Seventh Corporate Responsibility Index results released

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Canberra, 28 May 2010 – The seventh Corporate Responsibility Index (CRI) Awards were announced last night at the 11th National Business Leaders Forum on Sustainable Development at Parliament House, Canberra.

Announced by Dame Julia Cleverdon DCVO, CBE (Vice President, Business in the Community) and presented by Peter Hanlon (Group Executive People & Transformation, Westpac) the trophy award winners included EnergyAustralia (Best Overall Performance Platinum Award), PricewaterhouseCoopers (Best Progress Gold Award), New Zealand Post Group (Best Progress Silver Award) and Western Power (Best Progress Bronze Award). Platinum Award certificates were also presented to Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Country Energy for achieving the new Platinum level introduced to the CRI in 2009 for companies that achieve an overall score of 95% and above.

The Corporate Responsibility Index (CRI) is a leading, independent measure of responsible and sustainable business practice. Designed by business for business, it provides a systematic approach to measuring, managing, reporting and improving the impacts that companies have on society and the environment.

Other results from the seventh CRI include:

• Top four companies in order of performance were EnergyAustralia, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Country Energy and Diageo Australia.
• Average overall 2009 Aus/NZ CRI score was 85.4% (silver). This is the highest score achieved since the CRI was first launched in Australia and New Zealand in 2003.
• Over 350 companies have participated in the CRI globally to date including 70 in Australia and New Zealand.