Legal requirements for CSR reporting in the United Kingdom, Denmark and Australia

The conventional corporate reporting model requires the disclosure of financial measurements which generally provide only one part of the overall picture of a companyââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s performance. However, using Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reports and narrative reports to provide context for financial disclosures give investors and stakeholders a window on the companyââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s future sustainability. The investment and financial sectors are increasingly requiring alternative forms of reporting to ascertain the longer-term corporate approach and the future directions of a company to facilitate assist in the determination and analysis of factors for facilitating corporate financing decisions. This article considers the current legal reporting requirements for CSR (excluding corporate governance) in the United Kingdom (UK), Denmark and Australia. The UK and Denmark were chosen for comparison with Australia as these countries have begun to legislate in the area of CSR reporting so may be considered leaders in the field. Consideration is given to the supplementary Labor membersââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ views in the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services (PJC) inquiry, Corporate Responsibility: Managing Risk and Creating Value. These views provide suggestions as to what may be the future trend for CSR reporting requirements in Australia. The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is also discussed as a potential model framework.