How it works

The Corporate Responsibility Index tool

The Corporate Responsibility Index survey is an online benchmarking tool and is password protected for each individual company to ensure security and confidentiality. The survey is made available to companies once they have registered to participate and is live in September each year.

The online system hosts both questions and comprehensive guidance notes within the survey tool and as a separate, extensive PDF document. These provide definitions and help notes to support the understanding of why any particular question is important and how this may be applied within a business. Together with the survey the guidance notes provide a roadmap for integrating corporate responsibility within the business.

As this is a self-assessment process, each submission is required to be signed off by the company Chief Executive or a member of the Board.

Validation

PricewaterhouseCoopers, operating under a formal letter of engagement with St James Ethics Centre, provide validation services to the Index. The validation team assesses all company submissions on a sample basis to check responses are supported by appropriate evidence and that questions are interpreted consistently by participants. This may involve onsite visits. 

This involves an initial meeting with companies, a high level review of the full submission and onsite testing of sample questions.

Scoring

Company scores are generated automatically by the BITC online benchmarking system. The sections of the Index are weighted as follows: Corporate Strategy (10%); Integration (22%); Management Practice (26%); Performance & Impact (36%); Assurance & Disclosure (6%). In addition, the four components within the management section are equally weighted, and the social and environmental impacts are equally weighted (six in total)

Feedback

Participants receive detailed confidential feedback reports on their performance including sector comparisons where available. This gap analysis helps companies to identify strengths and opportunities for improvement, allowing them to take stock of progress and also helps them focus where improvements can be best achieved depending on a company’s impacts and strategic business needs. Feedback provides companies with a useful tool to present information at board level.

Results

In May each year participating company results are published in The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age in a special report lift-out and are showcased at the annual National Business Leaders’ Forum on Sustainable Development held at Parliament House in Canberra.

Corporate Responsibility index results are also available on this website, including from previous years.