Australian Legislation Research Articles

Non-financial KPIs in annual report narratives: Australian practice

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide preliminary evidence on current practices in non-financial key performance indicator (KPI) reporting in annual reports by listed Australian companies to inform Australian legislators and accounting standard setters contemplating regulations and guidance for non-financial performance disclosure, including input into the revision of IFRS Practice Statement 1: Management Commentary (2010). Design/methodology/approach Non-financial KPIs were hand-collected from the annual report narratives of 40 listed Australian companies from five sectors in 2016. Trends in the type, quantity, comparability and range of non-financial KPIs were analysed, and the association between company characteristics and non-financial disclosure was explored. Findings In total, 78 per cent of the sampled companies disclose non-financial KPIs in their annual reports, reporting 11 non-financial KPIs per company on average. The most common category is Employee, followed by Environment, accounting for 68 per cent of non-financial KPIs. Provision of comparators is low, with only 28 per cent of non-financial KPIs disclosed with prior year results and 24 per cent disclosed with a target. Companies disclose across a median of two out of seven categories. Company size is shown to be associated with non-financial measures. Originality/value The study contributes initial detailed empirical Australian evidence of non-financial KPI reporting practices. A framework is established for assessing non-financial KPI disclosure, adding to voluntary disclosure studies. A data collection method is developed for collecting KPIs from annual report narratives, contributing to the methodology used in voluntary reporting content analysis.

Is there a risk of transfusion-transmissible infections afterpercutaneous needle treatments in blood donors? Asystematic review and meta-analysis.

The donor medical questionnaire identifies a blood donor's history of known blood safety risks. Current Australian, Canadian, European and USA legislation temporarily defers blood donors who received different percutaneous needle treatments (i.e. tattooing, acupuncture and piercing) from blood donation. This systematic review aimed to scientifically underpin these deferrals by identifying the best available evidence on the association between percutaneous needle treatments and the risk of transfusion-transmissible infections (TTIs). Studies from three databases investigating the link between percutaneous needle treatments and TTIs (HBV, HCV and HIV infection) in blood donors were retained and assessed on eligibility by two reviewers independently. The association between percutaneous needle treatments and TTIs was expressed by conducting meta-analyses and calculating pooled effect measures (odds ratios (ORs) and 95% CIs). The GRADE methodology (Grades of Recommendation, Assessment, Development and Evaluation) was used to assess the quality of evidence. We identified 1242 references and finally included 21 observational studies. Twenty studies assessed the link between percutaneous needle treatments and HCV infection and found that blood donors receiving these treatments had an increased risk of HCV infection (tattooing: pooled OR 5·28, 95% CI [4·33, 6·44], P<0·00001 (low-quality evidence); acupuncture: pooled OR 1·56, 95% CI [1·17, 2·08], P=0·03 (very low-quality evidence); and piercing: pooled OR 3·25, 95% CI [1·68, 6·30], P=0·0005 (low-quality evidence)). Percutaneous needle treatments may be associated with an increased HCV infection risk. Further high-quality studies are required to formulate stronger evidence-based recommendations on percutaneous needle treatments as a blood donor deferral criterion.

Patch-scale culls of an overabundant bird defeated by immediate recolonization.

Overabundant native animals cause a variety of human-wildlife conflicts that can require management to reduce their social, environmental, or economic impacts. Culling is an intuitively attractive management response to overabundance, but poor monitoring of results and costs means that evidence for successful outcomes is often lacking. Furthermore, many culls worldwide have been ineffective or counterproductive due to ecological release mechanisms or compensatory responses by the overabundant species. We completed a controlled, replicated, costed, and rigorously monitored experimental cull of the endemic Australian honeyeater, the Noisy Miner (Manorina melanocephala). Aggressive exclusion of birds from remnant woodland patches by overabundant Noisy Miners is listed as a Key Threatening Process under Australian conservation legislation due to its impacts on threatened birds. The problem is particularly prevalent in the highly modified agricultural landscapes of eastern Australia. The species impacts avian assemblages at low densities (0.6-0.8birds/ha) and at a subcontinental scale (>1million km2 ). Some ecologists recommend culling as the only management response capable of timely reversal of declines of threatened small woodland birds. We monitored Noisy Miner abundance before and for 12 months after a culling program and found that immediate recolonization from the surrounding landscape negated the impact of the cull. We hypothesize that this is due to a vacuum effect; whereby, birds resident in more marginal habitat around treatment patches move into the vacant territory post-cull. Modeled mean abundance of Noisy Miners declined by 22% in treatment sites compared to an increase of 4% in control sites in the post-cull period. Abundance in all sites, however, remained three to five times higher than published ecological impact thresholds. Return on investment analysis indicated no relationship between culling effort and reduction in Noisy Miner abundance. We conclude that culling at a patch scale is not an efficient method of reducing Noisy Miner abundance to levels unlikely to impact threatened woodland birds in the highly modified study landscape, despite estimated costs 18 times lower than another potential management response of revegetation. Our study highlights the importance of building empirical evidence before intuitively attractive but not necessarily ecologically effective management responses are applied more widely.

21st Century reform in Australian coastal policy and legislation

Recent coastal legislative and policy reform in Australia reflects the changing focus of coastal management studies in the international scientific literature indicating a move towards systems perspectives, cross-boundary management strategies and an integration of marine and terrestrial environments. Significant global and national reports on integrated coastal management and climate change set the stage for a 21st Century wave of coastal reform in Australia. Given the absence of Australian national coastal legislation or coastal policy the reforms were initiated by a number of state governments such as in New South Wales and Victoria where new pieces of state-based coastal legislation came into law in 2018. This paper examines new coastal legislation, policies, manuals, and government documents and the rationale and triggers behind these reforms. These are discussed in the context of Australian governance structures and the international coastal management literature. The paper concludes that the latest wave of coastal reform in Australia represents a non-uniform stateled push for a more integrated approach to coastal management including, adaptation to climate change, sustainable development, a systems-based approach to coastal processes and inclusion of both marine and terrestrial environments.

Age structure of the Australian lungfish (Neoceratodus forsteri).

The Australian lungfish has been studied for more than a century without any knowledge of the longevity of the species. Traditional methods for ageing fish, such as analysis of otolith (ear stone) rings is complicated in that lungfish otoliths differ from teleost fish in composition. As otolith sampling is also lethal, this is not appropriate for a protected species listed under Australian legislation. Lungfish scales were removed from 500 fish from the Brisbane, Burnett and Mary rivers. A sub–sample of scales (85) were aged using bomb radiocarbon techniques and validated using scales marked previously with oxytetracycline. Lungfish ages ranged from 2.5–77 years of age. Estimated population age structures derived using an Age Length Key revealed different recruitment patterns between river systems. There were statistically significant von Bertalanffy growth model parameters estimated for each of the three rivers based on limited sample sizes. In addition, length frequency distributions between river systems were also significantly different. Further studies will be conducted to review drivers that may explain these inter-river differences.

Cumulative harm in the child protection system: The Australian context

AbstractCumulative harm is a major child protection concern, with significant consequences for child well‐being and development often into adult life. This systematic literature review examines how the construct of cumulative harm is understood and operationalized within current Australian child protection legislation, policy, and practice and situates this within an international context. Scholarly articles and grey literature were qualitatively analysed to explore two main research questions: How is cumulative harm to children identified, assessed, and ultimately incorporated into child protection and legal structures? And what are the most effective responses to cumulative harm identified for child protection practice?What was found was that although the construct of cumulative harm is increasingly incorporated into child protection practice and legislation, in practice, this remains crisis‐driven. Although the literature emphasized prevention and early intervention as responses to reducing the cumulative impact of adverse childhood experiences, there is negligible research on what constitutes an effective response to cases involving cumulative harm. They are cases which are less visible within the child protection paradigm; attention to the impact of risk of maltreatment and its influence on long‐term developmental outcomes is less well addressed creating uncertainty and ambiguity about effective responses for child protection.

Negative Impact of Land Clearing and Deforestation on the Great Barrier Reef

Australian climate policy has a relatively long and uneven history. Australia joined the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and signed the Kyoto Protocol enthusiastically supporting greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction. A range of measures aimed at reducing Australia’s GHG emissions have been on the agenda at both the Federal and State level. Some of these measures were successfully implemented, some were introduced and then repealed and some never reached the implementation stage. Australian legislation governing forests is mostly State or Territory-based. The major policy regulating land clearing and deforestation in the Australian State of Queensland is the Vegetation Management Act 1999 (Qld) (VMA). This article examines the recent amendments to the VMA 1999 and whether these amendments will interact with the Reef 2050 Plan effectively. The effectiveness of the VMA is discussed to draw conclusions about potential reforms that should be considered to limit land clearing and deforestation in Australia thus minimising negative impact on the Great Barrier Reef.

Macquarie Island’s northern giant petrels and the impacts of pest eradication on population abundance

Pest eradication conducted over the years 2010 to 2014 at Macquarie Island successfully eradicated introduced rabbits, rats and mice from this sub-Antarctic island. The initial aerial baiting phase in the winters of 2010 and 2011 resulted in significant mortality of several native seabird species through primary and secondary ingestion of brodifacoum bait. A species of key concern is the northern giant petrel (Macronectes halli), which, although relatively abundant and increasing on Macquarie Island, is listed as threatened under Australian legislation and was one of the species most affected by poisoning. We use a Bayesian approach to estimate the total mortality and the response of the population to the poisoning event over the short- to medium-term. We then considered how population abundance might respond over the ensuing years. Projections of population trajectories suggest a greater than 50% probability of recovery to the pre‐poisoning levels of 2009 breeding pairs by 2017. This modelling approach could be applied to future planned eradications to quantify the mortality and recovery of incidentally affected populations.

Flexible Work: Barrier to Benefits?

ABSTRACT The Australian financial services industry has been a leader in offering flexible work policies, positioning them as a solution to the tensions between women’s dual work and family roles. While Australian legislation provides the right to request flexible work, this study uncovers how, in one finance organisation, flexible work is framed as an employee benefit within a suite of benefits. The study shows that employees using flexible work arrangements are less likely to understand and know how to access the full range of benefits, many of which have short- and longterm financial implications. This has consequences for the long-term financial security of women (as the heaviest users of flexible work arrangements) and for financial planners, both as employees of organisations in the Australian finance industry and as providers of advice to women working in this sector.

Evaluation of patient satisfaction and experience towards pharmacist-administered vaccination services in Western Australia.

Background Pharmacist-administered vaccination services have been available in various countries for several years. In 2014, Western Australian (WA) legislation was introduced to allow pharmacist immunisers to administer the influenza vaccine to consumers 18years and older. Objective To determine consumer satisfaction with pharmacist-administered influenza vaccination services in WA and identify factors associated with opinions to extend the service to include other vaccines. Setting Thirteen WA community pharmacies. Method In 2015, 133 pharmacies in WA offered pharmacist-administered influenza vaccinations. Of the 133 pharmacies, a purposive sample of 10% (13) were invited to participate in this 2016 study. Following vaccination, consumers were given a questionnaire and asked to evaluate the service and if they would support expansion of the service to include other vaccinations. Main outcome measure Consumer satisfaction with aspects of the service using a 5-point Likert scale. Results A total of 434 (66.8%) questionnaires were completed at the 13 pharmacies and returned. The majority of consumers (99.5%) were satisfied with the service overall, and 97.2% advised they would receive a vaccination from a community pharmacist in the future. Over 60% would like vaccinations to expand to other conditions. Women and those who would again have their influenza vaccine from the pharmacist were particularly supportive of this expansion. Conclusion Consumer satisfaction with pharmacist-administered vaccinations was high. Consumers found the service convenient, comfortable and professional. The majority of respondents supported expansion of pharmacist-administered vaccination services to a wider range of vaccines.

Developments in Australian Anti-Hybrid Legislation

This article discusses the new Australian legislation on hybrid mismatch arrangements passed into law in August 2018. Closely modeled on the OECD recommendations, the amendments aim to achieve much more than what was initially envisaged.

Board Turnover and Reorganisation Outcomes: Evidence from Voluntary Administration

AbstractThis paper examines the relation between board turnover and the likelihood that a company that enters voluntary administration will conclude a deed of company arrangement with its creditors, which provides stakeholders with a better outcome than would be achieved by liquidation. We examine director turnover generally, as well as turnover of specific board personnel including the CEO or managing director and the board chairperson. A significant positive relation is found between a deed outcome and the percentage of director turnover and turnover of a CEO or managing director. We interact board turnover variables and company size and find that the turnover benefit is reduced as company size increases and the complexity of the administration becomes greater. The results inform a controversial and largely unanswered question as to whether board turnover leads to better outcomes for insolvent companies. Moreover, the results have implications for the Australian voluntary administration legislation because they suggest that there are difficulties applying it to large and complex corporate insolvencies.

Women’s participation in sport: how is it regulated in international human rights law, and is Australia meeting its international obligations?

ABSTRACTThis article explores the right under Article 13(c) of CEDAW of women to participate in sport on an equal basis with men. As this right has largely been neglected in the international legal sphere, the article draws on feminist scholarship in order to unpack the right and analyse its usefulness and weaknesses. In particular, the limitations of terms such as ‘women’ and ‘equality’ in the current international legal climate are contemplated, as well as the practice of sex segregation in sport. The article also considers Australia’s compliance with Article 13(c) of CEDAW by examining Australian legislation and case law in relation to women’s participation in sport. It argues ultimately that Australia is in breach of Article 13(c) for failing to provide equal participation in sport for women.

‘Pretaliatory’ Enforcement Action for Chilling Whistleblowing through Corporate Agreements: Lessons from North America

Studies have shown that potential whistleblowers are reluctant to report misconduct because they fear retaliation. In Australia, fear of retaliation is exacerbated for private-sector employees where the lack of prescriptive legislation aggravates vulnerability in all but exceptional circumstances. Through examining the codes of conduct of Australia's 100 largest listed companies (‘Codes’) this article argues that while Codes have the potential to provide an important regulatory function through facilitating whistleblowing, the breadth of confidentiality undertakings contained therein may instead be chilling potential whistleblowers from speaking up. While companies have legitimate interests in protecting confidential information, it is well-established that employees may disclose their employer's unlawful conduct to the government, even if such disclosure is in violation of the company's confidentiality policy. To affirm this right, in the United States (US), federal regulators have recently taken ‘pretaliatory’ enforcement action against companies for requiring employees to execute confidentiality agreements that stifle the reporting of possible violations of federal laws. Such regulation by enforcement has successfully effected cultural change through facilitating widespread amendments to US corporate confidentiality agreements. Accordingly, this article argues that any future Australian legislation should include an ‘anti-confidentiality provision’ similar to the US and Canadian frameworks to affirm an employee's right to communicate with a regulator directly, despite any purported agreement or corporate policy to the contrary.

Mainstreaming deliberative principles in Environmental Impact Assessment: current practice and future prospects in the Great Barrier Reef, Australia

The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is a highly complex social-ecological system that is under pressure from a variety of human activities, including coastal development for industrial purposes. A 2012 World Heritage Committee review found that the speed and scale of large industrial developments along the GBR coast exceeded the capacity of governments to manage their impacts. Ameliorating the impacts of large developments in the GBR is likely to require changes to the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) processes that form the centrepiece of Australian environmental legislation. As part of this, environmental managers must find ways to ensure that EIA decisions reflect both best-available science and community concerns. It has been suggested that innovative forms of structured decision making, such as public deliberation, could democratise impact assessment decisions, and could be accommodated within existing EIA processes, but the literature on this question is predominantly theoretical. In this paper, we explore the extent to which participatory and deliberative approaches have been integrated into existing EIA processes, using data from a survey of local residents in an area of the Great Barrier Reef coast undergoing rapid industrial development. We find that current processes provide few formalised opportunities for deliberative engagement, but that the principles of deliberative democracy could provide a foundation for more robust decision making, provided that such processes are part of an adaptive strategy of review over the life of a project, combined with genuine openness on the part of proponents and regulators to accept and respond to community knowledge. We elaborate on this through discussing a series of principles to support the integration of deliberative practices into EIA decision making.

Access &amp; Benefit Sharing Provisions Under Biodiversity Conservation Law in Australia &amp; Its Implications for India

Australia played a major role in the developing ABS framework under biodiversity conservation law. Australia is a megadiverse country with complex ABS experience and possessed huge support from the biodiversity stakeholders. Australia has adopted the regulations regarding access benefit sharing under article 15 of CBD, 1992. The Australian legislation is in compliance with PIC and MAT. The agreement reaffirms faith in CBD, 1992, Bonn Guidelines, 2001 and Nagoya Protocol, 2009. The government system of Australia is a constitutional federation which is made up of six sovereign governments, two autonomous territories, and a national government. It has a ‘common law’ system adopted from Britain. Australia’s experience is extensive with ABS to draw lessons about developing an effective institutional mechanism for public and private sector with equitable benefit sharing in scientific and commercial access. The access and benefit sharing provisions under biodiversity conservation law in Australia have potential impact to design its national laws and policies for India by synergizing environmental law and intellectual property rights in a sustainable framework.

Conservation systematics of the shield-backed trapdoor spiders of the nigrum-group (Mygalomorphae, Idiopidae, Idiosoma): integrative taxonomy reveals a diverse and threatened fauna from south-western Australia.

The aganippine shield-backed trapdoor spiders of the monophyletic nigrum-group of Idiosoma Ausserer s. l. are revised, and 15 new species are described from Western Australia and the Eyre Peninsula of South Australia: I. arenaceum Rix & Harvey, sp. n., I. corrugatum Rix & Harvey, sp. n., I. clypeatum Rix & Harvey, sp. n., I. dandaragan Rix & Harvey, sp. n., I. formosum Rix & Harvey, sp. n., I. gardneri Rix & Harvey, sp. n., I. gutharuka Rix & Harvey, sp. n., I. incomptum Rix & Harvey, sp. n., I. intermedium Rix & Harvey, sp. n., I. jarrah Rix & Harvey, sp. n., I. kopejtkaorum Rix & Harvey, sp. n., I. kwongan Rix & Harvey, sp. n., I. mcclementsorum Rix & Harvey, sp. n., I. mcnamarai Rix & Harvey, sp. n., and I. schoknechtorum Rix & Harvey, sp. n. Two previously described species from south-western Western Australia, I. nigrum Main, 1952 and I. sigillatum (O. P.-Cambridge, 1870), are re-illustrated and re-diagnosed, and complementary molecular data for 14 species and seven genes are analysed with Bayesian methods. Members of the nigrum-group are of long-standing conservation significance, and I. nigrum is the only spider in Australia to be afforded threatened species status under both State and Commonwealth legislation. Two other species, I. formosum Rix & Harvey, sp. n. and I. kopejtkaorum Rix & Harvey, sp. n., are also formally listed as Endangered under Western Australian State legislation. Here we significantly relimit I. nigrum to include only those populations from the central and central-western Wheatbelt bioregion, and further document the known diversity and conservation status of all known species.

Biogeographical patterns of endemic diversity and its conservation in Australia's artesian desert springs

AbstractAimSprings in the Australian arid zone are distinct from other waterways because they house a large number of endemic species. We aimed to assess spatial patterns in endemic diversity at a basin‐wide scale and whether environmental features can help to explain them. In doing so, we take the opportunity to summarize the current state of conservation in the system.LocationGreat Artesian Basin (GAB), arid and semiarid regions of eastern AustraliaMethodsWe combine data regarding the location of springs with published GIS layers regarding environmental characteristics and a literature review of all species and subspecies documented in the published literature to be endemic to GAB springs.ResultsWe found evidence of 96 species and subspecies of fishes, molluscs, crustaceans and plants endemic to these springs. The majority of endemic species are invertebrates with geographical distributions limited to a single spring complex (&lt;61 km2). Endemic taxa are concentrated in 75 of the 326 spring complexes. Spring complexes with a large number of springs, high connectivity via drainage basins and low rainfall were more likely to contain endemic taxa, but environmental models were poor predictors of diversity. Only 24% spring complexes with high conservation value are within conservation reserves, and the majority of endemic species are unassessed under the IUCN and Australian conservation legislation, particularly the invertebrates.Main conclusionsDiversity in this system is underestimated given the current rate of species discovery and prevailing data deficiency for many taxa. Historical processes and species‐specific environmental requirements may be more important for explaining why diversity is concentrated in particular complexes. Almost a decade after this system was listed as endangered, most complexes of high conservation value remain outside of conservation reserves, and the endangered species status of many taxa, and particularly the invertebrates, remain unassessed.

Are current effectiveness criteria fit for purpose? Using a controversial strategic assessment as a test case

The aim of this paper is to test the broader utility of the sustainability assessment effectiveness framework of Bond et al. (2015) by applying it to a controversial strategic assessment case study. The effectiveness framework comprises six dimensions: procedural effectiveness, substantive effectiveness, transactive effectiveness, normative effectiveness, pluralism, and knowledge and learning. It was originally developed to evaluate sustainability assessment at a system-wide level and it has not been previously applied to a specific case study. The analysis was conducted through document review and the first-hand experience of two of the authors who were involved in the case study in different capacities. The case study selected was the strategic assessment of the proposed Browse Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Precinct in Western Australia, which was conducted over the period 2007–2015 under the strategic assessment provisions of both the Western Australian and Australian Commonwealth environmental legislation. The framework provided a useful structure within which this complex case study could be explored, its strengths and weaknesses brought to light, and the interactions between the dimensions highlighted. We also found opportunities for refinement of the framework. As a result of this analysis we propose to replace the final three dimensions of the framework with legitimacy, where a legitimate process is one which all stakeholders agree is fair and which delivers an acceptable outcome for all parties, though we acknowledge the need for further conceptualisation of this dimension. We also suggest that the concept of substantive effectiveness should be expanded to incorporate the unintended consequences of impact assessment. Our research thus makes both a useful addition to the literature already published on the Browse case study, as well as to the literature on impact assessment effectiveness.

Current Representation of People With Intellectual Disability in Australian Mental Health Policy: The Need for Inclusive Policy Development

AbstractPeople with intellectual disability in Australia experience poor mental health, are underrepresented in mental health policy, and encounter major barriers in accessing mental health services and treatments. This study interrogated the current representation of people with intellectual disability and recommended strategies to enhance the inclusion of intellectual disability in mental health policy. A policy analysis framework was developed that included context, stakeholders, process, and content. Nine pieces of Australian mental health legislation and 37 mental health policy documents were analyzed using the framework. Fifteen of the 37 documents included mention of intellectual disability with limited attention to the specific mental health needs of people with intellectual disability and mental illness. Only two documents identified specific strategies or measurable actions and targets to improve the access of people with intellectual disability and mental illness to mental health services. The documents’ strengths that may be applied to develop inclusive intellectual disability mental health policy included being values‐based, recognizing diversity, taking a life‐course approach, focusing on workforce development, and ensuring checks and balances. An inclusive approach to the development and implementation of intellectual disability mental health policy will best meet the mental health needs of individuals with intellectual disability. An inclusive policy approach will be based on a sound evidence‐base and include a comprehensive understanding of the context in which the policy is developed; consultation with key stakeholders including people with intellectual disability and mental illness, their family and carers, and those who work with them; cross‐sector collaboration and workforce training. An inclusive approach to the development and implementation of intellectual disability mental health policy using an integrated knowledge translation approach will address the current lack of attention to the important area of how to best meet the mental health needs of individuals with intellectual disability.