Market research undertaken to assess whether ANSTO*’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting met stakeholder needs, revealed today that it enhanced 90% of stakeholders’ perceptions of ANSTO as an organisation which operates in a safe manner, acts socially responsibly and is environmentally responsible, with 90% also believing the reporting was credible.
“It is gratifying to see that not only is our corporate social responsibility having an impact, but that our diverse stakeholders generally recognise the proactive way we communicate on issues such as safety and the environment,” said ANSTO Executive Director, Dr Ian Smith.
“Undertaking the market research itself reflects the commitment we have to identifying, understanding and meeting stakeholder needs,” continued Dr Smith.
“Even in a document such as this, however, the fact that 84% of our stakeholders indicate they will probably read information on our science, which benefits all Australians, underlines how crucial the work we do here is. Science, safety and the environment seem to be our stakeholders’ key areas of interest.”
Whilst the organisation’s CSR reporting is perceived favourably, ANSTO still has room for improvement in meeting overall stakeholder needs on a number of issues, however.
“Our social responsibility is not something that is looked at once a year. It is embedded into our operating procedures, and as rigorous as those procedures are, they are constantly being improved,” said Dr Smith.
“We recognise that our stakeholders want us to be better at informing them of issues related to safety, for instance, whilst at the same time it is clear there is a strong degree of trust in what we say.
“67% of stakeholders surveyed believe they are getting the ‘full story’ through our CSR reporting all or most of the time, with 25% believing they are getting it some of the time. Whilst not perfect, this is still a strong result that we intend to improve on. Similarly, even though overall perceptions towards our performance on perceptions of supposed organisational ‘secrecy’ are satisfactory, there is work to be done to improve our rating in this area.”
ANSTO was one of the first government bodies to undertake CSR reporting, and 100% of those surveyed believe it is appropriate that ANSTO does this. The organisation has published two CSR reports to date, and its future reporting will be adapted in light of the research findings.
Published: 27/07/2006