An examination of environmental reporting by Australian state government departments

This study provides an examination of environmental disclosure practices within the annual reports produced by a sample of Australian state government departments. This entailed the examination of environmental disclosures using an environmental disclosure index developed for the purposes of the study.The study's sample was 18 Australian state government departments, 12 of which were responsible for environmentally sensitive areas. The period of analysis was from 2000-1 to 2007-8. The results of the analysis presented in the study found that, over the research period, environmental disclosures, using the developed disclosure index, increased from 336 in 2000-1 to 449 in 2007-8. Disclosure practices varied between the departments in terms of the coverage of disclosures. Reporting is not consistent over time making comparison between departments difficult.