Council and the Australian Centre of Excellence for Local Government mapping current research on the state of community liveability indicator development across Australia.
INTEGRATED REPORTING IN THE ASX50 (download the PDF)
DISCLOSURES ON MANAGING HUMAN RIGHTS
Net Balance Foundation, in collaboration with ACCA and CAER, is pleased to release its latest disclosure report examining the human rights governance, risk management and reporting quality of companies in the ASX 100. The research shows that 90% of Australia’s large companies most exposed to human rights issues may have inadequate public disclosures and responses in place to mitigate associated risks.
With the recent development of the UN Framework and Guiding Principles on business and human rights led by Professor John Ruggie, and endorsed by the Human Rights Council
in June this year, there is now greater clarity on how business can respect and manage human rights risks.
DISCLOSURES ON MANAGING HUMAN RIGHTS (download the PDF)
COMMON GROUND - A Practical Guide for Innovative Corporate/Cause Partnerships.
World Vision International and the Net Balance Foundation examine how businesses and NGOs are engaging in cross-sector collaborations that create strategic value for both parties.
COMMON GROUND REPORT (download the PDF)
SME REPORT - Big Issue, Little Action:
What SME's Say & Do about Sustainability & Climate Change
AFS Smart Askers and the Net Balance Foundation ask SMEs about their attitudes and actions regarding sustainability and climate change.
SME REPORT (download the PDF)
AFGC GREEN SHOPPER SUMMARY REPORT
The AFGC commissioned Net Balance Foundation to report on the perceptions of Australian consumers of green products and to find out what they really put in their shopping trolley.
AFGC GREEN SHOPPER SUMMARY REPORT (download the PDF)
YOUR SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT GUIDE
Net Balance and Greenfleet partnered to develop this Guide in order to support innovative practices in sustainable transport across Australian businesses.
YOUR SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT GUIDE (download the PDF)
GREEN PURCHASING IN AUSTRALIA REPORT
Net Balance, commissioned by ECO-Buy, has undertaken an extensive investigation into green purchasing. The report summarises attitudes, drivers, and barriers faced by Australian business in green purchasing.
GREEN PURCHASING IN AUSTRALIA REPORT (download the PDF)
Net Balance Foundation publications with ACCA Australia and New Zealand:
DISCLOSURES ON SUPPLY CHAIN SUSTAINABILITY
Disclosures on how the ASX100 are reporting on their supply chains (download the PDF)
DISCLOSURES ON WATER (download the PDF)
Second Trilogy
REPORTING TRILOGY – RESEARCH ON REPORTING DISCLOSURES: PART 3
Disclosures on Social Investment (download the PDF)
REPORTING TRILOGY – RESEARCH ON REPORTING DISCLOSURES: PART 2
Disclosures on Corporate Governance (download the PDF)
REPORTING TRILOGY – RESEARCH ON REPORTING DISCLOSURES: PART 1
Anti-bribery and Corruption Reporting Disclosures (download the PDF)
First Trilogy
REPORTING TRILOGY – RESEARCH ON SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING IN AUSTRALIA: PART 3
Disclosures on Human Capital Management (download the PDF)
REPORTING TRILOGY – RESEARCH ON SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING IN AUSTRALIA: PART 2
Disclosures on Climate Change (download the PDF)
REPORTING TRILOGY – RESEARCH ON SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING IN AUSTRALIA: PART 1
Disclosures on Stakeholder Engagement (download the PDF)
Net Balance Foundation Publications with AccountAbility and LRQA:
What Assures Consumers in Australia on Climate Change? (download the PDF)
Net Balance Foundation Publications:
Resource Efficiency and Reporting Review (download the PDF)
Resource Efficiency and Reporting Online Lookup Tool (download Tool as ZIP file)
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